Repair & Consultation
We offer both timber-frame repair and consultation services, but try to limit both to within a thirty mile radius of our farm.
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Repair, Renovation, & Restoration
We limit our repair work to "historically accurate" work in so much as possible. Each project is evaluated in terms of our ability to carry out the neceasary work in an effective and timely manner. Repair work is generally considered secondary to our farm based business of new frame construction. It is also usually only carried out on a strictly time and material basis.
The pictures below show a bit of what we've done in the past.
The first two photos show a before and after shot of a barn wall post in a c.1847 Sweitzer barn. The post had been damaged both mechanically and by fungus over the past 150 years and had been repaired with a patch of mortar held in place by a bunch of spikes. We cut the post to recieve a new bottom portion while attempting to retain as much of the original post as possible
The third photo shows a tie-beam repair in a post -Civil War threshing barn. At some point in the past, the tie-beam had had a portion completely cut out. (This timber is super important and cutting it in half was a really bad idea). We harvested a timber from the farm wood lot, a piece of standing dead cherry, and fashioned the repair in situ via two halved & tabled scarf joints. We also added the two braces in an attempt to alleviate some of the rather substantial over-loading of the undersized tie-beam from the roof structure above, as well as to help support the new scarf joints. Again, we made every effort to retain as much of the original timber as possible. We also try to keep the spirit of the original builders in mind when we make joinery choices for the repair. This is, of course, secondary to the structural concerns, but nonetheless important to the overall project in our opinion.
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Consultation
We offer limited consultation services as well. We get a fair amount of requests for consultation regarding barns, houses , and even churches framed in heavy timber. We normally assess the framework in terms of structural conditions and make recommendations on repair priorities, methods, materials, etc. We'll gladly furnish a written report with reference photos and drawings if requested. We've done consulting work for private residences, architects, and governmental entities in the past. Again, we try to limit this service to within a 30 mile radius of our farm.
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