Cabin on the Mountain

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We were invited to design and and construct a small cabin on a private mountain. We had the oppportunity to work with some of the most wild wood we've ever seen.

This is a mixture of live and white oak that was cut in the 19th century. It was pit sawn, charred, and then sent to the Charleston, MA Navy Yard. There it was sunk in swamps under granite blocks for decades. The yard closed in the 1970s, and the wood was then buried in fill. During redevelopment of the land, the wood was dug up, and then donated to Mystic Seaport Museum. We purchased some of the precious wood from Jarmak Reclaimed Wood and then had it custom resawn.

Mountain Top Arboretum Education Center 4

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Lots of scribing and cutting going on in the shop for the Mountain Top Arboretum project.  

Berkshire Log Cabin Remodel

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A fairly drastic before and after of the same room.  We changed the whole building envelope, installed new timber trusses, a gut remodel, and a timber frame gable end with direct glazing.  

Connecticut Timber Frame Gambrel Barn 2

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Progress on the barn in Litchfield County, CT.  There's a full timber frame floor system and basement, and the bents are ready for raising.  The aisle tie beams are 9x16 with large wedged through tenons.   

Mountain Top Arboretum Education Center 3

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Custom sawing and scribing of some funky timbers.  

Connecticut Timber Frame Gambrel Barn 1

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We've been working on a large timber frame gambrel barn, cut entirely in white oak timbers.  Design by Uncarved Block and engineering by Fire Tower.  We'll keep adding pictures, and it will be going up soon.  

Mountain Top Arboretum Education Center 2

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Brad was out in the woods with the loggers, hand-selecting the trees.  They pulled out some amazing curved and forked logs.  We'll be custom sawing them next.  

Mountain Top Arboretum Education Center 1

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We're very excited that Uncarved Block was awarded the timber framing contract for the new Mountain Top Arboretrum Education Center in the Catskills of NY.  Architecture is by Jack Sobon, and shows his characteristic funky curvy framing.  The whole frame will be scribed.  All 23 species present in the Arboretum will be used in this timber frame.  

A little cruck frame from many years ago

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I designed this little cruck timber frame many years ago, as an exercise for the Heartwood School apprentices in scribing.  I literally pulled the cherry and pine logs out of the firewood pile.  Heartwood and UB raised the frame at several fairs and trade shows, and we always stood out from the crowd.

New hybrid timber frame/double stud wall home 6

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Lots of outdoor work lately.  We've completed the deck and porch framing and finish.  We framed the deck with galvanized steel joists, which are strong, fast (they're pre-cut), straight, and won't warp like large section PT lumber.  The decking will be thermally modified ash from western Mass.  The porch and deck roof is painted tongue and groove 2x6 over native cherry rafters.  The hips over the deck are irregular (meaning that they are not 45 degrees in plan view), so the jack cuts are different on each side.  

New hybrid timber frame/double stud wall 3

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Lots of activity on the job.  Framing is complete.  The interior air barrier (Intello) and service cavity are complete.  The entire house is off of the electric grid, so we're running all of our tools off of PV.  Dense-pack cellulose in the 12" double stud walls and 18" cathedral ceilings is complete.  And windows and doors are in.  While the sheetrock is being done, we'll be outside starting the south porch and west deck.  

New Hybrid timber frame/double stud wall 2

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Lots of progress on the hybrid timber frame we've been working on it Becket.  In one quick week, we put the timber frame up, the floor panels from Bensonwood, the second floor wall, and the roof purlins. You can see some of the big 7x18 gluelams that spread the roof load to the outer walls. 

Second Video featuring Uncarved Block

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Here's the second new video featuring Brad Morse of Uncarved Block.  Brad cuts a traditional pegged mortise and tenon joint, using more common carpentry tools.  At Uncarved Block, we use a number of very specialized timber framing tools that aren't shown in this video to make the process even more efficient and accurate.

Timber Frame Entry Porch

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We designed an built a small English-style timber frame porch for a house that we built several years ago.  The porch is all white oak, black locust, and copper, which will all naturally rot resistant and will be left to weather.  More pictures coming as we wrap things up.  

Menck Windows Grand Opening

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I just attended the grand opening of Menck Window, the first and only European manufacturer of tilt turn windows in the US.  Fortunately, they're just an hour away from us, and we hope to use them on some of our upcoming projects.  I loved this cross-section of their direct glazing system (which can also be capped with wood).  I can't wait to use this amazing system to direct glaze over a timber frame.