A Great Business Partnership

In the summer of 2010 Texas Timber Frames and Lumber Link decided to work together in becoming the best specialty timber providers in South and Central Texas. For years, both companies looked at the same building plans and bid against one another. They were both attempting to provide the timber and any timber fabrication that came to their attention. However, in looking at what each company truly specialized in, it became obvious that working together would, in the end, be far better for each company than going it alone.

Texas Timber Frames procures timbers directly from the mill and orders only the highest grade materials available in any timber species. These timbers are ordered once a job is landed; they are not stocked in our facility to avoid shrinkage and checking of timbers over time. In addition, our mechanized fabrication process of unique mortise and tenon joinery add a level of quality and craftsmanship that is unmatched in our region at a surprising value to our customers.

Lumber Link, on the other hand, had a business model of quick, local procurement of timbers for timber packages and fabrication of rafter tails, corbels and other specialty lumber products. They were unable to provide the high quality mortise and tenon trusses and frames of Texas Timber Frames. With an incredible reputation for service and follow through, Lumber Link built a vast network of custom builders and architects in San Antonio and the Hill Country who trusted them alone with their timber needs.

In working together on a few projects, the leadership of both companies found that they shared the same core values: ensure customer service is at the forefront of your operation, reward your employees’ great work, and provide the best product at the greatest value. In bringing the two companies together in partnership, Lumber Link is able to offer a higher quality product to its customers and continue and build its reputation for excellence. Texas Timber Frames is able to wholesale truss fabrication and share its top-grade timber material with Lumber Link while building its reputation and scope of work. It is a great partnership that we are excited to see grow into new markets and ventures!

Our featured project this week is the East Texas Car Barn, a 20,000 sq. ft. museum for a personal collection of classic cars and tractors. This project, which is private owner-driven (no pun intended) and designed by Texas Timber Frames, will be the largest timber frame structure in Texas and one of the largest in the nation. Utilizing almost 150,000 of beautiful, hand selected Douglas fir timbers from Oregon the structure features both a breathtaking, hand-crafted aesthetic as well as the strength to meet the 110 mph constant wind shear requirements of its location. The structure features traditional, mortise and tenon joinery at every timber connection and will be insulated by an unbroken envelope of SIPs (Structurally Insulated Panels) for the highest level of energy efficiency. As of today, we are completing the old-style barn raising of the final few bents and should be done with the frame erection in three weeks. We are proud to be a part of this project and look forward to seeing the completed structure!

Football Season is Here See What One Fan Did!

Fall is just around the corner but football season has begun so for all you fans what better way to show your true spirit check out our “Texas A&M” truss we just recently produced and installed for a client. Contact us if you have any questions or want to see what we can do with your space. www.texastimberframes.com

Reclaimed Material

We recently had a prospective client come to us with the wonderful idea of a timber frame "party barn". She had found some photos on the internet of a beautiful structure in Montana that had been built with the idea of gatherings within a very rustic barn structure but with a living quarter quality interior.

The structure was built with reclaimed oak timbers that gave the home a beautiful rustic and authentic feel. Often times these timbers are disassembled from an old barn, mill, or factory that was built last century and is now abandoned. The walls, roof, floors and finish out of the home may be rotting and decaying due to neglect, but the timber frame structure still has the original integrity and can be recycled.

The use of reclaimed timbers and materials in a home has its costs and benefits. The benefit is that new trees need not be cut down because the timbers from other structures are being recycled. The energy expended from cutting and shipping and milling a log is great, and you loose a tree. However, with a recycled timber you really are only paying an "energy cost" for the shipping of the member. In addition, the timber over time develops a "patina" on the surface that is beautiful and unique. Often times, if the recycled member is from a structure passed down through the family, there can be a sentimental connection as well.

The costs are really associated with the cost--a reclaimed timber can cost 3-4 times that of a similar sized "green" timber. The other issue is that it can be difficult to find specific sizes. In building a whole timber frame, you need consistent and exact sizes for the repeating members like posts and perlin and this can be a challenge.

We at Texas Timber Frames are able to provide a compromise between green timbers and reclaimed. We can age and distress green timbers to give the look of an old beam. By using a hatchet or other tools we can create a hand-hewn look on the timber that will look as though it was cut a century ago. By using a lime-based formula that will pull the tanons out of the timber you can create a feaux patina that will emulate the look of reclaimed material. We can do all of this for half the price of reclaimed and give a very rustic, authentic look.

Our prospective client is debating between the reclaimed material and the aged and distressed timbers and we are proud to be able to work with her whatever decision she and her husband make.

Architects Aware!

I had a great opportunity last week to become certified to teach AIA accreditation classes about timber frame homes for the Timber Frame Business Council. The presentation was in North Carolina and taught by Jerry Rouleau, creator of Builder's Radio and homebuilding marketing guru.
The opportunity to teach architects about what we do is very exciting to me. While many architects are familiar with timber framing, I've found that many are not aware of the many benefits of timber frame construction. As many architects around the country are turning towards green construction as not just a trendy meathod but the standard meathod of construction I look forward to the chance to share how timber frame construction is energy efficient, sustainable and utilizes all of the benefits of pre-fabrication.
I also look forward to discussing the multiple applications of our construction meathod. While a full timber frame home is absolutely beautiful, there are times when a hybrid home (one that utilizes timber frame construction and other forms of construction in the same house) is more appropriate for the project. Also, using timber frame trusses in the home as cosmetic accents lend an air of rustic elegance to a home. Sharing the Texas Timber Frames passion for timber framing with those with a passion for designing homes will be a great opportunity that I look forward to.

Timber Frame Accents

There are some large, beautiful houses being built in the Dominion development just off I-10 on your way out of San Antonio heading west. Huge square footage numbers, outdoor pools, vaulted ceilings, and a South Texas flair you can only find in here. I recently had the opportunity to tour 5 or 6 of them as construction is just wrapping up. I noticed one thing over anything else: these million dollar homes all look very similar.

These homes all feature some very clean lines and most have timber in them for strictly decorative purposes. They have what we call "timber accents" as an asthetic touch the architect feels can add to the look of the house. Many times these accents look out of place to my eye specifically because I am very familiar with trusses only as structural components of the house. We use timbers to hold things up, not to nail to the wall. I was with a prospective customer who was not familiar with timber frames, but I can tell you the "wow" factor for them was nothing compared to their reaction to touring one of our homes. I wondered why an untrained eye had a gut reaction to wood in a house with timber accents so different from that of a timber frame
home.

In a book called "Blink" an argument is made that the mind makes a vast majority of our decisions and judgments from the gut without passing through our conscious thought. Somehow, we just know when something is slightly off or doesn't make sense. I think the mind knows when timbers are used as decorations, and may think that is nice, and when they are used to hold up and create shelter, the mind thinks that that is awesome. The strength and security is conveyed to us below our concious thought.

We are working with local builders here to help them understand that what we do is more than just about mortise and tenon joinery. It is about differentiating the home from all the others in the neigborhood by tapping into a carnal subliminal desire. This desire is for the strength and security of massive timbers with a structural purpose in the place where we live and raise our families. In the home where we are doing structural timber trusses in the Dominion, people, including other builders, will stop and whatch while we erect because that home is different. It is different in the way it looks, yes, and also in the way it feels. It just feels right.

Sustainable Building Presentation

The people at Sustainable Building San Antonio were good enough to let me present to their monthly meeting group on the benefits of timber frame construction. My focus was to create a dialogue about the current state of home construction and the environmental impact it has had over the last six decades, and how timber frame homes offer a vast improvement as far as sustainability, energy efficiency and overall footprint of the process.
Ever since WWII our country has manufactured homes in much the same way we until just recently manufactured cars. With the mass production of 2"x4"s and other building materials like nails and fiberglass insulation, the value quickly changed from quality to quantity. This led to the clear-cutting strategies in our forests and the building of very energy inefficient homes that were sometimes not even expected to last the length of the mortgage.
While standards have improved both in the logging industry and home construction industry, which is great, residential construction has a LONG way to go. Our culture is demanding that we are smarter about resource management, quality of our products, and has become very critical of our throw away society. What is so exciting about being in the timber frame industry right now is that it directly fits into these new cultural expectations, and it always has.
Timber framing grew out of a time when building anything required the commitment of years, not months, and depended on the entire community for the completion of the project. For this reason buildings were built to last centuries, not decades. Master craftsmen would cut joinery in timbers that would create a perfect fit without the aid of bolts and nails and were to designed to gain strength over time as the timbers dried together. This took great time and expertise, and when it was time to raise the frame the entire community came together to lift these massive timbers without the aid of a crane or forklift.
Clearly, our world has changed and only a few people are able or willing to wait years for a hand crafted home; however, modern technology has enabled us to cut joinery for timber frame homes utilizing a mechanized process. The mechanized process allows for the same precision in a fraction of the time. It also allows for quick reproduction of the same frame once the computer programming is finished. We have brought the best of the past, quality and sustainability, together with the advantages of modern technology, speed and efficiency, and are on the forefront of redefining the home building industry. It is an exciting time for Texas Timber Frames and we encourage any feedback or interest in where we are going as a company that believes what we do is not just about profit, but building a better country.