40' sill question

[bushhog920]

planning on building a 40 x 40 tf house. would like to use 40 foot timbers for the sill and thinking of two way of doing it use 2x8x10 rough cut to make a 8x8x40 beam with screws and liquid nails or cut it out of a 40' syp which would be more prone to twist and warp. any pros or cons to the built up beam idea. 

[Jim_Rogers]

I guess my first question would be: "is this sill going to be full supported it's entire length?"

If so you could do two shorter piece and being that it is full supported you could do a simple half lap joint in the middle someplace.

Simple scarfs in sills, like a half lap, are easy. And will work if the sill is fully supported from end to end by foundation. Being fully supported there shouldn't be any bending stresses.

Jim Rogers

[jueston]

http://vintagetimber.com/inventory/main.php?g2_itemId=163

this site has several massive old timbers one is 10*30 and 60 feet long....

sure they are expensive and shipping might be prohibitive, but i like to make sure you know all your options...

[Bru]

do some googling for timber frame joinery, including scarf-jointed sills.  Thre are some good discussions and pics of this technique.  If you have a birthday coming up, add books by Jack Sobon to the list of potential goodies. Sobon has written at least two very informative books on timber framing, including pictures and discussion of sills and scarf-jointing them.

[Magicman]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Bru.   

[witterbound]

Please don't use an old 60 ft timber for a sill.  Scarf together a couple of shorter timbers.  Syp will twist some, and I don't think is particularly rot resistant.

[Brad_bb]

My first thoughts are to
- use white oak for the sill timbers, scarf as needed
-Use pressure treated SYP 2X material built up on the perimeter of the deck
- Use a very rot resistant wood between the concrete and the 2x deck, like Ipe(5/4).
-also consider using stainless or copper flashing for termite/ant protection if needed.

the second two options are probably most economical and rot resistant.  Even though white oak is rot resistant, I still don't like it sitting directly on concrete- could get moisture between them/on the oak.

[Rooster]

Hey there,

My questions include:

Is the first floor system timber-framed?...does it need to be?...will anyone not living there ever see it?

Could you build a standard "house deck" and then rest the frame on top? (using standard rim joists, but building up the width at the post locations to transfer load to the foundation.)

Most people that will tour your home will be impressed with the framing that they can see...few ever walk through a TF house and then look down and ask, "Is the floor system fully timber-framed also?...can I check to make sure?"

Just my 2 cents.

Rooster

[D L Bahler]

Building code will generally require that you place only treated wood in contact with concrete. This is because concrete will actively cause wood to rot.

[krusty]

Was at Upper Canada Village the other day and they had a stack of 40' timbers and I would estimate them to be 12"x12". Not sure where they got them but they were nice!