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Timber Framing in Florida

Started by isaacpopp, May 08, 2013, 02:11:20 AM

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isaacpopp

I am currently in the process of learning all I can about timber framing. I read Sobon's red book and just oredered another of his framing books from amazon. I will not be building anytime soon and I think this period in my life would be a good time to design and heavily revise plans to have them near "perfect" for when I go to construct my frame. At least so that I have a good idea and plan to go to when I return to the states and buy some property.

We will most likely be located somewhere in North Florida to the West of Gainesville in Gilchrist county. My wife has told me every chance she gets that she will NOT be going anywhere with snow  ::) It seems like all of the work Sobon and a lot of other framers do is in the New England area.

I have started messing around with sketchup as well as drawing on paper and I have lots of questions.

Does anyone here have experience with timber framing in Florida? I am wondering things about climate and code restrictions that are drastic enough to influence the style and construction of a frame. We have 0 snow load but the wind tolerances must be high for hurricanes and the termites are very prevalent down here as far as I understand. It is also very humid year-round.

I am not planning on using SIP's because of their restrictions of the building to "breathe" and their costs prohibitiveness(is that a word?).

tl;dr - is there anything different about framing in Florida?

Also, We own no property as of now so in all reality, (ignoring my wife's no-snow request) we can relocate anywhere once we come back from Japan. So any suggestions on good places to buy land would be good as well.

I appologize for making this post so long. I just have some many ideas floating around in my head that I wanted to try to put a few of them down here.
Now I will shut up :-X
"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time." A.L.

Rooster

Wisconsin is beautiful...we enjoy all 4 seasons!.....and yes, we do timber-frames!

Plus ice fishing!

Rooster
"We talk about creating millions of "shovel ready" jobs, for a society that doesn't really encourage anybody to pick up a shovel." 
Mike Rowe

"Old barns are a reminder of when I was young,
       and new barns are a reminder that I am not so young."
                          Rooster

Jim_Rogers

You can build a timber frame just about anywhere. But as you have mentioned you need to take into consideration the local code requirements. Such as wind load.

And you'll have to put in preventative measures for termites, which I'm sure is possible as well.

When you get Jack's second book, read chapter two about placing your house on your site, and consider this information when you go out and start looking at sites.

Welcome to the forum, again. And keep asking questions.

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

piller

I suggest that you also check out Sobon's "Historic-American-Timber-Joinery.pdf", it's a free download from the timber framer's guild web site.  Search for  "tfguild publications historic american timber joinery". 

isaacpopp

Quote from: Rooster on May 08, 2013, 04:34:06 AM
Plus ice fishing!

I showed this to my wife and she said anywhere ice fishing is a possibility is automatically not in the running.  :D

Quote from: Jim_Rogers on May 08, 2013, 07:26:02 AM
When you get Jack's second book, read chapter two about placing your house on your site, and consider this information when you go out and start looking at sites.

I'm up to about chapter 4 now. I guess the main reason I am open to leaving Florida is that there are many things you don't get to do because of the almost year-round heat and humidity and flat sandy land. I also would like to have some nice mature woods to draw from almost immediately after buying a property to start milling and cutting timbers. I know I will have to comprimise somewhere on my land wishlist.

Quote from: piller on May 08, 2013, 10:36:31 PM
I suggest that you also check out Sobon's "Historic-American-Timber-Joinery.pdf", it's a free download from the timber framer's guild web site.  Search for  "tfguild publications historic american timber joinery".

Thanks for the tip! I'll download it and add it to my reading list.
"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time." A.L.

Matthew Tzib

Mr. Popp,

I plan to build in Belize, in a climate similar to your own.

I had planned to build Jack Sobon's 'classic timber-framed house'.  I posted about it here.  I no longer plan to.  Mr. Sobon's house is suited to New England, not the West Indies - or Florida.  It was a great starting point, though.

I think the best kind of architecture is the vernacular architecture; at least for a house.  We don't need to choose the kind of a house we build, because somebody else already had to.  It took some looking, but I have found a West Indian vernacular architecture.  I have also read about the similar Florida cracker architecture.  Both come from the same tradition and respond to the same climate, arguably better than any other architecture ever could.

Some of the defining features are:

- single-pile, two- or three-room (hall-and-parlor or chamber-hall-chamber) plan
- sometimes a dogtrot plan
- verandahs
- rear verandah cabinet-loggia-cabinet plan
- detached kitchen, laundry, bath
- raised floor (on masonry piers or earthfast with interrupted sills)
- tall walls
- single-storey
- steep roof
- separate verandah roofs
- solar, wind orientation
- a lot of fenestration
- no insulation or thermal mass
- light-coloured paint
- down-bracing if on masonry piers
- cross bracing in the roof
- termite- and decay-resistant wood

The frames and joinery are similar to that of England or New England.  I also assume that every joint could be in compression or tension in a hurricane.

I'm happy to share what I've learned, and the resources I've found, if you're interested.

Yours,
Matthew Tzib

isaacpopp

Wow Matthew! It seems like you have done a lot of research on this topic and you know what you are talking about.  :P
What brings you to Belize and when do you plan on building?
"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time." A.L.

Matthew Tzib

Mr. Popp,

My wife is from Belize and it's a nice country.  We're about a year or so away.  This time next year I hope to be planting corn there.

Yours,
Matthew Tzib

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