ᐅ Cutting Your Own Timber for the Roof Frame – Moisture Considerations – Scheduling
Created on: 15 Dec 2021 15:38
T
Thomas.W
Hello dear forum,
We are currently planning the construction of our house.
We are planning a solid masonry house with a pitched roof. All work will be subcontracted to individual trades.
Our plans are already quite advanced.
We have already contracted most of the companies and are basically just waiting for the completion of the new development area.
Originally, we wanted to start at the end of 2022, but due to the delayed start of the site infrastructure, we decided to begin in spring 2023 instead.
The construction company has scheduled our project as their first site once weather conditions allow.
Now to my main topic.
I have some questions regarding the roof structure. I have already tried to clear up my lack of knowledge by searching on Google, but I still don’t fully understand. I hope you can help me. Due to the sharply increased cost of timber, we want to fell our own wood. We have our own forest, and our carpenters with a sawmill are only 2 meters (6.5 feet) away from it.
I have already discussed this with them, and they said it would be sufficient if I cut the wood in winter 2022 and then bring it to them. The logs would then be stored outdoors until they process the wood.
If we start excavation at the beginning of March, we should be able to begin raising the structure around May.
My question is whether the timber will be sufficiently dry for that?
Or will it have dried enough by then?
The company has been around for a long time, and I haven’t heard anything negative regarding the quality.
Is this approach common in construction?
I would appreciate any help you can provide.
Thank you in advance.
We are currently planning the construction of our house.
We are planning a solid masonry house with a pitched roof. All work will be subcontracted to individual trades.
Our plans are already quite advanced.
We have already contracted most of the companies and are basically just waiting for the completion of the new development area.
Originally, we wanted to start at the end of 2022, but due to the delayed start of the site infrastructure, we decided to begin in spring 2023 instead.
The construction company has scheduled our project as their first site once weather conditions allow.
Now to my main topic.
I have some questions regarding the roof structure. I have already tried to clear up my lack of knowledge by searching on Google, but I still don’t fully understand. I hope you can help me. Due to the sharply increased cost of timber, we want to fell our own wood. We have our own forest, and our carpenters with a sawmill are only 2 meters (6.5 feet) away from it.
I have already discussed this with them, and they said it would be sufficient if I cut the wood in winter 2022 and then bring it to them. The logs would then be stored outdoors until they process the wood.
If we start excavation at the beginning of March, we should be able to begin raising the structure around May.
My question is whether the timber will be sufficiently dry for that?
Or will it have dried enough by then?
The company has been around for a long time, and I haven’t heard anything negative regarding the quality.
Is this approach common in construction?
I would appreciate any help you can provide.
Thank you in advance.
H
hampshire16 Dec 2021 12:44For the sawmill, cutting wet wood is ideal – it protects the equipment.
Wood mainly shrinks along the grain. As a result, the wood can warp and crack.
I wouldn’t have any concerns about individual support beams in the structure.
If the purlins are made from glulam beams and the gable walls are masonry, I wouldn’t worry about the stability of the rafters either, but I would be concerned about their appearance.
Who is doing the carpentry / timber framing?
Wood mainly shrinks along the grain. As a result, the wood can warp and crack.
I wouldn’t have any concerns about individual support beams in the structure.
If the purlins are made from glulam beams and the gable walls are masonry, I wouldn’t worry about the stability of the rafters either, but I would be concerned about their appearance.
Who is doing the carpentry / timber framing?
M
Myrna_Loy16 Dec 2021 14:08hampshire schrieb:
For the sawmill, cutting wet wood is ideal – it protects the equipment. Wood primarily shrinks along the grain. During this process, the wood can twist and crack. I wouldn’t be concerned about this for individual support beams in the structure. If the purlins are made of glulam and the gable walls are built of masonry, I wouldn’t worry about the stability of the rafters either, but I would be concerned about their appearance. Who is doing the carpentry work?Well, with a modern typical nail-plate truss system, I wouldn’t want the rafters to warp and crack. Also, wet wood exerts tremendous forces as it dries.Benutzer200 schrieb:
Then you also have to comply with the DIN standard (it was even once stated in the VOB that a maximum moisture content of 20% is allowed – I’m not sure if that still applies today). And it doesn’t work the way you imagine it with just a few months.
Have you ever noticed how many sawn boards are stacked at the sawmill or timber wholesaler? They are there to dry, of course. And sawing doesn’t take as long as drying a solid log. Yes, of course, those have been seen before. However, I am referring more to beams rather than battens or boards. Those can only be cut once the builder’s plan is available. I think that is usually around half a year in advance.
User0815 schrieb:
Was wet wood from their own forest also used for the roof frame by your father and sister?User0815 schrieb:
Was wet wood from their own forest also used for the roof frame by your father and sister?For my father, yes; for my sister, no.
hampshire schrieb:
For the sawmill, cutting wet wood is ideal – it protects the equipment.
Wood shrinks mainly along the grain. This can cause the wood to twist and crack.
I wouldn’t have any concerns for individual support beams in the structure.
If the purlins are made of glued laminated timber and the gable walls are masonry, I wouldn’t worry about the stability of the rafters, but I would be concerned about their appearance.
Who is responsible for the carpentry work? The purlins are indeed made of glued laminated timber, and the gable walls are masonry. The carpentry work, including the cutting of the beams, is done by the same joinery company. It is one and the same firm.
11ant schrieb:
As I said, we lack the basic knowledge to assess whether rafters as traditional beams are the best option here at all. And of course, they cannot be made less like the purlins as girders; beams tend to warp the most.
You own a forest but are working with a sawmill for the first time? – okay, that explains your naivety. Actually, I joined this forum to gain more knowledge on the topic.
You may see me as naive; I would rather call it lack of knowledge.
Could you then explain how the process is typically handled?
That would be more constructive and more helpful to me.
And just by the way, we generally use our forest only for firewood.
But that is actually not relevant here.
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