WOOD FRAMING, SIDING & TRIM IN HISTORIC RESIDENCES OR HISTORIC RECREATIONS

Traditional mortise and tenon joined framing with hewn lumber is restored in historic residences, barns, and commercial buildings. Hewn lumber may be salvaged from historic buildings, and re-used in other structures, or new lumber cut specially at sawmills, and hand hewn for authentic replications of historic lumber and framing.

Preservation of building exteriors' woodwork may require use of old lumber, or lumber specially selected for durability and natural rot resistance, including white oak, cedar, locust, or sassafras. Chestnut was very commonly used until the Chestnut blight wiped out American Chestnut, effectively eliminating it as a commercial source of lumber by the 1920's. Plywood or particle board of all types is usually shunned for any sheathing use beneath siding. Replicating original joinery and construction techniques including mortise-and-tenon, generally insures strength and longevity, and is especially important for older buildings. Trying to repair mortise and tenon structures with modern framing can compromise the entire structures' integrity and stability.

The hand-hewn mortise & tenon frame of this 18th century barn was partially replaced in the 20th century by dimension lumber, to terrible effect. Structural deficiencies necessitated replacing the 20th century framing. Our company used similar salvaged antique posts,joists & beams, supplemented with new hand-hewn white oak, authentically joined.

The entire elevation had its mortise and tenon hewn timber frame replaced by modern nailed framing in the early twentieth century. The wall framing had been inadequately anchored, was undersized, and compromised the remaining hewn framing, putting the structure at risk.

Repairing the carriage house required removing all siding, needling the floor joists, shoring and bracing the barn and replacing the framing with mortise-and-tenon joined 6" x 8" and smaller timber framing, repairing the rest of the original hewn timber framing, fabricating and installing new hewn oak 8" x 12" floor beams supporting 4" x 12" oak and half-timber joists, and pine Tongue and groove flooring at main floor to match existing, fabrication of all new windows and doors to match original remnants or historic photos.

The entire rotten sill plate, 35' in a single length, was replaced in a single piece, 6" x 8" from a white oak tree, custom cut and air dried for this project.

These two 18th-century barns with original hewn oak framing were disassembled by Olek after buying the salvage rights from a Middletown, N.Y, church planning to demolish them. (Pictured on the left) The hewn timber framing was incorporated into Fosterfield's Carriage house to replace missing elements of the original framing, including floor joists and main beams.

Siding, roof shakes, windows & chimney replaced. Post-and-beam hewn timber frame restored.

Many of the floor joists were replaced and sistered with new mostly hewn timbers, per the architects' drawings.

The log supporting the sill was replaced with a black locust log over 19" in diameter, per the early photos of the carriage house. The black locust log weighed over 2,000 lbs., and was put in place by four craftsmen using traditional carpentry techniques, in less than one hour- a frame with wedges beneath the logs, raising up the log a wedge at a time. It was precisely notched to receive the sill plate.

Hewn Joists whitewashed with lime

The After view of the Carriage House next to the Main Barn. All the siding was replaced, and a new Barn Door, 3" thick and 12' high, was fabricated and installed.

This NYC School was built in 1878, and had a magnificent cornice with built in gutter. Over 220 pieces of 10"x10"x5" three piece modillion blocks, and 33 - 3'H pierced fretwork brackets, and custom-molded pine formed this wood gutter/cornice assembly on a for the circa 1878 P.S. 1 school in Staten Island.

Typical siding and trim condition of this Colonial period house should have been worse with the neglect it suffered. Rotten siding, beetle and termite damage, would have been worse had the original wood been of such fine stock. The climate in the world was much colder than today (George Washington dragged canons across the frozen NY harbor from Battery Park to attack British soldiers on Staten Island), and the pine took almost 40 years to grown a single inch in diameter. This allowed high concentrations of resin, protecting the wood from rot and insects. By comparison, modern pine has not more than 6-10 growth rings per inch, and is no longer rot -resistant.

Stripped window frame and clapboard, sashes removed for repair in shop. Note the beaded bottom edge of the clapboards.

View of restored Colonial period farmhouse, all windows and architectural woodwork restored with period lumber

Dyckman House is located on the Northwest corner of 204th St. and Broadway, several blocks north of the Cloisters in the Dyckman section of Manhattan. It is a NYC Museum

Constructed as General Contractor a new 10,000 sq.ft. Federal Style Dutch gambrel cedar shake roof Center Hall design residence with extensive custom millwork, including Dolly Varden profile pine siding, with modillion bracket and Greek key cornice Extensive exterior trim, with solid antique cedar Tuscan columns and pilasters. Although a new residence, the style of the trim and exterior millwork deserve recognition as Restoration and Preservation-related.

We cut trees for flooring, sheathing, siding, and moldings for this house.

Mobile sawmill was set up to mill the trees into flooring, clapboard siding, sheathing, and moldings.

Framing

Hand split cedar Shake roof

All wood custom architectural woodwork, T.D.L. weight-balance D.H.D.S. windows, custom siding. The terraced front walls and rear yard took advantage of a zoning ordinance to allow greater building height, with 10'6" first floor ceiling height, 9' + second floor, and 11'6" third floor.

Pickups & Delivery by our truck throughout metropolitan NY, NJ, PA, and CT-

Pickups of entire assembled Eames Lounge Chair may be inexpensively arranged throughout the Midwest and Eastern US, from Texas to Chicago, Florida to Boston

We arrange pickup and delivery promptly throughout metropolitan NY, including NY and NYC, NJ, PA, and  at CT at modest cost.  We can arrange for pickup and delivery of furniture throughout the United States east of the Mississippi, as well as all of Louisiana and eastern Texas with a recommended common carrier, TSC Moving (Hallandale, FL),   They are very reliable, and surprisingly economical for long-distance moves. Fine furniture deserves the best care, and is worth the trip.