Timber Frame Carport Project

[s219]

Been picking at this for a few weeks, hampered by a lot of rain and snow, but finally got to the point where I have enough pictures to start a thread. Will be 12'x21', 252 sq. feet, just under the limit to avoid a building permit and allow use of rough-sawn lumber. Posts will provide about 11' of clearance under the roof once the final grade is done. I plan to do a 4/12 or 6/12 roof with 18-24" overhangs all around.

I started by milling a bunch of logs down to make posts and beams:



The posts got notched on the bottom and then married with a 4' section of treated 6x6 using bolts and glue. Normally I would put up the posts and then notch them for header beams, but in this case I pre-notched the beam cutouts on each post. This fresh sawn pine is real sappy and hard to cut, and I didn't want to be up on a ladder with a Skil saw this time around.



Here are all the posts ready to go:



We've had so much rain and snow in the last month that post holes have been a problem. I was able to drill all 8 post holes and pour a concrete footing in each. The concrete cured under water because the post holes started filling in within hours. Before I put posts in, I have to pump out each hole and it will fill in within minutes.





I am assembling the frame tinker-toy style, making two four-post frames that will get joined by the middle beams when complete. This lets me get all the posts square and level little by level. The tractor has been invaluable for standing up the long heavy posts, lifting the header beams, and holding up a working platform (old pallet with some extra slats) to let me reach up to the top.







One nice thing about sawing my own lumber is that the quality is good and I can make any length I want. And of course with today's crazy lumber prices, it saves a lot of money.



Here's the frame as of last night, before we got more rain and snow for the next couple days.



I hope to get back to it this weekend. I have one more middle beam to put up, then final straightening and squaring of the frame and posts before I backfill all the post holes. After that I'll probably finish grading the pad area with more gravel, then move onto the roof framing. Will update as more progress occurs.

 

[joeyd]

Looking forward to following along!

 

[Dougeye]

Nice work.

 

[user.69169]

Thank God, finally a man who understands joints and faying surfaces. If he knows plumb line and 3/4/5 ratio the planet may have s future.

 

[jk96]

Nice. Following. Looks like you a good stack of firewood there as well.

 

[ChuckT]

What about shrinkage? If the wood is fresh cut and then milled to final dimension won't it exhibit "diameter" shrink? are you allowing for that?

 

[s219]

What about shrinkage? If the wood is fresh cut and then milled to final dimension won't it exhibit "diameter" shrink? are you allowing for that?

I try to accommodate that as much as possible, but some is inevitable. For thinner lumber there is the additional concern about splitting when the lumber dries and shrinks and is constrained by fasteners. For stuff over 2" thick, splitting is less of a concern. So I mainly make sure that as the lumber shrinks it can still settle under gravity and loads.

A typical practice is to elongate/wallow bolt holes to allow beams to slip down and stay on posts as the beams shrink. I did that when I built my sawmill shed last year. But I notice that the friction of the bolts, nuts, and washers is holding the beams up as they shrink. I'd really need to go loosen all the bolts periodically to let it settle. My thinking is that with a heavy enough snow load, it will settle on its own if it really wants to. Until that point, the lumber will be supported by the friction in the fasteners and 1/2" bolts (which have higher capacity than the load anyhow). So other than aesthetics, it probably won't matter.

I would not want to build a home with green lumber -- I'd let that dry at least 6 months (1 year is best, but most of the drying happens in the first 2-3 months for 2x lumber). Home framing is too complicated to try and think about accommodating shrinkage, not to mention the effect it would have on drywall, trim work, etc.

 

[s219]

Nice. Following. Looks like you a good stack of firewood there as well.

We ran out of seasoned firewood one winter about 3-4 years ago, so I went crazy splitting/stacking wood the next year and built the woodshed. Then we had two mild winters in a row and had a surplus. I should have been putting a dent in that woodshed this year, but am still finishing up burning some older stacks of wood from 2018. I won't have to hit the woodshed until next year. By then the wood will be 3+ years old! I want to be able to get into a routine where I use up and replenish 1/3 of the woodshed each year, rotating through the partitions. So there would always be an empty partition to get refilled, a seasoned partition ready to burn, and next year's partition. We'll see if that plan ever comes to bear.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Since you pre notched your beams how did you make sure that they were all level as the cement set?

 

[IXLR8]

Interesting, will be following.