Show ThH— Id Journal Logan Uteh Time day September 181990 I 1 1 I i t i 1 i i i i i I y On a buildfog lot in Thatcher Hrfm n die Bear River entire frame of a stood Thursday afternoon on was only a subfloor at 8 am diat blue-gree- 3500-square-fo- ot morning After yean of contemplation and mwiitM of pfenning and research Carey and Alex Hudaon g held an in die tradition of colonial The Hudsons are building a post and beam house which utilises timber frame construction that was used in Medieval Nordic stave churches French manor houses and English tudor buildings Massive dougfes fir beams were crafted with 18 th century handtools at a Montana company and designed with 20th century savvy using traditional to within joinery to fit tightly together Once die beams are fit together everything is pegged No nails are used to hold the frame together Carey and Alex purchased their building lot in 1983 from die Nielson estate “An old house was on die homestead and we tore it down a couple of yean ago We poured the foundation for the new house last November and this using I shoveled snow out of it so we could install our closed-loo- p radiant beating system” she said In May all of the timbers arrived and Carey spent all summer sanding and oiling die wood beams with a toxic-fre- e linseed oil imported from Germany She finished die project just before die construction crew started its work Two members of die Montana company arrived at the construction site last Monday They laid out timbers on die subfloor deck sorted and organized Then die “bents” or of the frame were assembled flat on die deck pulled square and pegged This work continued until Thursday when a smaU crane hoisted the fust bent into place with die help of Aloe and five friends who volunteered to help The connecting “girts” and “knee braces” went up in between After die first section was up it seemed like just a matter of sipping the rest of the pieces into (dace On Friday die crew racked die entire structure square and pegged it in place Most of the entire project is die result of Alex and his father Aden said Can during die house-raisin- ham-raisin-gs 132-of-an-in- ch cross-sectio- ns house-raisin- g “They have talked and kicked this building idea about for a number of years We really got serious about building this type of house a number of months ago when Alex's uncle saw an article a about similar structure in an Idaho Falls newspaper” Can said “He sent us a copy of the article and we contacted Wil Wilkins president of Timhcrhouse Post & Beam in Victor Mont for additional details” Before allowing the Hudsons to proceed with their plans any further Wilkins suggested die couple contact Merv and Mae Coover of Providence who had recently built a post and beam bouse g The Cooven were at Hudaon’s snd said their home has been a constant source of interest to area contractors and to people who value quality homes The energy efficiency of our home continues to amaze us” said Mae Coover “Two years ago when we had a fairly severe winter with cold temperatures our heating bill for the entire winter was only $180 or $30 per month” The Cooven attribute the eneny efficiency of their borne to the exposed tinmen that store energy because of die thermal mass of the wood and the stress-akiinsulating panels which look like sandwiches Polystyrene is sandwiched between particle bond The panels come with a number of facings ranging from drywall or wood pwwtfog on foe interior surface to fag or riding on the exterior The Hudsons plan to uae the same kind cf insulation as their construction proceeds “We feel very comfortable using dds type of insulation It saves time and is relatively easy to install We feel it will pnrvide ns excellent insulation” Carey added Hudson said ihcand her husband plan to get their house werihwtight as toon as posribto “The good building weather we’ve had won’t last for much longer We pfen to use same sort of rock snd wood siding on dm exterior and put an a metal roof” she said “But it will literally be Tvaus uwusv iw jreujwt am aim it re— a built out our of befog grocery money We don’t envision taking any loans to finish it quickly We wiU complete the interior as our money allows” Three things about the house will make it fairly unique to Cache Valley said Hudson “The first thing is die post and beam construction The second is die insulating panda The third is the passive solar heating system Sun will filter into die home through die many g windows and solar panels on the south facing roof will heat water for the radiant heating system" The total construction cost has not been estimated because the Hudsons are doing much of die finish-wor- k themselves But Carey said die total project will probably be about 20 percent homes more expensive than traditional stick-bui- lt That cost is what caused this building style to fall into disfavor die past century Only during the past 20 yean has it enjoyed a resurgence in popularity she explained "We’re very pleased with the way thfoga have gone so far One of our hopes is the solar heating system designed by an engineer in Vermont wifi hold pollution to s minimum” she said ”1 guess when everything is said and done the real thing that drew us to this type of building design is its beauty simplicity style strength and Too often in traditional the craftsmanship building there is no regard for die beauty of wood In this building the wood U highlighted” house-raisin- n south-facin- An £ A house-raisin- g took place last weak in Thatcher Idaho as friends and technicians helped Carey and Alex Hudaon erect their new post and beam house Frame technician Randy Bench (top photo) chisels a Joint for a better fit Bench and Ron Hornsby a friend of foe Hudsons place a cross beam In the structure (above) Text: Robert Merrill Photos: Dan Miller |