“I truly could not have asked to work with a better crew. It’s great to work with people so on-point. Hardly anything went by without someone helping to make the others’ job easier.” – Mike W, Timber Frame Champion on the Ann Arbor Legacy Home.
Raisings are often an exciting culmination of years of dreaming, months of planning, and hours of crafting. This Ann Arbor, Michigan home was no exception as our team was met with excited smiles and kind accolades from the homeowners Cindy and Bill and the builder, David (of Coppernail Construction). Our team of Mike, Jimmy, Taylor, and Randy from the McMinnville (Oregon) shop raised the frame amidst some rainy summer days in July.
A large hybrid timber frame and stick-built project, timber abounds in the great room, main entry, kitchen/dining areas. As a full-time home to the owners, this structure will also comfortably accommodate visits from their five children and many grandchildren within its nine bedrooms and seven baths. Plus they’ll have all-season fun with both indoor and outdoor pools.
Mike explained, “Jimmy (featured in a previous blog post) really showed his experience and took charge like a champ. He was absolutely my right hand on this raising,”
Over 300 kiln dried Douglas fir timbers, nearly 20,000 board feet, were crafted for this project. On-site pre-assembly and layout of the hammer beam inspired bents and trimber was smoothly orchestrated over three days.
Working between raindrops, the team raised the bents of the great room and main entry in a day.
“Our newest guy, Taylor, got his feet wet (quite literally) during this, his first raising. He has hustle and shinned day after day with a “go getter” attitude and excited mindset,” Mike continued.
The entry was set with posts on concrete pillars that will have a stone facade in the future. More timber will grace the exterior as “trimber” as the project finishes out. Many thanks to the homeowners for a great project, the builder for his many skills, and our team for their dedication, camaraderie, and good work.
