Monthly Archives

October 2015

New Mexico! Colloquium!

By Uncategorized
kingston new mexico

Sunny Kingston, Mexico: home to the 20th anniversary Natural Building Colloquium

April and I have been in Kingston, New Mexico for the past two weeks for the 20th anniversary Natural Building Colloquium. Last week we were surrounded by 150 incredible natural builders from all over the globe. This week we’re helping finish projects that got started and cleaning up after the craziness that was the gathering. It’s been a dizzying time… it’s been a real privilege to be surrounded by so much building knowledge and experience. What a joy to meet so many people whose work I’ve been following for a while! (What is this “colloquium” business, anyway? There’s a good history of the gathering in the newest editon of The Art of Natural Building.)

I don’t have much time (or bandwidth) to really get into details here… it will have to wait until I get back home in another week or so. Until then, here are just a couple photos! It was a great time and I wish I had even more opportunity to soak it all in and meet more of the people in attendance.

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Replacing a 2×4 Wall with a Timber Frame

By Timber Framing, Carpentry

We just accomplished one of the more exciting items on our remodeling to-do list — we raised a timber frame between the kitchen and living room. Before the frame went up, we methodically removed the original 2×4 wall. The intention here, of course, was to really open up the space and facilitate a better interface between the living and cooking areas, provide more light to the kitchen, and allow the heat of the (not yet installed) cook stove to move more freely though the house.

I’d say it’s lookin’ pretty good right now. I managed to capture a little video of the actual timber frame raising… watch the video above to see how smoothly the frame fits right into place in the opening we created by removing the stud frame. The video also illustrates some of the steps we took to ready the house for the new frame.

Click ahead for some photos of the new wall, as well!

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Don’t Try This At Home

By Timber Framing, Bent Raising

timber-frame-wall-remodel

We’re about to lift this timber frame into position inside our new house that we’re currently remodeling. Exciting times ahead… more news soon once I have a second to write. I’m also preparing to depart on a very exciting trip to New Mexico.

p.s. No, it won’t hit the ceiling… we planned for that!

p.p.s. I love working with poplar after so much fussing with white oak… what a dreamy wood!