Timber Frame Repairs

Timber frame corner post repairs with the brace reinstalled.

Timber frame repairs are usually caused by trapped moisture behind the external and/or internal coverings. Cement render with stainless steel mesh and pebble dash are the usual external coverings causing the issues, these usually crack when the sole plate starts to move due the moisture being trapped which causes the sole plate (the horizontal timber sat on the brick plinth) to turn into compost.

All new timbers for these repairs are in green oak, we tend to use English oak where possible, if this is not possible then it's French oak. All of our new green oak repairs are hand planed using a scrub plane to give the new oak more character and a lovely hand planed finish. This will blend in much more naturally than machine planed or if they are left sawn.

Stud repairs are usually back patches these get bolted together. All repairs of this types will be fixed with M10 stainless steel coach screws and glued where possible. Any of the fixings will be covered with 32mm oak pellets (air dried to prevent shrinkage) if these are visible.

All joints are mortice and tenoned plus pegged where original, otherwise these are just morticed and tenoned, more of a locator than a structural joint. Our sole plate joint will be a tenoned half lap with a 3mm draw bore. Fixed with two 3/4” air dried pegs. This prevent the peg from becoming loose when they start to dry out, as these are air dried they will only get tighter as the green oak around them shirk.

The sole plate will then be packed up off the existing plinth whether this is kept or being rebuilt with slate. We never use any modern types of damp proof course (DPC) as these only makes the timber sweat of which causes more problems in the future with trapped moisture. This is why we use more natural products such as a slate.