Northwest Timber Frames
Raising Day

Once the components are shipped to the job site and assembled (see Frame Assembly), the structure is ready to be raised, giving your new home its form. For smaller structures, frame raising can often be done in a single day; for larger or more complex homes, this could take several days to accomplish.

Raising day may be the most exciting time during the construction of a timber frame home or building. In years past, entire communities would come together to raise a house, barn or school, sometimes in a single day, with the raising followed by a large feast or even dancing. While hand raising using many workers and pushing the larger parts of the structure up with long poles used as makeshift cranes was the norm in the past, most frames today are raised with the help of powerful mechanical cranes as a matter of speed, safety and cost.

The culmination of Raising Day is the driving of the final peg, traditionally done by the homeowner, to signal the end of the major component assembly. The pegs, also called treenails, are made of hickory, ash or oak, and are driven into the predrilled holes in the mortise and tenon to hold the joint securely.

Once the timber frame componets have been lifted into place and secured, the whole structure is ready to be enclosed with Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), conventional framing methods or natural insulating materials such as clay, wood chips or straw (see Enclosure Systems).

Once all the panels or other wall enclosure systems are complete and in place, the roof and siding are added to make the house weather tight and the interior work can begin.