Know the Lingo | Timber Terms DefinedKnow the Lingo | Timber Terms Defined "What the heck is a truss?" you ask. We translate some of the basic terms you're bound to hear during the building process.
Timber Frame: This time-honored construction style, where skilled craftsmen join timbers by mortises (wooden holes) and tenons (wooden pegs), evolved before the use of nails or screws. The configuration allows for open floorplans and cathedral ceilings. Post and Beam: Same kind of open floorplans here, but this construction system uses metal fasteners between timbers, which can include plates, screws and through-bolts. Hybrid Design: Becoming increasingly popular, this method combines the best elements of a timber home with the lower cost of conventional stick-built construction. (For more on hybrids, see page 28.) Distributed Load: Found in traditional "stick-built" construction, by which a skeleton of 2-by-4 or 2-by-6 studs hidden beneath walls carry the weight of the structure. "Load-bearing walls" are found throughout the house. Point Load: A system, such as a true timber-frame home, where a few brawny horizontal and vertical beams shoulder all the weight of the roof and walls. Trusses: Literally the apex of timber frame design, the trusses carry the load of the home's appeal, as well as the weight of a second floor or roof system without any support from below (unless it's for decorative purposes only, which can be a great lower-cost option). Bent: When trusses are combined with the vertical posts and horizontal beams, they are called bents, which form the basic cross-section of a timber frame. Bents give the frame the strength it needs to carry structural weight. Horizontal Beams: These include timber sills (the perimeter of floor sections upon which posts stand), girts (which span between posts; also where the term "girder" comes from), joists (used to support floors), purlins (used between exterior posts or to tie roof sections together) and the ridgepole (horizontal apex of the roof system). Vertical Posts: Serving as the legs of the timber frame, their names include principal posts (used at the corners) or king, queen and crown posts—to name just a few. Each has a specific role in supporting other beams or trusses. For example, a samson post supports the intersection of four horizontal upper-story beams. A joweled post (also called a gunstock post) is fashioned from a whole tree turned upside down to utilize the natural flare of the trunk. Related Links: Top 15 Questions Planning Timber Homes
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