Initial Sketches & Plans | Costing & Design Guidelines

Initial Sketches & Plans:

If you are working with a professional designer or architect, have them send the drawings to us in autoCAD format, and we will design a timber frame that fits seamlessly within their plans.

If you are not planning on working with a designer or architect, the first step towards designing your timber frame home is to sketch out the general layout of the home. Draw the basic shape of the home, the size of each room, and any other special features that you would like to incorporate into the design, such as fireplaces, staircases, bars, etc.

We encourage clients to consult design literature and magazines for layout ideas that they like, and write a “wish list” before the first design meeting. This way, we can efficiently work towards a developed floor plan. Having a confirmed budget at this stage is crucial to moving forward with the process.

Costing & Design Guidelines:

COSTING

Our traditional timber frame structures are built using European scribe carpentry techniques identical to those practiced and preserved by generations of medieval masters. Connections are made using full motice & tenon joinery secured with draw-bored oak pegs.

The cost of our frames generally falls into the $30 to 55 CAN per square foot range ($325 to 595 per square meter), delivered & raised with a mobile crane and our team, within 1 hour of our workshop in Quebec. The frames would normally be planed and oiled with natural timber oil unless otherwise arranged (we have cut frames with a hand-hewn finish, as well as rough sawn to great effect). ‘Square footage’ refers to all habitable floors, not just the footprint of the building. Clients abroad would naturally incur extra transport & shipping costs.

As timber framing often employs dramatic ‘cathedral’ spaces, a cost-per-square-foot can become a bit misleading. Floor space that is open to the floor above becomes more expensive per foot (just as one-story houses are) because there is only one floor beneath the roof. Stacked floors are more efficient in relation to cost, as found in 1.5 and 2 story structures.

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS The design has a significant effect on overall price. Two frames with the same square footage can easliy have a cost-per-foot of $40 and $85 repectively if they make use of two very different designs. Simple rafter roofs cost less than complex arched brace truss & purlin roof designs. House designs that employ multiple changes in roof line through hips, valleys and dormers are possible through timber framing, but can add considerably to cost. Clean lines are more efficient.		2300 square feet - 1.5 stories with full 2nd floor		1910 square feet - 1.5 stories with one open ‘cathedral’ bay
		2000 square feet – 1.5 stories with simple rafter roof		990 square feet – one story ‘cathedral’ open plan

900 square feet – traditional arched-brace truss with upper crown post		900 square feet – contemporary tie rod truss with stainless steel hardware		Some general sizing principles should also be respected when planning a timber frame for your home if you’d like to achieve the costing stated above. The width of the frame is most efficient at about 20 to 24 feet wide, though greater widths are possible through longer beams (with a cost premium), or the use of aisles. Also, the distance between trusses/bents/cross-frames is most efficient at about 14 to 16 feet. Keeping the above information in mind, the following plans provide an introduction to some of our designs. We are only able to give you a fixed price once we have a finalized frame design for your home.
900 square feet – medieval style carved & moulded crown post roof		900 square feet – medieval style sling-brace truss frame