Our brief for this project was to integrate a sympathetic design to an existing 17th century barn. As there were several oak features & oak trusses through out the existing barn the obvious choice was to create a building that mirrored these internal features. We also along with the correct material choice wanted to give them a complete 180 degree view of the their garden and to introduce as much natural light as possible. The roof configuration and pitch also matches the adjacent gable giving a balanced feel & look to the overall size and shape of the structure.The oak frame was hand made using air dried oak in our manufacturing barns and assembled by hand on site. The two oak waisted kingpost trusses held 2 oak purlins and several oak common rafters, all still visible from the interior of the room. We also fitted one conservation roof light to help the light penetrate into the adjacent room.The glazing used was 4-16-4 toughened Pilkington K glass units secured using the direct glaze method.This process is the most effective way of glazing oak structures. We use prime quality 42mm through and through quarter sawn dried oak as the oak cover boards, these […]
We use the best quality straight grained defect free oak for the manufacture of our oak dowel pegs. The timber used for the manufacture of our oak dowel are the off cuts of the 42mm through and through quarter sawn boards that we produce when making our direct glaze boards. These off cuts are sawn 1mm oversized then fed through a thicknesser to create a accurate oak bead of 18mm. These beads are then fed through our router tables taking off the 90 degree corner angles to create a clean defect free round finished oak dowel. The oak dowel is kiln dried and when hammered into the oak frame, the free water within the structural beams penetrate the oak dowel causing it to swell and tighten into the pre-drilled mortice and tenons. These are then sawn off utilizing a 10mm packer pattern giving a uniform over length traditional pegged morticed and tenonned joint.
We are all ways looking for ways to improve the oak framing industry industry and with this in mind we have now sourced a French mill that will supply us with prime quality 42mm through and through quarter sawn boules. Our timber is imported directly from mills in France, which produce high quality timber with environmental responsibility at competitive prices. Although cheaper stocks may be available we prefer to maintain our standards, supplying customers with highest grades of oak. Where possible we will also visit the mills to inspect and ensure the timber’s grade and quality. This has helped establish a number of long-term relationships with producers, allowing us to place contracts typically 4 to 8 months in advance. Thus we can also ensure both continuity of supply and stable prices, when otherwise sourcing can be very difficult, partly due to producers facing up to their environmental responsibilities and also due to unprecedented global demand for timber from non-traditional areas. The highly stable quarter sawn oak is the perfect partner for the direct glazing method we employ due to the grain direction and virtually knot free composition of the boards. This gives an unprecedented stability and longevity to the oak cover […]
