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Ask the designer

Get your architectural design questions answered here.

Do you have a couple of ideas floating around in your head and you want help piecing them together, and or need someone to bounce your ideas off of? Post it and ill give it a shot.

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Permalink Reply by Britt Baumann on July 17, 2009 at 2:21pm
Well, how much should we expect to pay for a timber frame per square foot? This, of course, makes big difference in deciding the design.
Permalink Reply by Wes Loder on September 9, 2009 at 2:54pm
One factor which I am sure you have considered is the species of wood that you would use. Each type has its own special characteristics, strengths and drawbacks, but species do vary in cost. Here in Pennsylvania, Douglas Fir is more expensive than oak simply because it has to be "imported" from places like Oregon or Washington State. Here using oak was not only more "green" because it is local, but the least expensive.
When we started work on our own project we were told that a timber frame design might add 10 % to the cost. That was slightly optimistic, but how much extra also depends on the amount of "bling" you want to add to the design. A basic three-bay, four bent design with no gables or fancy fittings might actually run only slightly higher than a stick-built, but when you start adding long lengths of wood, huge spans, hammer beams, extra gables, etc. the cost will go up and up.
We started with a budget and a design, took it to a framer, reworked the design, then took it back to the framer, then reworked the design until finally we had what we wanted at a price we could afford. What was the cost per square foot? I have no idea, although I could figure it out. Cost per square foot is just a statistic. What we felt was important is that we got the essentials and essence of our vision at a price we could afford to pay. Working and reworking a design cost nothing but time. Does this help? WES LODER
Permalink Reply by Jake Lappan on July 20, 2009 at 8:37am
my experience is definitely more design based but the truth is, price per square foot is really not a good way to approach it because it pends on what finishes you chose to use and what areas you choose to finish right away, and what your current local market is like. For an example, finishing you basement or a bonus room over the garage will bring the price per square foot down because you can finish those areas probably for $80 to $100 a square foot compared to your kitchen, great room, master bath, ect. which can be easily $300 + a square foot. or are builders in your area hungry for work and undercutting each other? From my experience people that build new houses, timber frame or not, don't usually opt out for the cheapest priced (which means quality too) cabinets, counter tops, flooring, fixtures, ect.. Personally i feel the best way to approach it is to look at your total allowable budget and the timber frame and hopefully the structural insulating panels (SIPs) should be about 1/5th the total budget. If you are doing a timber frame only and stick building everything else (less efficient) that percentage of total budget would be less but then there is more work for the builder to do so his material and labor cost will higher. you can save some obvious money by doing as much as you can yourself which can be rewarding, but very time consuming. the best thing to do would be to contact a timber frame company or go to there website to find your local sale's rep contact info. A good rep will be able to give you a realistic average price per square foot. I work at Riverbend Timber Framing and i know our Reps and customer service department will be able to tell you if you what you want do is reasonable or not for timber framing and panels or figure out how many timbers your budget will allow.

First Figure out what you want your house to be (program) bedrooms and there sizes, kitchen, great room, etc. and overall sqaure footage. Figure out a couple of frame types you like, and a overall total budget to keep everything within.

i know i gave you an ambiguous answer to your question but there is no good answer because everyone will have a different average price per square foot. what is the price you are looking to build at? and do you have any of the above figured out yet?

if you need some more help let me know, but i usually don't deal with the money side.
Permalink Reply by Barry on July 29, 2009 at 6:37pm
Hi,

We are looking to do a timber frame addition ( in concept 18 by 34 ft footprint 2 story) to our 1970's story and a half cape cod. The thought is add a great room open to the ceiling and add a 2nd floor to half of the structure that will house a bedroom (Master). We don't want to add a bathroom as the one on the 2nd floor will be used. My other 1/2's biggest concern is it would look strange inside to have this type of construction to a standard stick built cape lacking consistency. Thoughts?
Permalink Reply by Jake Lappan on July 30, 2009 at 8:20am
personally i feel it will look fine. As a timber frame designer i see this all the time and it still looks good. the main focus will be on the great room and whats in there i.e. fireplace, window assembly and bent profile of the gable end and not the surrounding areas and their lack of timbers. If the other areas having timbers is a must have in order for you other 1/2 have to go through with the TF addition the most economical thing to do would be to add timber ceiling joist. since they would be non bearing they could be smaller in cross sections which might help if the existing house has 8' or lower ceiling heights. if the new addition is adjoining a space that you want to be open to the great room like your kitchen, and depending on how the frame layout is you can connect timber ceiling joist directly back to the TF. With out seeing a sketch of the proposed layout it is hard to give you some good suggestions to where and or how to add timbers to you existing house. If you can upload a quick and dirty sketch (doesn't have to be to scale) of the layout i will be able to what you have to work with. Long story short, if the TF is only in the addition it will still look great, and is what everybody will talk about.

Jake Lappan
Design Project Coordinator
Riverbend Timber Framing
Permalink Reply by David Kelman on September 5, 2009 at 4:13pm
We have been sorting through numerous plans, but unable to find some thing that fits what we want. The question I have is going with an independant designer, or manufacturer design center. I can see some of the pros and cons for each. One of my concerns with the manufacturer design centers, is that after the design is complete, we can not shop the design to insure that we are getting a good fair price. We would have to trust that we are. On the other had if we have a designer do it we can shop it around.

Then that brings me to the next issue. We will eventually build in the northwest corner of Alabama, and we live in western Tennessee, that are not too many timber homes built in this area, much less find a designer knowledgable about timber homes. Is there a listing or a site that I could use?

Thanks
Permalink Reply by Jake Lappan on September 8, 2009 at 12:23pm
There are a couple of options that you have when it comes to this issue. Create a custom sketch/deign to some scale on your own and take it to a timber frame company or set up a meeting with your regional sales Rep and review it with them. they should be able to give you a rough ballpark price for the Timber Frame and SIPs if you are using a timber frame company that manufactures their own SIPs like Riverbend does. so you could technically shop around your sketches and see who offers the best overall package, but be sure that you compare everything for what you receive with your package from the companies, they all include different things. And for example if you liked Riverbend's package price and wanted us to send you a contract to start the architectural design work, we will typically do a rough 3D model of the house and timber frame to diagram what is initially covered in the contract. Long story short....you should be able to get a timber frame and SIP company to throw some general numbers at you with sketches you did or with a plan that you purchased. Before you purchase a plan, make sure that it is ok for another company to use them to make the plan you purchased work with a timber frame and panel system.

In regards to finding a stand alone designer that knows timber framing is going to be tough. Most of them will be like me and currently working for a timber frame company (we do and have done quite a few frames down in that area). You will have have better luck with finding an architect that knows timber framing, but you are going to pay for their professional experience. a good place to find architects are at http://architectfinder.aia.org/.

Jake Lappan
Design Project Coordinator
Riverbend Timber Framing
Permalink Reply by Chris Wood on September 16, 2009 at 2:56pm
David,

There is enough competition in this industry to keep the pricing in check. As an industry, we're almost (35) years old. You can always use a similar plan to shop around and narrow your options. Then go visit the top three and decide if you feel comfortable enough to hire their design services. Ask them upfront for the cost of this design service if you elect to have someone else build. That will endear them to try their hardest to keep your business and yet be protected if you decide to walk.

It is tough to put a price on creativity and stress. Know your weaknesses and be willing to pay for talent to help guide you through the process. How do companies handle issues, mistakes or changes should all be factored in the buying decision. In most cases, you get what you pay for. There are several firms with outstanding track records who can handle your location. Good luck and keep the faith.

Chris Wood, Hearthstone, Inc.
Permalink Reply by Wes Loder on September 17, 2009 at 1:39pm
I reworked the data from our place and it came out to approximately $134 US per square foot. Please note that does not count the endless hours we have personally put in. Add those and the cost would have been higher. WES LODER
Permalink Reply by Darlene Green on February 7, 2011 at 11:49am

I posted under design then saw this will give you a try

We put addition to old log cabin which took on a new life. Now that this is under roof I do not like how long the roofline is. This is a great room with a sun-room porch on the end.

I wonder how to breathe some life into our new cabin. I thought about dormers or a front porch, maybe apply certain materials to the front to bring back my cabin/vacation home feeling.  Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Also second pic is of beams in great room. What is the best way to finish them? No plans to stain just clear coat.

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