I'm not a DIY'er & it wasn't a disaster but it was a close run thing:
A hillside timber frame house projecting out at the back over a steep slope.
I left some guys cutting out water damage and termite destruction to part of the rear supporting knee wall and bathroom floor. I went to pick up some materials and when i returned one glance made my stomach turn to water. The whole rear supporting framing and the cantilevered girders were gone - nothing was supporting the back of the house.
The crew were sat below their demolition job in the shade enjoying a coke and a smoke. Disaster quivered above them. It was averted, but why had they gone so wild? None could answer. Demolition fever? The building trade and sods law?
What the incident did prove however, was just how substantial timber framing is as a sound construction technique - hundreds of 16d nails (85mm) held the structure together in defiance of gravity. When i put a level on the rear joisting, it was dead level. Go figure? B
A hillside timber frame house projecting out at the back over a steep slope.
I left some guys cutting out water damage and termite destruction to part of the rear supporting knee wall and bathroom floor. I went to pick up some materials and when i returned one glance made my stomach turn to water. The whole rear supporting framing and the cantilevered girders were gone - nothing was supporting the back of the house.
The crew were sat below their demolition job in the shade enjoying a coke and a smoke. Disaster quivered above them. It was averted, but why had they gone so wild? None could answer. Demolition fever? The building trade and sods law?
What the incident did prove however, was just how substantial timber framing is as a sound construction technique - hundreds of 16d nails (85mm) held the structure together in defiance of gravity. When i put a level on the rear joisting, it was dead level. Go figure? B
