Our take on the tree house solves these problems.   Carolina Timberworks’ two and a half story Timber Frame Tree House Tower is an engineered and architecturally designed kit that doesn’t rely on trees for support.  This allows you to site your tree house on the best spot on your property instead of being limited to where the right trees are.  No trees?  No problem.  Ever wanted to spend an afternoon hanging out in a fire tower gazing out over the forest and valleys? Got an amazing view if only you were 25’ higher?  Brilliant, right?

Want to learn more?  Here’s a link to our timber frame tower kit.

These timber frames don’t just offer shelter, they tell stories

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Two of the Prettiest Oak Trees on the Blue Ridge Parkway…and the Carolina Timberworks Renovo Badash 29er Carbon Fiber Wood Bike

Most people stop for a closer look when they see our wooden mountain bike, and have questions. “Is it really wood?” Yes. “Did you make it?” No. “How does it ride?” Amazing.

Meet the Renovo Badash 29er, hand made from Curly Hickory with Padauk accents by Renovo in Portland, Oregon.

Wood bikes, not unlike timber frames, are functional art. Both are hand made from Nature’s Carbon Fiber…wood.   Why wood?  Wood absorbs vibration better than metal or carbon fiber, and produces a smoother quieter ride.  Renovo’s owner, Ken Wheeler, is an engineer who started out designing composite aircraft.  He noticed that in many ways, wood’s properties are superior to composites and calls wood “nature’s carbon fiber”.  Wood is strong, lightweight, sustainable…and gorgeous.

“The magnificence of the early 1900s WPA and Railroad Destination lodges captured my imagination years ago when I first visited the Ahwahnee Lodge in Yosemite. But I’ve always assumed the craftsmanship which created that art and beauty had long since disappeared. When Eric Morley of Carolina Timberworks called to order a bike, of course I had to take a look at their website. If you’re reading this, you know…their work is just stunning, giving nothing to the lodges I have always loved. So now Eric has one of my bikes and I have one of his screensavers. I need to raise prices.”    Ken Wheeler, Renovo Hardwood Bikes. 

2019 update:  Sadly, Renovo is no longer in business.  Check out https://connorcycles.com

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Wood is the world’s most environmentally-friendly building material.

Timber framing is one of the best ways to conserve our resources because post and beam homes are special places that people love, and because they are loved, they are maintained over the years, and because of that care, post and beam homes last for centuries rather than decades. Buildings that are loved get maintained, and well-maintained buildings last far longer.

Why is Timber Framing Sustainable?

• Wood is one of our only renewable resources. Think about this sometimes overlooked and obvious fact.
• Timber is a natural product. Is timber sustainable? Yes! It is recyclable, biodegradable, and renewable. It does not off-gas toxins because there are none.

Timber, unlike 2×4 and 2×6 lumber, upon the end of the useful life of the timber frame or post and beam home, will be carefully dismantled and reused. Used 2x4s may one day be reused, but today are going into landfills, rotting, and releasing their stored carbon into the atmosphere.

Wood is a carbon sink. If kept dry, wood lasts indefinitely. If you leave a tree in the forest to die a natural death, it will rot and release its stored carbon. If you cut down a tree at the end of its natural life, it has spent years storing carbon and producing oxygen. If you then fabricate it into a timber frame, and keep it dry for centuries, the post and beam home is acting as a long-term carbon storage unit.

Post and beam homes can, and often do, use less wood than stick-built homes. The figure we’ve heard is around 30% less. There are some caveats here, and it may seem counter-intuitive at first, but take a look at the photo (at left)  from Stewart Elliot of Riverbend Timber framing.

Timber frame homes use big timbers which come from big trees. Here’s another counter-intuitive one. Big timbers come from big trees–sometimes old-growth trees. Big trees have spent many, many years storing carbon and producing oxygen. Today’s 2x4s are manufactured from young, small trees – trees that have not lived long enough to store much carbon or to have produced much oxygen.

What we’re doing to make 2x4s cheaply is to grow genetically-engineered super fast-growing trees, cutting them down in 10 years, and then replanting. By the way, when we replant these crop trees, we’re not doing it by hand. We’re burning diesel fuel.  Is it a cheaper way to produce a 2×4?  Undoubtedly.  Is it greener wood?  We’re not so sure.

Timber frames or post and beam homes are the best use of old trees. In our view, it is far greener to cut down a majestic old-growth Douglas Fir tree at the end of its life, and fabricate it into a functional and gorgeous timber frame that will be treasured and maintained for centuries, than to cut it down and saw it into 2x4s that will eventually go into a landfill and rot, or produce window sashes which will rot, or make paper. Better to revere these fantastic trees by turning them into an architectural solution to a structural problem that is so stunning and useful that generations of people will benefit from, and take care of the building.

Some post and beam homes are built without cutting down a single tree by using reclaimed wood and beams from old buildings and factories. Adaptive reuse is growing in popularity across the timber frame and construction industries.

Nearby is a photograph of one of our timber homes that utilized reclaimed wood. We love putting old wood back to work, and the sustainable timber in this project is structural and is holding up the roof.

Timber framing is a darker shade of green. Having spent a week in a photovoltaic solar class, we’d note that no building material or technology is without consequences to the environment–not even solar panels. We contend that timber frame and post and beam homes, while not an environmentally perfect building solution, are demonstrably and quantifiably greener than most other conventional building methods.

Is there progress to be made? Sure! Yet, even so, timber framing, teamed with structural insulated panels and solar photovoltaic panels, is the most beautiful, green, and energy-efficient method of building we know of.

Speaking of progress, in 2022 we installed solar panels on our new building:

Curious how timber frames come together? Watch and learn

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What do the old boots have to do with building?  Please bear with me.  I bought the boots pictured at right 20 years ago.  At the time, they seemed very expensive–say $200.  My Dad and I were on a fly fishing trip, and I needed a new pair of hiking boots.  I didn’t have a lot of money, (and still don’t) but I chose to buy the Italian-made boots versus a less expensive option.  Over the ensuing 20 years, I replaced the laces, and hiked a lot of miles.   Let’s calculate my cost per year as $10 ($200 / 20 years).

Now suppose I’d bought the cheapest pair for $75, and suppose they lasted 5 years before wearing out.  My cost per year would be $15 ($75 / 5 years).

Over 20 years, my cost for quality boots would be  $200 (plus laces).
Over 20 years, my cost for cheap boots would be $300 (50% more expensive).

Now, suppose we enter a period of higher than normal inflation.  If we  factor in inflation at 8.27% a year, those “cheap” boots would now cost $600 over the 20 years–three times the cost of the “expensive” choice.

My point is that quality is almost always less expensive in the long-run, and that initial price does not equal total cost.  Our clients know this.  They always pause, and nod their heads knowingly when they notice this plaque in our office:

The Swiss have a saying,  “Build it once”.

There’s another benefit to quality—you appreciate and enjoy your possessions more. Buy something serviceable but unremarkable, and it disappears. You simply don’t notice it any longer—like a battery powered clock on your wall. A family Grandfather clock is a different story. You appreciate it weekly—as you gently wind the mechanism and notice the 1878 date of manufacture and picture your father doing the same task every Sunday afternoon. Buy quality, and it becomes a friend, a loved possession.

At some point after owning something of quality for many years, you’ll shake your head in disbelief that it’s lasted so long. And here’s the funny thing—you won’t be able to remember what it cost.

This belief in quality is a big part of Sarah Susanka’s Not-So-Big-House philosophy. Design a smaller house, with higher quality design, materials & craftsmanship—to which I’d add, discipline yourself to make choices. You don’t need it all, and you’re not going to enjoy spending a big part of your life cleaning, maintaining, heating & cooling, storing, insuring and worrying about your things. Buy less things, but those you do buy, choose the best quality you can find. Choose quality over quantity and then discipline yourself to not buy or build everything you can afford. Don’t spend every dime you have or can borrow on quality. Buy only one pair of great boots, even if you can afford a second pair. Design your home so you have money left over at the end.  That way it won’t be a burden, and your children will want it (that last piece of advice comes from my Dad–an attorney who specializes in Estate Planning and Probate Law).  Follow this advice and you’ll have the time and money to experience a fuller and more meaningful life. You’ll be the one putting those boots on and going for a hike this weekend instead of the other person working Saturday and half of Sunday to make his or her mortgage payment this month.

We hope to see changes to the way houses are built in America.  There’s a lot of talk about a “New Normal”, and we hope to see a “Return to Quality”.  Our grandparents believed in quality.  They paid more for something made in the USA, of good design and materials, and bought it once.  Their possessions are our prized antiques today.  We’re optimistic that these difficult times will indeed usher in a “New Normal” in building, and that more people will choose to build a high-quality timber frame, more energy efficient, smaller and sustainable homes–homes that will be loved, and taken care of for a hundred years or more.

Many people believe both inflation and higher energy costs lie ahead.  Building a somewhat smaller, meticulously designed home with high quality materials and craftsmanship that is even more energy efficient than you think is required…and that doesn’t take every dollar you have…may turn out to be one of the smartest and most enjoyable investments you can make in the coming years.

Best Regards,
Eric Morley, Founder

Ready to be blown away by timber framing craftsmanship? Watch now

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