[Greenbuilding] Hello to all

[Tom Young]

Hello to all -- I just wanted to drop a note to introduce us as new members. 

There are several posts in the archives that I found quite interesting.  The one of greatest interest was on OAK timbers. 

About 20 years ago I lived in a 140 yr old farm house in North Carolina to restore.  The house was built of wood harvested, sawn and air dried on the property.  The beams and floor joists in the house were white oak. When I purchased the home we had an inspection that to our surprise found only two problems with the old timbers -- a 1/2 inch area of dry rot on a step at the bottom of the stairs into the root cellar and a 2 sq inch section of a beam that sat on top of the stacked stone foundation. 

Of course, the building inspector and the bank officers had fits.  We replaced both sections of wood.  Replacing the plate on the foundation was the most challenging exercise.  We had to cut out an 8 foot section and then bolt three 2 x 10 timbers together to fabricate the replacement.  Today the 8 ft section we removed is a mantel on a field stone fireplace.  I'm sorry we were forced to take those measures but the beam does add to the over all aesthetic and serves as a great conversation piece.  So do the hand forged nails we recovered during the process.

If this is not considered off topic -- I would love to hear from the rest of the members on the list -- what are your areas of practice in green building?  Our family owns a cabinet manufacturing company in New Hampshire (USA).  We manufacture FSC certified solid wood (pine and poplar) cabinetry and built-ins.

Sandi and Tom