When you think of rough carpentry, framing, you think of hard men, sweat and dirt. You think of cuts that have to be exact, but not quite THAT exact.
What you don’t think of is finish…fine finish. Well, sometimes those two worlds, rough and finish, meet on a certain type of job. Sometimes, what would normally be a roofing system that would only be seen in an attic is out there for all the world to see.
This was one of those special jobs, a framing job that would stand proud.
We pride ourselves on taking on the hard jobs, the ones that other carpenters might shy from.
Framing a roof that also serves as a finished ceiling is a challenge. The compound miters have to fit precisely. Each rafter, hips and jacks, have to be cut to accommodate the slight variations in relationship to each other.
As hard as we try, nothing is perfectly square. The slight deviation wouldn’t be noticeable in a normal roof system but in something like this those little gaps, while not structurally important, would ruin the look, the finished composition where each part works in harmony with the other to complete the finished project.
So we cut and lift the beams into place, and then scribe them to fit precisely, handing them down to the saw man. Each one is then custom cut to fit it’s particular place.
Sure, it’s a lot of extra work. And to be honest, it costs a little extra, too. But, in the end, wouldn’t you rather it be right than cheap?