Cascade Joinery - Custom Timber Work

Build Them Tight

John — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:41:16 +0000

We did our first blower door test on our Madrona St. project today. We were shooting for under 1 air change per hour at 50 pascals negative pressure. This is a very tight building. Well we hit it and then some. Readings in the .8-.9 ACH range. This is excellent, especially since we still need to do the blown in blanket insulation and drywall!

Reading on the meter

Blower door assembly in place

Why does it matter? Air leaks are largely responsible for energy loss. It is why a home loses heat, feels drafty and how allergens can enter your home.

Robert Stockman of Pinnacle Inspection did the test for us. He is also doing third party verification for Built Green, NW EnergyStar, and LEED certification on this project.

This project has it’s own blog: Netzero Homes It covers the project in greater depth.

New Digs!

Jim — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:40:31 +0000

Moving is never fun. For 11 of our 21 years as a timber frame company, we were in our Fairhaven office and shop. We moved our office to Ferndale earlier this fall. This involved recycling several dumpsters of paper, a couple of pallet loads of computers and electronics, and a big free pile that the community absorbed (reuse it!)

The 'naked' frame of our project over in Moses Lake

Steel tension members look great contrasted against the Douglas Fir

Now they guys have completed the shop move (in between timber frame projects in Moses Lake and building a Net-Zero house in Bellingham). It was herculean task headed up by Craig but the big push is done. We still have a bit of material to move, but that will wait a week or so.

We are already laying out the first project in our new shop – a timber roof system for a great design going up over in rural Redmond. Pics to come as we make some progress.

SIP's Panel being lowered over the bedroom wing as the homeowner looks on

Wood Lover’s Island Get Away

John — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:34:45 +0000

Water Side

Sometimes you get to work with people who have a passion for the project they are building. This was one of those times. Bruce has a passion for wood and couldn’t have been easier to work with. He was inspired by an island cabin we had done some years ago.The outcome of this collaborative design/build project is a gem of a cabin that will make a wonderful island retreat for the family for many many years to come.

It’s small, under 1,200 square feet of heated space , 864 on the main level and a small sleeping loft with bunk beds, but lives large with 1,600 square feet of covered decks.The fir timber frame is sheathed with SIP walls and roof to make a tight energy efficient shell.

Another View showing cedar board and batten siding and fir timber work

Only wood and all wood. Douglas Fir timber frame, knotty fir decking and paneling, Brazilian cherry butcher block counter tops, cherry cabinets, Brazilian cherry floors inside, cedar board and batten siding, cedar shake roof, garapa decking outside.

Site built Custom Stairs, cedar paneling, wide plank Brazilian cherry floor

Sleeping loft

Madrona Street is underway!

Jim — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 23:56:30 +0000

We poured the slab for the Madrona Street house that we are building for the Kulshan Community Land Trust. It has been a long time coming, but we are underway. Keep an eye on our blog for uploads from our … Continue reading →

GREEN BUILDING AFTER HOURS!

Jim — Wed, 04 May 2011 23:31:58 +0000

Come learn about what Built Green is doing in Whatcom County. Enjoy refreshments, network with builders, design professionals and people interested in Building Green.

There will be a brief presentation about the High Efficiency Home being built for KCLT

This event is FREE and open to the public!

Hosted by Cascade Joinery & Sponsored by

May 11, 5 P.M. – 7 P.M.

1401 6^th St. in Fairhaven – just off Harris – Lots of parking for cars and bikes!

You can find the event on Facebook HERE

Big Trusses – from our shop to installed on site in 24 hours!

Jim — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 23:21:34 +0000

Yesterday, we loaded up some 50 foot span trusses from our shop – fully assembled. It took some ingenuity to get them out of the shop:

and from there, they were loaded with a small crane onto a special, long length low-boy trailer:

Loaded up and ready to be tarped:

Today, our crew, including Jeff, Craig, John, RJ and Jackson are down on site. I took a quick peek on the webcam to see how they are doing:

You can see the trusses installed on the right side of the building – Shot captured from a web cam.

Fun Eh?

You can see the trusses on the right side of the building

Cascade Joinery’s Work Featured

Jim — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 21:16:50 +0000

The brand new issue of Bellingham Alive has a nice piece written by Matthew Wend about merging nature into the design of a house. The article features our use of NanaWall’s system in a house Greg designed and we timber framed in Brinnon Washington.

Check out the article here! You can see the pictures of the house in the print issue (available around town) or on our site here.

A BIG stick

Jeff — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:44:57 +0000

The Zodiac is a 127-foot, two masted schooner originally launched in 1924. She had a brief racing career, but mainly plied her trade hauling goods up and down the West Coast. She retired from hard duty in 1972, and now is primarily is a teaching vessel based out of Bellingham Bay; her home port is now right across the street from us.

Last September, under full sail in moderate winds the mast snapped about 15 feet from the deck- sending the sails and rigging over the port side of the boat and into the water. There were no serious injuries to passengers or crew, but all of a sudden the boat needed a new 117-foot wooden mast…as if that stuff grows on trees!

The story of the replacement touched on at least two legends of Northwest woodworking lore, harking back to a time when men were men and trees were trees. Following a lengthy search, trees suitable for the new masts were sent to Hull-Oaks Lumber in Southern Oregon, the last steam-powered commercial saw mill in the country, and one of the few mills capable of cutting sticks of sufficient length. Then in December, the cants were sent to The Spar Shop in Aberdeen, Washington to be turned to the final round, tapered shape.

Last Thursday, word on the street was that the new mast would be pulling into town around 1:00, and sure enough the truck was more or less right on time. Here’s what we saw outside our windows:

It has to be said that the day was not entirely without incident, however. Driving a rig of that length through Fairhaven, is not for the faint of heart, and the only thing I have to say is that I’m glad I wasn’t behind the wheel. The intersection of Tenth Street and Harris Avenue proved to be just too narrow for the turn, and you can see that the owner of the Ford pickup had a story to tell at dinner that night!

We assume all’s well that ends well, and that the truck will be repaired and the Zodiac will be back under sail very soon.

Details that make a Difference

Jeff — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 23:33:27 +0000

Digging through the wayback machine and found this photo from a mid-nineties project and remembered that there’s a lot to like in this room. Rather than go on too long, I’ll just point out a few things to check out. First and most obviously, look at the fireplace; those big stones are just too cool. Second, many of the timbers in this room are “out in space,” that is, not plastered up against the walls. Timbers in space are more dynamic. Third, notice the long, narrow windows above the doors. They let light into the living space despite to porch roof; windows up high let light penetrate deeply. Fourth, and related to the second point, the partition wall behind the fireplace doesn’t go all the way to the roof–there’s no law that says they got too. The result IMHO is a visually rich room.

New Blog!

Jim — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:41:47 +0000

Bear with us as we transition our Blog over to our new host. Images are not loaded yet, but most can be found on our main site.