Meet Our Mass Timber Team

We’re looking forward to the “Mass Timber Group Summit” in Denver, Colorado, July 31 – August 2. It takes place at the Denver Art Museum and will be attended by the leading designers, engineers, suppliers and consultants in the North American mass timber space.

Cornerstone is sending three of our best too, and we’re sure you’ll enjoy meeting our team! As a way to prepare you for some great conversations at the Summit we’d like to introduce you to our mass timber leaders:

Company CEO, Tanya Bachmeier, is a second-generation owner. She grew up in the business and was instrumental in helping the company adopt digital design for conceptual and shop drawings. She also recognized an unmet need in the heavy timber industry for architectural grade finishes and was amongst the first to offer a fully customized finishing service to clients. (She also plays a mean right wing on the company’s hockey team, the Timberwolves.)

Tanya will be presenting an address to the summit on her personal experience of working in the heavy structural timber industry.

Michael Pankratz, Vice President, studied architecture at University of Manitoba. Following his degree, he sought to better understand the practical aspects of construction and took a job with a firm that worked on everything from high-end custom homes to civic art installations and airport terminals. The diverse hands-on experience of those years cultivated an appreciation of designs that enable ease of construction and efficient site processes. As Cornerstone’s design leader since 2015 he’s been personally involved in all our mass timber projects. (Joins the madness in March when college basketball is in tournament mode)

Michael is presenting a workshop session on a timber wall system that has the potential to simplify our industry’s approach to single and multi-family construction.

Jake Howe, Director of Commercial Sales, hails from Toronto where he attended trades school, learned gas fitting and worked in commercial construction. He went on to pursue his C.E.T. diploma, a Passive House trade certification and worked for one of North America’s largest general contractors. As a project manager he had opportunity to work with mass timber and quickly realized that engineered heavy timber has the power to change the construction industry. (Like many Canadians, he admits to talking loudly to his TV during hockey games.)

Jake will be available with insights as a commercial building project manager in Michael’s workshop.

Maintaining Your Timber Frame

What you need to know to keep your beautiful timbers in top form.

You made a great choice in choosing to feature timber in your home’s design. Thank you for choosing Cornerstone Timberframes to be your supplier of fine structural and decorative timber!

As a new owner of a timber frame there are only a few things you need to have in mind as the years go by. There are two items that are common to virtually all timber frame structures:

Cracks (seasoning checks) that form as heavy timber dries down in response to interior humidity levels.
Best practices for maintaining exterior finishes on timber.

Let’s start by looking at the first issue:

Timber Checking (crack lines in posts and beams):

Humans have used timber in their homes since before recorded time, but only in the last two hundred years have our habitations become as separated from nature as they are now. In most ways, that’s been a great improvement, but when it comes to humidity, it means the air in our homes has never been drier – especially for homes in colder or higher parts of the country.

When a tree becomes a timber post or beam for your home it still holds a portion of its living moisture. At Cornerstone, our timbers spend time in a conventional drying kiln, but this can only draw moisture from the outer inch or so. This helps stabilize the timber and the kiln’s heat protects against sapstain. In the following months the remaining moisture will leave the timber. As it dries, it is also shrinking slightly in girth. Cracks will form parallel to the wood grain as tension is released. These are called seasoning checks. Checks can form in multiple fine lines on two or more sides or be concentrated in one larger crack on one face of a timber.

Seasoning checks are natural and unavoidable. Large timbers will usually have more checks than smaller timbers and these also tend to be more visible.

Reducing Checks

While you can’t avoid checks altogether, there are a couple strategies you can use to decrease their number and size. The idea is to slow the rate at which your timbers lose their moisture.

Your home’s interior humidity is key. Use a humidistat to keep an eye on the relative humidity of your home as soon as construction reaches “lock-up” and during the first year of heating and cooling. In winter, humidity levels should be kept at or above 30% and in summer a range of 40-50% is good. Humidifier units can be stand-alone or integrated into your home’s HVAC system.
High temperature also contributes to checking. In a sunroom or any space with large windows solar gain can push local temperatures well above those programmed into your home thermostat. Higher temps when combined with dry winter conditions pulls moisture more rapidly from your timbers. During the first year, use blinds to reduce solar gain whenever possible, and go easy on fireplace use.

Treating Checks

Sometimes a large check occurs in a spot where it’s visually annoying. If your stain colour is dark, the check exposes the lighter coloured wood and it’s the contrast that catches the eye.

There’s an easy solution that many clients can apply themselves:

Use an atomizer-type spray bottle. These can often be found at pharmacies, hardware stores, and discount shops. The key is that it can spray a very fine mist.

Fill it with the stain used on your frame. Contact us if you need to confirm the colour and strength applied to your timbers.

Test the atomizer on a piece of scrap wood or paper, so you have a feel for how it works. Then spray the stain into the checks you want to treat and use an absorbent cloth or paper towel to wipe up any excess or runs.

One pass usually provides good coverage. If a second coat is needed, check to ensure that the first coat is dry to the touch before re-applying.

While a check will never truly disappear, removing the visual contrast makes it much less noticeable.

Cleaning Timbers:

Sansin finishes are durable and easy to clean. Inspect your timbers’ appearance periodically, especially exterior locations where air borne dust and dirt exposure can be high. To return your timbers to their full lustre and beauty a simple, quick cleaning is needed. Use a soft cotton or microfiber cloth with lukewarm tap water and a small amount of gentle dishwashing soap. The cloth should be wrung out well, leaving it damp. Rinse your cloth frequently, change water, and add soap as needed. Finish the cleaning, with a final wipe down using clear water.

Maintenance of Sansin Finishes:

Your interior timbers are unlikely to require any finish maintenance for as long as you own your home. Possible exceptions may be handrails or other timbers that are frequently touched (like a post at a high traffic corner).

For your exterior timbers, maintenance is a routine that you will determine as you live in your home through many seasons. The key to success and an easy maintenance cycle is to observe where timbers need help and to be pro-active in protecting them. Sun and weather-exposure are the key determinants of where and when you need to apply a maintenance coat. Keep an eye on your most sun-exposed posts, fascia, and gable trusses. When you see a hint of cloudiness or fading in the finish this is your sign that a maintenance coat is needed.

Applying an exterior maintenance coat is straight-forward. You can do this yourself or hire a company that specializes in applying exterior maintenance finishes.

Wipe timbers clean (see “Cleaning” instructions above)
Use 220 grit sandpaper or a super-fine sanding sponge and lightly scuff the surface.
Blow off or wipe with a soft cloth to remove dust.
Apply a topcoat of Sansin SDF Naturals in a ½ strength coat of your stain colour.

To purchase Sansin products:

Use Sansin’s online dealer locator. Your local Sansin dealer can help you with the right tools and their extensive experience using paints and stains. To ensure that you purchase the correct stain, tinted to the proper strength, please contact your Cornerstone sales representative and request the details of the stain colour applied to your timbers.

Application Methods:

Be sure to read and follow the application instructions on the can. Stain can be easily applied by brush.

Cornerstone’s favourite way to apply stain is with a synthetic lamb’s wool pad, edge stapled onto a block of wood. These pads are available at most full-service paint stores. You simply dip the block with pad into your paint tray, remove any excess that might drip, and draw the pad along the timber, making sure you get good coverage, and watching for drips. Keep a wet edge, back brush as needed and you’ll soon have the job done!

If you have any questions for anything not covered in this blog, feel free to contact us!

Month: July 2024