Gold is in the Grain

When it comes to sustainable building for retired NW carpenter.  

With a nail notched into place, he extends his tape measure up high to latch on to it and reads the other end to measure where his next rafter cut will be.  Del Adams is the master of reuse!  Back in the day he was a finish carpenter for Walsh Construction in Portland.  His final working days were spent at a refurbished job in the Pearl area, what previously had been a horse barn has now become the Ecotrust building.  He points out the picture showing the 8’ doors and windows he had set.  His career at Walsh spanned 15 years.

Now he concentrates his trade on his 6 1/2 acre home in The Dalles, OR.  Most of his finished and current projects contain either a significant portion of reclaimed wood or have modifications so that he can use the lumber he has on hand.  

His latest project includes redoing a barn structure, tearing out part of the old barn and putting back a new structure in its place.  The new section includes a wrap around shed roof.   It comes around three sides and contains two hips to give the sleek look of what he calls an “eyebrow.”   The current amount of 20 to 30% reused wood will increase as it nears the finishing stages.  All of the 4x4 and 2x4 braces, over 50% of the 4x6 cedar posts and most of the shorter rafters are reclaimed lumbar.  In addition, the two beams in the barn structure were reused or modified lumber.

Dowel in brace to add structure and heritage look.

The first step in his reclaiming and reuse of lumber is making sure it is sound.  To that he can add some modifications to maximize the amount of lumbar he has on hand and still come up with the strongest structure that will last the tests of time.  Some examples of modifications recently done in barn:

• Resourcefully modified used TGI beams plus additional ¾ inch plywood to be strong enough for the center supports.
• With the use of engineering tricks, he designed the barn to take a 14’ span to 10’ span to use material he already had on hand.  The braces he used to make this possible were then given the heritage touch and added structure of dowels.
• Predrilled nail holes to maintain structural integrity in lumbar by keeping it from splitting and thus the structure will last longer.
• Instead of the traditional hangars, he made use of a roll of strapping material to reinforce some rafters onto the backside of the ledger.  This also happens to be similar to heritage methods of toe nailing onto the main structure.  Here he has the strapping for extra support.
• The beams that were in the original barn’s feeder were moved and now reused for structural beams.

Once the new section of the barn is finished, it will complement the other craftsman projects around the home that he has completed since retirement.  

Patio Pergola

The other projects lead the way out to the barn, starting with the large back-area pergola.   Then moving a few steps further is the deck and side pergola, which is soon met by the gate and owl house.   Once on the other side of the garden is the barn.  He envisions chickens and cows taking up resident in the lower part and an art studio and hay loft in the upper portion.

Gate

	% Reclaimed Wood	Comments
Red Door on Patio Shed	100%	Original door to home built near the turn of the century.
Patio Pergola	60%	Wood refurbished from a cedar deck.
Back Deck near Patio	40%	Railing cap and lattice from refurbished cedar.
Gate	100%	Refurbished wood and metal.
Owl house	100%	A Screetcher owl just took resident.

Owl in house.

Looking around the place, one can see many other sustainable methods that are practiced as well.  In his gardening and pastures, Del spreads horse manure with his antique refurbished manure spreader.  He spreads about 10 tons a year.  After a few years of doing this, he says there appears to be healthier and thicker grass in the pastures.  He has a cistern at the top of the hill that supplies his garden and plants with summer waterings.  He reuses metal by welding it into useful designs for his projects, including the barn supports.  He uses filtered reused motor oil that he mixes with diesel to fuel his tractor.  Also he keeps a worm composting bin in addition to his regular garden compost bin.

Del works on the barn as his grandchildren play nearby.

With the new rafter in place he maneuvers the ladder around his reclaimed “to be used” pile to take the next measurement.  This “hipped” type of roof takes more measurements, but in the end the efforts will be aesthetically worth it.  Just as the efforts to reuse the wood he had on hand will mean that he didn’t have to go out and buy fresh lumber.  This adds up to the advantage of the environment as well as his pocketbook.  This theme is running central to carpenters and construction companies alike in today’s economy.  Two companies in our area with growing green divisions are Gly Construsction and the Seattle’s Walsh branch.  

Feel free to leave comments highlighting sustainable construction efforts and green built or retrofitted housing and business developments in the Seattle’s Eastside!