A house made of timber

When Bruce and Susan Bundy decided to build their dream home, they wanted something different -- a house that made a statement.

At first, they said, they thought long and hard about a log cabin. Instead, they chose a timber frame construction that will give the dwelling a rustic feel while retaining the more refined aspects of a modern house.

A log cabin-style home just felt too ponderous, Susan Bundy said. The interior seemed dark on the models they saw at a home show in Louisville, Ky., and the furniture seemed too heavy. "If you choose a log home, you are stuck with that whole theme or lifestyle," she said.

Their timber frame home under construction this week northwest of Jackson is an unusual style new to the area for a moderate-sized home.

The timbers arrived at the Bundys' construction site off Still Meadows Road Friday morning. Over the weekend, the manufactuers assembled portions of the frame.

Monday morning, a small crane arrived on the site to lift the heavy beams into place. Weeks -- 800 man hours -- are spent shaping the beams, but then the frame of the home can be erected in five or six days.

Ryan Lee of Midwest Custom Timber Frames positioned a ladder while working on a timber frame house his company was building in Jackson Monday.

After deciding on a timber frame home, the Bundys had to find a builder. An extensive search led to Midwest Custom Timber Frames, a Sturgeon, Mo., company owned by a father-and-son team that handles the job from concept to completion.

Steve Lee, the father in the team, is a former pipefitter and plumber who started the business with his son, Ryan, in 2004. They build only a handful of homes each year.

They have prepared the rough white oak timbers and are now setting the beams. Not a single nail is used as the house is framed. Instead, the tension of dovetailed beams gives the structure strength, with a few wooden pegs pounded into joints as needed.

"In this house, we used timbers as big as 8-by-10, and the smallest will be 4-by-6," Steve Lee said. "It takes fewer pieces, but they are bigger."

The house uses about the same amount of lumber as a conventional frame home, Lee said.

Once the timbers are in place, the walls are finished with preconstructed insulated panels. "It costs less to heat and cool," Steve Lee said. "The reason is they are insulated with Styrofoam, which cuts air infiltration by up to 70 percent."

Building a timber frame home adds about 20 percent to the cost compared to conventional construction. If the 1,900-square-foot home were a single story, Lee said, that extra cost could be as much as 40 percent more.

But he doesn't want to work for people concerned with price. He's looking for people who want the different look and feel of a custom-built timber home.

"We offer a different look," Steve Lee said. We don't compete with conventional construction. There is no way."

The speed at which the frame goes up belies the extensive preparation. The concrete basement foundation of the home was put in place by 360 Construction, Bruce Bundy said.

The construction is the culmination of a five-year dream, the Bundys said. Bruce Bundy is the lawn and garden manager at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Cape Girardeau. Susan Bundy recently began working for the Missouri Children's Division. They are the parents of three grown children.

They will be selling their four-bedroom split-level home sometime in April and hope to move into their new home in July, they said.

The care the Bundys used in selecting a style for their home also led them to choose the Lees to be their builders. There are numerous companies offering timber frame homes as kits, Bruce Bundy said. Those companies will ship the pieces they prepare to the job site, where a contractor puts the home together.

The Lees were different, Bundy said. Being a Missouri company -- the Lees live in Boone County in Central Missouri -- helped a lot. And their passion for their work made a difference as well.

The Lees worked until the Bundys were satisfied with every detail of the three-bedroom home. There were numerous exchanges over the fax machine, Bruce Bundy said, until the plans were finished.

As the plan evolved from a log home to a timber home, one thing remained constant. Susan Bundy has always loved "Heidi," the story of a Swiss girl who lived with her grandfather in the Alps.

"My house had to have a loft," she said. "That was the ultimate main thing."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 126