Everyone loves a gazebo! But anyone who has built a timber frame gazebo can tell you that the octagonal shape will cause you to create some complex joinery. Take a look at this eight sided corner plate detail sent to us by the team at Hardwick Post and Beam:
To create a flat plane for the roofing, the principal rafters were housed into the top surface of the posts. The intermediate common rafters were notched into the header(grey) and the plate (red). The header and plate are housed into the principal rafter and post, respectively. In order not to take too much meat out of the lumber, there is a spline joint that connects the plate-to-post connection. A metal strap further secures the plate to the post, securing the whole assembly.
This frame is further embellished with decorative, s-curved rafter tails and gently arched knee braces. A well placed detail by the designers at Hardwick Post and Beam.
That’s a very interesting complex gazebo structural assembly, but I’m not surprised that it came from the guys at Hardwick Post & Beam. After working with Christian’s crew on a pavilion project in Concord, MA back in May, I learned that they hand-cut their frames and those guys really look forward to the challenge of making consistent repetitive joinery in complex hips, valleys, and jack rafters look easy.
I would be interested in acquiring a full set of plans. To whom do I apply?
Our custom design department could work that up for you- you can get more information on those services here.