Our Methods

Westwind Oak uses a mixture of traditional and modern techniques in the workshop. The team of highly skilled carpenters prefabricate all the sections of the complete frame. Each timber is first levelled and then marked and jointed, on top of wooden trestles. The joints are typically variations of mortice tenons, fixed together on site with oak pegs. We have extensive experience of traditional frames and over the past few years have gained a reputation for building more unusual and individual structures.

The timber most commonly used is green oak, (meaning freshly cut and unseasoned), which is used within a couple of years of the tree being felled, so it still has a high moisture content. Using green oak enables us to joint or work it more easily, and the timber seasons in the frame, which takes between 5-10 years to mature and create its own strength and tension, it is also far cheaper than seasoned (dried) oak. In the fabrication of each frame, each member is identified with 'carpenters marks', based on Roman numerals, which then enables us on site to know the position and relationship of the individual members in a complex frame. In the raising of the frame, all the prefabricated sections and joints are drawn together with our hand made oak pegs. Whereas many hands in the past would raise a frame, we now use a crane wherever possible.