Post And Beam: Making the Grade

Mark Powers, owner-builder, Alanson, Michigan Upon hearing that I planned to build a post and beam home with an earth roof, the immediate response from the building department supervisor was, "Are you a structural engineer? I'm not."

I knew then that I would have to hire an engineer.

But another problematic issue soon arose, revolving around the fact that I was felling my own trees (hardwood, no less) and chainsaw-milling them into posts and beams.

The issue concerned the use of ungraded hardwood lumber.


Finding an engineer was a process by itself, as I encountered resistance to the idea of using native timbers.

Many engineers simply don't want to be bothered with "gray" areas when it comes to what they think of as unconventional building.


Tracking down someone to grade my homespun hardwood timbers for a post and beam was even more difficult than finding the right engineer.

We live in the northern part of Michigan's lower Peninsula.

Numerous local sawmills process the fine maple, oak and beech stands in our region, but none of the ones I contacted graded hardwood for its structural properties, but only with respect to veneer lumber, flooring, and the like.

I contacted a "certified" hardwood lumber grader through one of the mills, who made a 90-mile round trip to my place only to reveal that he didn't know how to grade posts and beams for structural purposes. So I cast my net further afield.

The Department of Forestry at Michigan State University referred me to the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA) in Memphis, Tennessee.

Through them I connected with a sympathetic inspector who proposed an alternative to having him visit my location and charging rne the minimum fee of $470 a day, plus expenses.

He volunteered to call the local "certified" inspector — the one who had already visited — and explain to him how to grade hardwood for structure. The grading was done according to guidelines from the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association (NeLMA) in Maine.

The inspector charged me $120 and apologized that the bill came to that much. It seemed quite reasonable to me, considering the time he spent educating himself to "make the grade."


Incidentally, the building inspector was not the only one who needed the certified grading; my engineer also needed it in order to feel comfortable about assigning values to my timbers for the post and beam.

Thankfully, my building inspector is basically on my side and seems to appreciate the lengths I've gone to satisfy code.

I've maintained a cordial relationship with all the inspectors I've dealt with, and though it's been mighty frustrating at times, the good will is generally repaid in kind.

It pays dividends to treat the building department as a resource, and not an adversary.

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