Larry Haun: House Framing Wizard

While researching for this project I’ve watched many a diy construction video. Several months ago I stumbled upon Larry Haun. With his genial and easy going manner Larry Haun struck me as kind an amalgamation of Bob Ross and Mister Rogers who does house framing. Larry passed away in 2011 but someone posted a how to frame a house series on YouTube featuring him and his brother Joe from what appears to be sometime in the 1990s. I don’t know, the house they’re building has a bay window so it could be full on cold war at the time.

The series is several hours long. Preparing to install the floor of the timber frame cabin I know I watched through the floor portion of the video at least four times and made Jean and my parents sit through it at least once. Larry and the video producers do a great job presenting the building steps in a clear, concise manner and making the idea of taking on framing your own house approachable.

For doing the floor joists and plywood decking of the Timber Frame Cabin we followed Larry’s directions pretty closely. Our walls and roof are going to diverge from the conventional stick framing presented in the video but there are still some good tips to be gleaned. So, there is my belated tribute to Larry Haun. Thanks for the knowledge and the encouragement.

Even if you’re not planning on framing a house I think the video is still interesting to watch if only to see how fluidly he uses a hammer and circular saw. They’re almost like just extensions of his hands.