In 2021 I was working for one of the most successful oak timber framing companies in the southwest but after over 10 years of hard work and learning the trade I wanted to see if I could go it alone. I am Dexter Buxton and I have been helping people build their dream homes ever since I left school. This is my story.
I launched premier oak buildings because I love to build with oak-it is challenging and complex but really brings buildings to life collaborating with clients, architects, and engineers in the process of design and problem solving. This all adds to the sense of achievement. Going solo wasn’t an easy decision to make. After all, I was 26 years old, earning a very decent salary and doing something I loved with the potential to go on and do even better things with my career. But it wasn’t quite enough, I didn’t want to answer to someone else, I wanted to do things my way. I secured premises and invested A considerable amount of money in tools and machinery. I contacted my previous connections and implemented the marketing strategy and set up a website.
Let me take a break in this story and tell you what it is we do at Premier Oak Buildings. We build green oak frames for all types of buildings including new homes, extensions, porches, pergolas, barns, stables, garages and carports, and any other oak structure you can think of.
Why do we do this? The ancient craft of oak timber framing goes back hundreds of years to when we first built homes from timber. In simple terms an oak frame is a structure that is built to support the roof and floors of a building on which an external envelope can be hung. Traditional joints are used to connect the frame I’m wooden pegs are used to secure these joints. The building is designed in such a way as to allow for movement in the oak as it shrinks and twists, adding character to what some refer to as a living structure. Movement is the key. The skill in designing and building a green oak frame is in the understanding of how and why oak moves in the way that it does it is all about origin.
Knowing the way oak shrinks allows an architect or designer to create a building ensuring that the joints that hold the building together are under compression and not tension. Ultimately, there should be pressure holding the joints together and not tension pulling them apart.
Another skill in creating a beautiful green oak frame is the craftsmanship involved in the manufacturing of the oak frame. Oak beams are not straight or square but twisted and bent in their natural state. With no square edges or perfectly flat faces to work from, the framer must create a set of datum lines for the framer to work from to then mark up or scribe the frame to ensure that all the faces and joints line up.
Back to my story at the end of 2022 it was time for a new strategy the first year is always the hardest, so I redeveloped the website make new contacts with social media and I spent hours searching through profiles to find the right connections. We toiled over blogs to publish in an effort to promote us and there were times when it was very worrying too much debt and not enough work. But then things began to turn. The website began to gain interest we got messages from connections and requests from people inquiring about framing. As a result, 2023 was a full year and we are now busier than we have ever been, and our workshop is already booked for the next few months. If you are interested in green oak timber framing and want more information, then please visit our website www.premieroakbuildings.com 01823 802509