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Greetings!
We have been fortunate with another year of challenging timber frame designs and a wide variety of woodworking projects. Business remains steady and we're juggling more jobs than ever! We've hired two more employees to keep up with demand in the workshop.
A big new development for us is that we've joined forces with our timber frame designer, Whetstone Designs, and incorporated a new business: MoreSun Construction. We're branching out to take on more "whole house" projects. So think of us for residential construction, remodels, additions, and the like. And of course, we always welcome custom woodworking projects of all kinds.
We hope your summer is full of more sun--but stay cool!
Stephen Morrison and the MoreSun Crew
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New Main Street Location!
We're excited to announce that after 11 years in cramped conditions, we've moved the timber frame portion of the business to a new location. It's just down the road from the old shop in the heart of Long Creek, SC.
The new shop has about 5 times the space, good road frontage, easy truck access, and the best part…we can drive a 24 foot timber straight through the front door!!!! (Timber framers reading this understand my excitement). The "old shop" is now dedicated to furniture and cabinetry projects. We're excited about growing both parts of the business.
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Highlights of ways we've been using our woodworking talents:
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Retail Display
Want your retail items to look super cool? Then hire us to build you a neat timber frame display. This one is for Diamond Brand Outdoors in Asheville, NC to display Eagles Nest Hammocks. During test-fit in the shop, our kids begged to keep the Eastern Red Cedar structure for themselves. The store employees were so thrilled about the display that we hoped they'd thank us with free hammock loungers. But alas, we left the install nearly empty handed. We did manage a take away item--lightweight wicking t-shirts made from recycled plastic bottles! We're so impressed with them that we hope to order more with the MoreSun logo to be our summer work shirts.
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1980s Remodel
Our first job as MoreSun Construction. This remodel with timber frame great room addition kept one MoreSun crew busy for months. A perk of the job was that the home owner was also an ER doctor who didn't mind inquires about ailments and injuries on or off the job. Their family was so much fun to be around; we've gotten our kids together to play several times.
 
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Dream House
A beautiful retirement home right here in Mountain Rest, SC was our latest project. The home is a hybrid of timber frame, stick frame and SIPS panels. The design was done by Whetstone Designs. The timber frame is eastern white pine from Trull Forest Products with few pieces of poplar from a tree Stephen felled on the house site. The hardwood floors are in, cabinets have been installed, and they're just weeks away from moving in--we hope to be invited to their house warming party this summer!
Do-it-yourselfer, Dawn, cleaning up in preparation for more interior construction
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Patio Pergola
This was a neat project we did in Atlanta with Todd Pullen of Alex Smith Garden Design. It is an open timber frame pergola made of cypress. It was given a distressed finish by the artists at Veronica Anns to look aged. It was quite challenging to raise the 8' x 12' x 26' cypress timbers without a crane!
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Pool-side Pavilion
One of the biggest timber frames we've cut was for the Atlanta Athletic Club in Jones Creek, GA. This 36’ x 115’ pool-side pavilion was a great project that kept us busy for months. It incorporated curved details and decorative touches that show off our template design and cutting skills.
We built several timber framed flat screen TV stands, a bar, and cabinets to further enhance this pavilion. We can envision club members spending long hours in the shade by the pool sipping drinks and enjoying the timbered ambiance!
This job made us realize the need for a larger shop with better accessibility for timber deliveries and maneuverability inside the shop. We'd fantasied about more room for years, and all the time spent handling and storing stacks of timbers made us realize the urgent need for expanding our operation.
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Curved Trusses
This was an interesting project on Lake Rabun in NE Georgia. The 36’ curved trusses and half dome timbers were produced by team effort of MoreSun, Whetstone Designs, Fire Tower Engineering and Fraserwood Industries. It was great to work with some really talented professionals in the industry.
Watching the delivery truck try to maneuver into the tight site was quite a thing to see!
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St. John's Lutheran Church
This church in Walhalla, SC was built in 1856 by talented German timber framers. The structure was built on-site with locally harvested and hand hewn timbers. The steeple timbers go from the foundation up 60’ to the plate line of the spire. To explore the attic or crawl space of a building like this is an awe inspiring experience.
This new sign was a combined effort. We built the wooden base, Veronica Anns sandblasted the finished wording, and a masonry crew built the stone structure.
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A couple timbers inside the main entrance were invaded by termites and the problem was discovered when the arched doors began to sag. We were honored to be allowed to do the repair work. We replaced a 14' x 14' timber among other small parts and re-hung the door. The doors hang from huge hand-forged hinges that had to be driven into the timber with a sledge hammer.
The new pieces replaced these original timbers that had the termite damage.
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Home on Pawley's Island, SC
Another collaborative project between MoreSun, Whetstone Deigns, the College of the Building Arts in Charleston, SC and Panel Wrights in WV was building this one-of-a-kind home. The timber was mostly antique yellow pine from an old log cabin near Monroe, Georgia along with a few pieces of river salvaged cypress from the Charleston Harbor. The design was clean and modern, but the timber was old rough and hand hewn. The obvious contrast made for a great look.
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Timber Frame Addition & Custom Built-Ins
This was a great experience for us. We were asked to help Bensonwood Homes from NH to raise and install a timber frame and panel addition to a home in Greenville, SC. It was great to work with the Benson crew and see their wall system. It is a unique shop-built wall system, 2x framing, sheathed on both sides, insulation installed, windows hung, drywall hung and electric boxes and chases in place. The addition went up with lightning speed, great accuracy and tight tolerances.
We took a day off to take the Benson crew rafting on the Chattooga River down the road for our workshop.
We were later asked to come back to add a timbered staircase, a built-in book case, and a nearly vertical ship's ladder.
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Meeting Table
Bethel Presbyterian Church is the oldest church in continuous use in Oconee County, SC. When the sanctuary was restored, the church salvaged old ceiling boards from the 1846 structure and had us build a meeting table for their founders room & library.
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INDUSTRY INVOLVEMENT
Stephen is involved in the following:
- Timber Frame Business Council
- Georgia Mountain Jubilee
- GA Mountain Home Builders Association
- Oconee Home Builders Association
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OUR TEAM
Stephen Morrsion - Owner/ designer / builder / bidder
Ben Loveland - Head timber framer / workshop manager
Jeremy Sanders - Timber framer
Carlton Wheatley - Timber framer
Will McSwain - One time intern & new hire from The College of the Buildings Arts Timber Frame program
Brice Cochran - Our partner at MoreSun Construction & timber frame designer at Whetstone Designs, LLC
Kegan Bodiford - Summer intern
Chanda Morrison - eNews designer / website master
Carol Greenberger - All important bookkeeper
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