Step 01
Site assessment
On site, and for restoration it is a longer visit than most. We look at the sills, the post feet, the foundation, how far the frame has racked and what is actually load-bearing before anyone talks about cost.
Heritage Barn Framing in North Texas
Post and beam, the way the ones still standing were built. Every barn worth restoring in this part of Texas was framed the same way, and most of what has gone wrong with them starts within three feet of the ground.
- Licensed & insured
- Engineered for Blackland clay
- Fixed quote, not a range
- Mineral Wells to DFW & the lakes
Why Old Barns Fail at the Bottom
Walk any barn in Palo Pinto or Parker county that has started to lean and the problem is almost never in the roof. It is in the sill and the post feet. Ground contact, splash-back off a hard surface, and a century of moisture wicking up end grain will take out the bottom eighteen inches of a post while the rest of the timber is still sound enough to build with.
That is a repairable condition, and repairing it is very different from replacing the frame. A rotted post foot can be cut back to sound wood and spliced with a new section joined into the original, so the historic timber above stays in the building. The frame gets jacked, plumbed and set on a foundation that keeps wood out of the dirt this time.
The other half of the work is new. Post-and-beam is having a moment in North Texas because the barndominium boom put a lot of steel buildings on a lot of acreage, and steel gives you a shell rather than a structure you want to look at. A timber frame gives you both.
Either way the method is the same one that produced the barns still standing after a hundred and fifty years: bents assembled flat on the ground, joined with mortise and tenon, pegged with oak, and raised as a unit.
Barn Work We Take On
New Post-and-Beam Barns
Traditional bent-framed barns for horses, equipment and storage. Clear spans, no posts in the middle of the aisle, and a frame designed to be looked at.
Barndominium Timber Frames
The premium alternative to a bare steel shell. A timber frame that carries the structure and finishes the interior at the same time, so you are not furring out walls to hide the building.
Sill and Post Foot Repair
Cutting back to sound timber and splicing in new stock with a proper joint. The original frame stays in the barn.
Jacking, Plumbing and Re-Squaring
Bringing a racked frame back to true and holding it there, then getting it onto a foundation that will not put the wood back in the ground.
Re-Siding, Doors and Roof Framing
Board-and-batten, sliding barn doors on real track, and roof framing that ties into what is already there rather than fighting it.
Recent heritage barn framing
Real North Texas projects. Replace these with the client’s own photography.
What Barn Frames Are Built From
Restoration is partly a matching problem. New work has more freedom, but the species still has to suit the exposure and the span.
| Material | What to know | Relative cost |
|---|---|---|
| White oak | What most of the surviving frames were built from, and still the right answer for sills, post feet and anywhere the timber is near the ground. Dense, durable and hard on tooling. | High |
| Douglas fir | The practical choice for new barn frames. Long lengths, high strength for the weight, and it holds a joint well. Not a ground-contact wood without treatment. | Mid |
| Southern yellow pine | Strong and economical, and historically common in Texas outbuildings. Wants free-of-heart-center stock so it moves less as it dries. | Entry–Mid |
| Reclaimed timber | Salvaged from dismantled barns. It matches an existing frame in a way new stock cannot, and it carries the tool marks. Supply is limited and it has to be de-nailed and kiln sterilized before it goes in a building. | Mid–High |
Relative cost compares options against each other, not against a fixed price. Your quote gives real numbers for your project, with each option priced side by side.
How Barn Work Runs
Keep scrolling to explore
0102030405
Why DFW Homeowners Choose Us
We are a licensed and insured heritage barn framing contractor working out of Mineral Wells and across the corridor east into the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The person who quotes your project is the person who runs it.
What separates the work is what happens before the pretty part: footings sized for the soil on your lot, permits pulled by us rather than handed back to you, and a fixed price that does not move once the job starts.
- Licensed and insured, certificates provided on request
- Site visit and measurements before anything is quoted
- City permits and HOA architectural submissions handled for you
- Written workmanship warranty alongside the manufacturer warranty
- Fixed written quote that does not move once the job starts
Our Service Area
We work out of Mineral Wells and cover the corridor east through Weatherford and Fort Worth into the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, plus the lakes across North Texas.
Palo Pinto & Parker County
- Mineral Wells, TX
- Weatherford, TX
- Willow Park, TX
- Hudson Oaks, TX
- Aledo, TX
- Annetta, TX
- Brock, TX
- Millsap, TX
- Santo, TX
- Graford, TX
- Palo Pinto, TX
- Perrin, TX
- Poolville, TX
- Peaster, TX
- Springtown, TX
- Azle, TX
- Boyd, TX
- Bridgeport, TX
- Decatur, TX
- Granbury, TX
- Benbrook, TX
Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex
- Dallas, TX
- Fort Worth, TX
- Plano, TX
- McKinney, TX
- Southlake, TX
- Colleyville, TX
- Grapevine, TX
- Flower Mound, TX
- University Park, TX
- Prosper, TX
- Argyle, TX
- Denton, TX
- Keller, TX
- Trophy Club, TX
- Coppell, TX
Lakes We Work
- Possum Kingdom Lake
- Lake Mineral Wells
- Lake Palo Pinto
- Lake Weatherford
- Lake Granbury
- Lake Bridgeport
- Eagle Mountain Lake
- Lake Lewisville
- Lake Grapevine
- Lake Ray Hubbard
- Cedar Creek Lake
- Richland Chambers
Heritage Barn Framing FAQs
Can my old barn be saved, or is it too far gone?
Far more of them are savable than people expect. Rot concentrates in the bottom of the posts and the sills, which are the members most easily repaired by splicing, while the timbers above are often still sound. The questions that actually decide it are how far the frame has racked, whether the roof has been open long enough to damage the upper timbers, and what the foundation situation is. We will tell you honestly which side of the line yours is on.
What is a bent, and why does it matter?
A bent is one complete cross-section of the frame — posts, tie beam and braces — assembled flat on the ground as a unit and then raised into place. It is the reason timber framing is fast on site and slow off it, and it is why the joinery has to be cut correctly before anything goes vertical.
Is a timber frame barndominium more expensive than steel?
Yes, on the frame. What it buys you is a structure that is also the interior finish, so you are not building walls inside a shell to cover it up. Whether that comes out ahead depends on how much of the frame you intend to expose and how the interior is specified. We will price it against a comparable finished steel build rather than against a bare shell, because that is the honest comparison.
Do you use reclaimed timber in new frames?
Where it suits the job and the supply exists. Reclaimed stock matches an existing historic frame in a way new timber cannot, and it carries hewing marks that are not reproducible. It has to be metal-detected, de-nailed and kiln sterilized first, and it is not always available in the sizes a frame needs.
How do you keep the new post feet from rotting too?
By keeping wood out of the ground and out of splash. That means a foundation detail that lifts the timber clear, standoff bases where posts land on concrete so end grain can dry, and grading and drainage that moves water away from the building rather than into it. Most failed post feet are a water management problem wearing a wood problem's clothes.
Do you work on barns outside the metroplex?
Yes. Barn work in particular takes us further out than our other services, because the buildings are where the land is. We are based in Mineral Wells and regularly work Palo Pinto, Parker, Jack, Wise, Erath and Hood counties. Ask, and if it is too far to do properly we will say so.
Can a barn frame be moved?
Sometimes. A frame joined with pegged mortise and tenon can be taken down in reverse order and re-raised, which is exactly how salvaged frames end up in new buildings. It is a labor-intensive process and the condition of the timbers decides whether it is worth doing. It is worth an assessment before anyone brings a machine to a historic frame.
Talk to us about your heritage barn framing
Tell us what you're picturing. We'll come measure, talk through materials, and put a real number on it. No charge, no pressure.
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ExploreLet's put a real number on it.
A site visit, a scaled drawing and a fixed quote, at no cost and with nobody chasing you afterwards.