Timber doesn't come from a catalog. It comes from a hillside, a sawmill, and two years of air-drying. Here's what to ask before you buy your first beam.

Ask where it grew

Oak from a wet valley grows fast and loose. Oak from a dry slope grows slow and tight — more rings per inch, more strength, more work to cut. The beam remembers its hillside.

Air-dried beats kilned

For frames, air-dried timber is easier on your tools and more forgiving on the joint. Kiln-dried is fine for furniture, but a green beam will move — cut the joint loose and let it.

Buy the tree, not the board

A good supplier can tell you the stand a beam came from. Ask. The best timber has a provenance, same as a wine. It's the first question a framer asks, and it should be yours too.