03/01/09, 10:32 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Southside Virginia
Posts: 687
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Having dealt with restoration of 200 year old structures here in VA, the common way to peg a joint was to use a sapling and skin the bark off. After the "peg" was driven in, it was wetted causing it to swell and grip the joint tightly. Sapwood (the young sapling stage of tree growth) swells more than the heartwood, so it was most commonly used. If you are going to use pegs your joints must be mortised/tenoned, not just butted or lapped like a nailed joint. The holes were bored through the joint using a hand auger (round holes) then the peg, a little oversized and tapered, was driven in. The peg was longer than the beam hole, so that as it was tapered it could be driven in till the builder felt it was tight enough, then both sides of the peg were trimmed (or in the case of a barn often left long).
Mortised and pegged joints are very strong. We recently demolished a house here built in 1790 (I know, what a shame, but owner wanted a new house). We pulled out every post and stud along both the front and one side wall, the 2nd story and roof stood up with only the back wall and one side holding it up in an L shape! In other words, on the first floor there was 25 feet of no wall on one end, and 32 feet missing on the front, an L shape completely missing, while the upstairs and roof just stood there precariously hanging! The beams that ran along the front and back walls were 32 feet long! Incredible strength in wood, and those pegged joints held it together that well. It finally fell when we pulled out the remaining corner beam.
A pegged joint is much better than nailing.
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(and a lot of luck - Wisconsin Ann)
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