Larry Haun’s legacy of teaching and dedication to the craft of framing houses is nothing short of legendary. He was a thoughtful storyteller and writer, too, which helped. So many of the carpenters I meet out in the world mention Larry as an influence. He literally wrote the book on framing, The Very Efficient Carpenter. (And he continued writing until the end of his life.)
By far, our most viewed videos are the grainy, 4×3 aspect-ratio framing series circa 1992 showing Larry and his brother Joe framing a house from the floor through the roof, in matching green shirts and suspenders. You can see the full process (and really understand how it’s done) in about three hours. It took Larry, Joe, and a helper about a week. That’s pretty incredible, even by today’s standards.
When I need an extra kick of inspiration, I go and read some of his work. A Carpenter’s View collects a bunch of his blogs for Fine Homebuilding, and they’re all so full of personality and insight from a life lived through a time of innovation. When Larry started framing houses, he was using a hammer and hand saw, but as technology and the needs of housing changed, he embraced them. A pneumatic nailer and a worm-drive circular saw helped him work more efficiently.
While I appreciate architect-designed, custom-built homes, it’s clear we need more homes for folks in general, and that’s part of the job, too. I think Larry says it best in One Carpenter’s Life: “We weren’t building California bungalows or Victorian gingerbread houses. We were building solid tract houses that working-class families could afford to buy. And you know what? More than 50 years later, despite frequent earthquakes, those houses are still there. Hundreds of thousands of them.”
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