Yeah, that's what I'm trying to avoid but I don't want to get too fancy with
a solution either. I may just put it in and worry about cracks later.
They make a matching caulk (to the stucco) so that may be the answer. I do
plan to leave some space around the beam for horizontal expansion but just
didn't know how to handle any vertical (not lengthwise....wasn't concerned
with that) without shoring up the adobes above the beam (more effort than I
need!). Cheers and thanks.
cc

"bridger" wrote in message
oups.com...
the timbers expand the most in the direction from the heart of the tree
to the bark- that is the tree gets fatter or slimmer as it takes up or
loses water. the wood doesn't expand enough to measure end to end. you
don't need to leave room at the ends, but it will lift the adobes above
as it expands. the most likely failure you'll see is cracking of the
stucco around the lintel.