What is the difference between a log home, a post and beam home, and a timber frame home?

I have friends who introduce me as a log home builder. This is inaccurate on two counts - I'm neither a builder (I run a manufacturing company) nor do I have anything to do with log homes. But it illustrates the difficulty that many people have differentiating log homes from timber frame homes. Throw in the relatively subtle difference of what people call a post and beam home and it can be confusing.

A log home is built of relatively large pieces of wood stacked horizontally to form walls. Most people would like the pieces of wood to be large and round but they can be shaped in many different ways to simplify the build process and eliminate some of the difficulties inherent in this building system (settling (vertical movement) of the walls as they dry, etc.).

A post and beam home uses relatively large pieces of wood positioned upright (posts) to support horizontal pieces (beams). The posts and beams can be left organically shaped (round) as in a post and beam log home or squared off as in a timber frame home. Additionally, the pieces may be attached to each other in many different ways including metal brackets, plates, bolts, screws, or mortise and tenon joinery.

A timber frame home is a specific kind of post and beam home that uses mortise and tenon joinery and wooden pegs to hold the squared-off timbers together. A Woodhouse® timber frame home, including our SmartWood™ series of pre-designed homes, is a home constructed of a timber frame surrounded by structural insulated panels (SIPs).

What are the advantages of a timber frame home when compared
to a log home?

Aesthetics
A log home is a very specific aesthetic with it's rustic appeal evident in many ways. A timber frame is a much more flexible aesthetic with a broad spectrum of finish from as rustic as a log home to as elegant as a European cathedral. We often hear clients comment that they started looking at a log home but felt that there was "too much wood" and that a timber frame home gave them a similar feel of rustic elegance but with a more varied, less monochromatic, palette on the inside as well as complete freedom on exterior finish.

Maintenance
A log home requires much more maintenance than a timber frame home. Specifically, the exterior must be cleaned and treated on a frequent basis (usually every 2-3 years to maintain the manufacturer's warranty) and the homeowner must cope with an unsettling degree of settling (as much as 6 inches a story) as the horizontal logs shrink over time. A timber frame home requires no more maintenance than a traditionally constructed home.

Longevity
A timber framer in NY that I know once described the relative longevity of a timber frame and a log home as follows: "You can see many thousand year old timber frame buildings throughout Europe and Asia. A thousand year old log home may be evident as a pile of rotting wood somewhere."

Energy Efficiency
The "R-value" of wood is approximately R-1 for each 1" of wood. A typical log home constructed of 8" logs would have a wall R-value of approximately R-8 (actually less because the chinking between the logs would be of a smaller dimension). A Woodhouse® timber frame home surrounded by SIPs is one of the most energy efficient building systems available. A typical 4 ½" Murus polyurethane SIP wall has an R-value of 26 and, maybe more importantly, has no opportunity for air leaks resulting in a more energy efficient home than both log or conventionally built homes.

The US log home industry is much bigger than the US timber frame industry but its growth is slowing while timber framing is enjoying an accelerating growth throughout the country. Beautiful rustic elegance, little maintenance, the opportunity to leave a tangible legacy for your children and grandchildren, and sustainability are just a few of the differences between the building systems that account for the growing popularity of timber frame homes.

— Pat Seaman
President and General Manager, Woodhouse® The Timber Frame Company
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