Timber Frame

For Timber-Frame Construction, Look for Reclaimed Materials

The big-boned house

Compared to stick framing, timber framing uses larger pieces of wood, with wider spacing between members. In a traditional timber frame, the vertical posts are joined to the horizontal beams with mortise-and-tenon joints and wooden pegs. The structural network of timbers in a wall or truss that makes up one cross-sectional part of a timber frame is called a bent.

Whether timber framing is green depends on the philosophy of the builder, where the materials originated, the logging practices used to procure the materials, and the...