Timber Frame vs. Log Homes Construction

Are you thinking of building a home with the enduring strength and beauty of wood? There is no doubt that wood provides great warmth and strength to a house, and if wood is the primary design choice for your custom home build then knowing the difference between a log home and a timber frame home, will help you understand that their design and material are very different, achieving different looks on the final project.

 Log home living provides a great outline of the primary differences and similarities between log and timber homes. Both log homes and timber homes are custom homes but are different in the way they are built and the material each uses on their buildings.

Timber frame homes allow the owner to express his or her style differently externally by using different kinds of finishing materials while letting the true rustic beauty of timber show itself inside the home. With timber frame homes, it’s inside where the true beauty of exposed heavy timbers is revealed.

Log homes are very different; their exterior walls are created with logs and are usually easily identified from the outside, they also cannot be finished with siding, brick or stone. What you see on the outside of a log home is pretty much what you will expect to see on the inside.

Timber frame and log homes may sound similar, but in comparison they look completely different, they both offer a variety of design options and styles that you can choose from when building a home, and that may be the only similarity they have.

Since 1979, Normerica has created the highest quality timber frame homes and buildings across North America and around the world. We began as Upper Canada Post & Beam with a simple philosophy: to marry traditional craftsmanship with the latest engineering and building science, delivering nothing less than our customers’ ultimate dream homes.

To view some of our building plans and options download the Construction Guide or register for the Plans Room. If you are a builder looking to use Normerica Timber Frame expertise for your client, get started by downloading the Construction Guide for Builders.