Building in American wood frame construction. Who has experience?

Hello, I am currently considering building my future house myself using a timber frame construction method.

This construction method is usually used in the USA.

Now my question is whether anyone already has experience with building something like this themselves.

I would be very happy to receive a response from you.

Hello eule1904,

first of all, in Germany too, residential buildings are constructed using timber frame construction by carpentry companies, as well as by many prefabricated house manufacturers. These certainly have a much higher quality standard than their big brothers in the USA.

With timber frame construction, it is absolutely essential to pay attention to flawless, professional detail planning and equally proper execution, otherwise the house will turn into a kind of hazardous waste (mold infestation) after several years of use.

I would only advise self-construction if the planning is done by an experienced architect or structural engineer and the person who wants to carry out the work is very knowledgeable about timber construction.

The American construction method often differs in that much thinner cross sections are used. Here, 160mm is actually the smallest structural diameter for the main stud framework. However, there are also houses with 200mm and 240mm stud frameworks. That contributes a lot of stability.
Also, houses there are mostly only nailed (including to the foundation), whereas screw connections are common here.

There are numerous technical books that deal with the construction method. But I would argue that you should already know how to handle wood. So you should be able to cut mortise and tenon joints, etc.

First, you would have to make a preliminary plan and have a structural analysis done. Simply buying wood and nailing it together is not enough.

For self-construction, I find the masonry variant more sensible and certainly more cost-effective.

There are also providers that distribute wooden house kits. Maybe that would be the best solution if it is to be a wooden house.