Jul 30, 20263min
1The Big Viking Wood Puzzle
How Vikings invented timber framing—with no nails, just stubbornness, mead, and the mighty mortise-and-tenon.
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Timber Frame· 47 articles
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Jul 30, 20264min
1Ireland Lays the Groundwork for a “Wood First” Policy in Public Projects
Ireland’s Timber in Construction Steering Group has delivered a seven-point roadmap covering regulation, procurement, carbon, skills and industry capacity. Its proposed “Wood First” approach would make timber the first material considered for public projects—not an automatic choice and not yet a nationwide mandate.
Jul 30, 20263min
0Small Cabins, Big Dreams – Why Timberframe Houses Under 100 m² Are Taking Over
Small cabins, lower costs, big comfort. Why compact timberframe houses are dominating 2025.
Jul 30, 20269min
0The Hollow-Chisel Mortiser: Your New Best Friend for 100 Perfect Mortises (Before Lunch)
The hollow-chisel mortiser is the ultimate time-saving, precision-boosting tool for timber framers. Here’s why it beats hand-chopping in speed, accuracy, and sanity—featuring Sven & Olaf’s legendary woodworking wisdom.
Jul 30, 20263min
0Romania’s nZEB Expo Gives Timber Construction a 352-Square-Metre Platform
At nZEB Expo 2026 in Bucharest, the Wood Hub became the event’s dedicated Timber Partner. The expanded platform connected timber-frame manufacturers, engineered-wood specialists and energy-efficient construction audiences.
Jul 30, 20263min
0Predazzo’s Olympic Village Builds Its Legacy in Timber
The 2026 Winter Games village in Predazzo combines new timber and steel accommodation with renovated historic buildings, then returns the permanent campus to the Guardia di Finanza after the athletes leave.
Jul 30, 20266min
0Romania’s Timber Industry Calls for 25% Wood in Every New Public Building
ASFOR is asking Romania to require wood products to represent at least 25% of the value of each new public building. The 2026 proposal could reshape procurement, but it is an industry position—not an adopted law.
Jul 30, 20263min
0France Publishes a New Test Route for Timber-Frame Façades
FCBA’s 2026 guidance gives manufacturers and project teams a clearer way to verify how external cladding behaves on timber-frame façades under deformation and wind-driven rain.
Jul 30, 20265min
0France Wants Timber on the Podium for the 2030 Winter Olympics
The France Bois 2030 mission is turning the French Alps Winter Games into a test of local timber supply, low-carbon procurement and long-term reuse. Launched in 2026, it aims to help project teams specify French wood without repeating avoidable mistakes from Paris 2024.
Jul 30, 20263min
0Bouygues and FCBA Renew a Three-Year Push to Scale Timber Construction
Bouygues Bâtiment France, Linkcity and FCBA have renewed their strategic partnership through 2029, targeting technical validation, regulation and the large-scale deployment of timber buildings.
Jul 30, 20263min
0Britain Imports Most of Its Timber—Could Homegrown C16 Change the Specification?
The Forestry Commission says roughly 75–80% of the timber consumed in the UK is imported. New 2026 guidance argues that homegrown C16 timber is suitable for many structural applications if it is specified early.
Jul 30, 20266min
0Bellway Opens Robotic Timber-Frame Factory Built to Supply 3,000 Homes a Year
Bellway Home Space has begun supplying timber-frame kits from a 135,000-square-foot factory in Nottinghamshire. The housebuilder plans to scale output to around 3,000 homes annually by 2030, bringing robotic off-site manufacturing into its mainstream delivery model.
Jul 29, 20263min
0England’s Future Homes Standard Is Here: Why Timber Frame Could Gain from a Fabric-First Race
England published the Future Homes and Buildings Standards in March 2026. Heat pumps, solar generation and tighter performance rules put envelope quality and repeatable off-site construction under pressure.
Jul 29, 20266min
0Canada puts mass timber inside its 2026 forest-sector reset
A federal transformation task force, new manufacturing investments and a renewed housing-focused wood programme place mass timber and prefabrication inside Canada’s industrial strategy—not just its architecture pages.
Jul 29, 20263min
0Timber Design Software Attracts A$3 Million: Why Investors Backed SPEC Toolbox
Australia’s SPEC Toolbox raised A$3 million in January 2026 to expand a structural-design platform that began with mass timber and now connects engineers with verified product data.
Jul 29, 20265min
0Two Robots, 352 Screws: LASER Schedules a Full-Scale Timber Slab
University of Stuttgart researchers coordinated two robots to assemble a 2.4-by-6-metre timber slab through 108 subroutines and 352 screws, while respecting collisions and adhesive time limits.
Jul 29, 20263min
0Finland’s Award-Winning Puusauna Lets Whole Trees Carry the Roof
Jaakko Torvinen’s island sauna combines hand-hewn logs, CLT, glulam and minimally processed tree trunks in a structural experiment with crooked wood.
Jul 29, 20263min
0Three Global Studies Redraw the Tall-Timber Map in 2026
New datasets covering 56, 79 and 258 buildings quantify material intensity, structural systems and recurring tower types—replacing isolated records with a broader global picture.
Jul 29, 20263min
0Toronto Installs a 210-Kilogram Robot for Full-Scale Mass-Timber Fabrication
The University of Toronto’s first industrial-scale timber-fabrication robot combines a 3.5-metre reach, 210-kilogram payload and 0.06-millimetre repeatability.
Jul 29, 20263min
0Tekla 2026 adds AI to structural BIM—please keep an engineer in the loop
Trimble’s March 2026 release adds AI-assisted fabrication drawings, natural-language modelling previews and cloud settings. The timber opportunity is real, provided automation never becomes anonymous.
Jul 28, 20262min
0Europe Backs Robot-Built Timber Housing with Digital Twins and AI
The EU-funded PTAH project will test robotic microfactories, digital twins and adaptive construction in a two-storey timber demonstrator.
Jul 28, 20262min
0Can Timber Help Europe’s Housing Crisis? EU Projects Target the Skills Gap
Two EU LIFE projects are building the training, local supply chains and practical knowledge needed to use more wood in affordable and social housing.
Jul 28, 20261min
0Australia Tests Light Timber Frame Buildings Up to 15 Metres
The Future Framing Initiative is developing the evidence and standards needed to extend light timber framing into 4–5-storey apartments, schools and aged-care buildings, with a target pathway into the 2028 National Construction Code.
Jul 28, 20263min
0Proposed Fire Rules Could Restrict Timber Buildings Above 11 Metres in England
England is consulting on changes to Approved Document B that would remove its standard guidance route for combustible structural elements above 11 metres. The proposal could reshape even modest mid-rise timber projects, but it is not a final ban.
Jun 8, 202610min
0Why AI Still Struggles With Real Timber-Frame Design — And Why That Matters
AI can generate a beautiful timber house in seconds. But can it place the posts correctly, align the plates, respect structural logic, and produce something a builder can actually cut? That is where things get interesting.
Jun 8, 20267min
02026: The Year Timber Construction Becomes Mainstream — Yes, Really
Timber construction is no longer just for cabins, eco-retreats, and people who own too many chisels. In 2026, wood is moving into cities, policies, insurance reports, factories, and serious construction pipelines. Here’s why timber may finally be crossing from niche to normal.
Dec 14, 20258min
0Tool Tracking for Timber Teams: Why Bluetooth Tags Are the New “Where’s the Framing Square?” Fix
Timber framing crews lose up to 7% of weekly productivity searching for tools. Bluetooth trackers are the simplest, funniest, and most effective way to stop the disappearing-square epidemic forever.
Dec 14, 20256min
0Chisels, Slicks, and Squares: Your First 5 Hand Tools for Timber Framing (and Why Your Grandpa Was Right)
Your first five hand tools for timber framing—framing square, chisels, slick, marking knife, and wooden mallet—are more than nostalgia. They’re precision instruments that still outperform power tools when joinery really matters.
Dec 14, 20258min
0Barr vs. Narex: The Ultimate Timber Frame Chisel Showdown (Tested on Real White Oak)
We put two legends of timber framing—Barr Tools and Narex—to a real workshop test: white oak, end grain, identical mortises. One costs €145, the other €32. Here’s what actually matters.
Dec 12, 20256min
0Mallets, Adzes, and Marking Knives: The Quiet Power Tools You’re Underestimating
Power tools scream, but traditional hand tools whisper—and still deliver joinery accuracy down to fractions of a millimeter. Meet the mallet, adze, and marking knife: three timeless tools that shape timber with precision, control, and zero battery anxiety.
Dec 12, 20257min
0Milwaukee’s ‘Brute Force’ vs. DeWalt’s ‘Atomic Speed’: Which Philosophy Fits Your Timber Framing Style?
Milwaukee brings brute-force torque. DeWalt brings hyper-efficient speed. We tested both on real timber framing tasks—white oak (6×8 in / 150×200 mm), structural lag screws, wet weather, and long battery cycles—to see which tool matches your building style.
Dec 11, 202510min
0DeWalt’s 2025 Multi-Head Drill Driver: One Tool to Rule All the Tight Spaces (Yes, Even Inside a Mortise)
DeWalt’s new 2025 DCD799 Multi-Head Drill Driver is a shape-shifting compact tool built for tight spaces, awkward angles, and impossible timber-frame joints. With four interchangeable heads, surprising torque, and a tiny 5.3 in (135 mm) body, it’s quickly becoming the most versatile drill of the year.
Dec 11, 20256min
0WMS 2025 Recap: The 5 Most Exciting Timber Frame Innovations (and 1 That Made Us Say “Wait, What?”)
A fast, funny, builder-grade recap of the best (and strangest) timber framing innovations revealed at WMS 2025—from contactless blade safety to on-bed CNC labeling and modular beam saws that scale with your shop.
Dec 11, 20256min
0Festool vs. Makita Sander Showdown: Is $400 Worth Zero Vibration & Perfect Dust Capture?
A clear, real-world comparison between the Festool ETS 150/3 EQ and the Makita BO5041K. We test vibration, dust collection, finish quality, ergonomics, and long-term value to reveal when paying extra truly makes sense.
Dec 9, 20258min
0From Thatch to Tile Backer Panels: How to Protect Timber Structures for the Long Haul
Behind every long-lasting timber structure lies an invisible defense system against moisture, UV, insects, and decay. From ancient thatch to modern backer panels, this is the science of durability.
Dec 9, 20256min
1How I Started Building a House and Ended Up Building Software.
The story of how a gold-flake-water-drinking architect's useless napkin sketch drove a DIYer to build his own browser-based timber frame design software from scratch.
Dec 9, 20258min
0Top 10 Timber Projects by Think Wood: What the Most Awarded Wooden Buildings of 2024 Teach Us About Excellence
From NBA training centers to university labs and iconic arenas, Think Wood’s Top 10 Timber Projects of 2024 reveal how mass timber has become the gold standard for sustainable, high-performance architecture.
Dec 9, 20259min
0From Rustic Cabin to Massive Stadium: The Spectacular Evolution of Timber Structures
Once used for small cabins and barns, timber now supports massive stadiums, skyscrapers, and research centers. This is the story of how wood became one of the most advanced structural materials on Earth.
Dec 9, 202510min
0Start a Timber Frame Business Under $50,000
Learn how to launch a small timber frame shop on a lean budget: tools, workspace, pricing, marketing and a first-year roadmap without going broke.
Dec 9, 20257min
0Timber Homes That Belong: How to Build Like a Local
Tired of fake chalets and cosplay cabins? Discover how modern timber homes can actually belong to their landscape instead of looking like confused tourists.
Nov 29, 20255min
0Traditional Joinery & Japanese/Scandinavian Influence – The Craft That Gives Soul to a Timberframe
Japanese precision, Scandinavian simplicity, and traditional craftsmanship — the magic inside every soulful timberframe structure.
Nov 29, 20253min
0Curved Beams & Organic Shapes – The Timberframe Revolution
Curved beams, fluid shapes, and organic timberframe design taking over 2025 architecture.
Nov 28, 20255min
0When Our Ancestors Started Notching Logs: The Story of a 476,000-Year-Old Wooden Structure
Archaeologists discovered a notched wooden structure dated to 476,000 years ago — proving early hominins built the earliest known timber framing long before Homo sapiens existed.
Nov 28, 20254min
0When Wood Meets Sunlight: Why Timber Frame + Solar Panels Is Becoming the Future of Sustainable Building
Timber frame construction combined with solar panels is rapidly becoming the global standard for sustainable architecture, blending natural materials with renewable energy.
Nov 12, 20256min
0Dark Timber & Open Living: 2025’s Hottest Timber Frame Design Trends for Modern Homes
Dark beams, open layouts, and smart details redefining modern timber frame living in 2025.
Nov 8, 20255min
0Beyond the Barn: Global Timber Frame Trends 2025
Global timber frame trends for 2025—Japan to Scandinavia, curves, modern rustic, gardens, and biophilic design.
Oct 13, 20255min
2I Thought a Tape Measure Was Optional… Until My Shed Looked Like It Was Doing the Samba
A hilariously true tale of DIY timber framing gone wrong—and the tools that saved my shed (and my marriage).