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Post and beam home building and construction is a rustic type of home building where only posts and timbers are used to construct the frame of the home. It is vastly different from the typical framed wall style of building used today on most new residences.

This style of home building offers the advantages of exposed beam construction and a rustic, natural “feel” for the homeowner. It is a type of construction that lends itself well to DIY projects.

About Post and Beam Home Building

In a DIY post and beam project, the first step is to lay out your home design. Nearly any type of home can be designed in this style. The structure of the home is built around your layout, creating the space you desire. After the layout is complete, the posts and beams must be cut and shipped to your home site for installation.

Part of the project will be deciding how to cut the post and beams to match your home design and where to have them cut. A manufacturer of post and beam frames is the likely source for this part of the project.

Construction of the Post and Beam Home

Once the order is placed for the post and beams, it will be several weeks before they are delivered to your site. The material is shipped in protective sheeting that is removed, and each piece is identified as to its place in the frame.

During construction, a crew of several laborers installs the frame pieces. One other advantage of post and beam construction is time. A few days will be all that is necessary to erect a post and beam home frame. Use a crane to install the beams, and the process is just a matter of fitting the right pieces into the right places.

Types of Post and Beam Homes

There are many different types of post and beam homes. Some are notched to fit together without nails or braces. This is referred to as “nailless” post and beam. Other types of post and beam homes are assembled with wooden or steel pegs. Still others use metal braces and bolts to attach the posts to the beams.

The difference is mainly aesthetic. Many homeowners like the idea of a home being assembled without nails. That is why they chose the post and beam frame to begin with, so that is the choice they finally make when deciding on which frame to buy.