Piece-en-Piece

A custom Timber frame home option

 

  Piece-en-piece construction was a common method used for log building in Europe for hundreds of years before being brought to Canada by the French explorers in the 1700's.  By using short lengths of log or timber they were able to build relatively large structures under human power. Todays hydraulic and electric machinery makes it possible to use much bigger and longer pieces, but this system is so stable and beautiful to look at, why would you? 

   My experience with this type of construction started in the late 1990's, when many of the log "trim" jobs we did at the time mimicked this type of construction over the top of typical 2 x 6 wall construction. So when it came time to build my parents house we decided to go with the full log traditional piece-en-piece construction.

  Since then we have built many piece-en-piece structures with round logs and flattened or hand hewn timbers and many combinations of the two, and along the way adding some modern construction details to make it strong, long lasting, modular and easy to ship, and I wouldn't doubt if it is even earth quake proof .

  The one thing that sets our structures apart is the massive mortice and tenon used at all post and door/window buck connections. A  3" deep and 5"-7" wide mortice is cut in the upright column or buck with a 21.5" circular saw mill then, with a broad ax, we cut the matching tenon to fit.  So, with the massive mortice & tenon and post's to fully support the plate beam and roof timbers, there is no settling or movement of the structure to adversely affect stairways or window operation.