40 Foot Shipping Container or Timber Frame Home? Recycle Those Shipping Containers!

Ever wonder what to do with all those old 40' shipping containers you have lying around your yard? Build a home! It's actually an ingenious way to put unused metal boxes to use.

The below 1350 square foot, three bedroom house uses three forty-foot containers. Two are stacked on one another with the the third cut in half and stacked on itself. Leger Wanaselja Architecture relied on repurposed refrigerated shipping containers, which provides instant exterior siding, insulation, and a built-in structural frame (no timber frames required, unfortunately. How horrible!). Additional framing was only needed where windows and interior partitions within the containers were added.

Absolutely ingenuous! If any architects, builders or designers are reading this; we'd love to see how you'd recommend incorporating timbers (reclaimed, of course) into these container homes.

Leger Wanaselja Architecture apparently didn’t stop with the containers only. They incorporated shipping container doors as retaining walls as part of the site prep. Additional green materials such as, blown cellulose insulation to the roof and floors, 50% fly ash/slg in concrete foundation and piers, “green seal” paint on the interior, along with 100% wool carpet and bamboo flooring were used in the Container House.

For day lighting, Solar Tubes are put in use as well as energy star appliances, super high efficiency water heater and dual flush Caroma toilets.


For more information, check out London's container city as well as the LINK to the rest of the article.

Log Home Compared to a Timber Frame Home: What's the Difference?

Are you thinking about building or purchasing a log home? At Davis Frame Company, we specialize in timber frame homes and thought you would like to learn more about the differences between a log style home and our timber frame home style.

Log Homes Compared to Timber Frames: What's the Difference?

Both styles of homes offer exposed wood but this is where the similarities end. Timber framing, often confused with log homes, are extremely different. One of the key benefits of timber frame construction over log homes is design flexibility and customization. Timber framing not only affords you with the option to customize your floor plan to exactly what you want, but the design can provide any style home. Whether you want a more conventional look, rustic or contemporary, timber framing can offer the look of a conventional style home with the unmatched beauty of exposed wood and beams on the inside. If you want minimal exposed wood or a lot, timber framing can accommodate your desires.

Points of Differentiation Between a Log and Timber Frame Home

One of the key differences between log homes and timber frames is that timber frame homes are more energy efficient with the use of structural insulated panels (SIPs). This results in a tighter home with less air leaks compared to log home construction. Log homes can also tend to require more maintenance over a timber frame home with the exterior especially being a concern. Many of our clients are thrilled with the low-maintenance requirements of their new timber frame home.

In summary, here are the highlighted benefits of choosing a timber frame home over a log home:

• Design flexibility.
• Less maintenance than a log home.
• Extremely energy efficient with the use of SIPs (lower heating bill!).
• More accommodating styles; can easily be added as an addition to a conventional style home.
• Fits in with any area: by the ocean, lake, in an urban development or nestled in the mountains
• Less woody than a log home (often many think log homes are too overpowering with wood, but timber framing is just right).

Come and learn about timber framing and how you can incorporate this method into your next home. Our Timber Frames: Designing Your Custom Home book will enable you to learn about the different aspects of designing and building a timber frame home. You'll also learn about the many unique frame style our customers have designed. This book makes for a great coffee table conversation piece!

To see more of our timber frame homes, please visit our photo gallery! If you would like to receive information about our packages, call us at 1-800-636-0993 today.