That is the flip-side of the coin, the "I can't afford a timber frame" speech. Take the frame in Jack Sobons book. I believe he states there is about 7200 board feet of timbers to build the entire frame, from sills to rafters. That would cost maybe $4000 for a softwood frame. How much would you have to spend to buy enough 2"x6"s to build an equal sized stick house? I know someone who just had a 1200 square foot modular cape built, and spent over $200k, not including the land.
I firmly believe that if you are comparing apples to apples, a timber frame should be cheaper. Yes, you can build a 10,000 foot sanded oak timber frame, but you can also build an 800 foot frame from rough sawn pine.
Dave
Dave
