Crisis of faith...

[lkb1450]

Hi guys, long time lurker and first time poster.  Lots of good info on the forum, I appreciate everyone sharing their knowledge.  My background: I grew up doing carpentry in the summers to put myself through school, and after college I took it a step further and did a timber framing apprenticeship for about 4-5 months.  I then worked for about a year and a half at a timber frame company outside Asheville, NC until it folded in the recession.  I've always had a great deal of respect and admiration for timber frames, and very much enjoyed building them. 

Now, my problem.  I was just fortunate enough to buy a piece of land outside Asheville, and I'm considering options for building a house.  I always wanted to build a timber frame for myself, but I don't really want to spend the money and logistical effort on SIPs.  The wrap and strap method looks like it may work, but it seems to me that the time and material requirements still amount to building the same structure twice, which has always been my biggest problem with the idea of residential timber framing. 

I guess my questions are:
1. Can anyone comment on how much more labor a wrap and strap timber frame approach would entail vs. stick-built?
2. What are some considerations for metal roofing on a timberframe?
3. Are there any other economical approaches to insulating a timberframe (besides SIPs and wrap and strap)? 
4. Can anyone comment on concrete pier vs. slab or traditional foundation for a timberframe?

Thanks in advance for any input y'all might have.  If it makes any difference, the type of frame I would be looking to build would probably be a 1.5 story saltbox around 16 x 32, potentially set on a daylight basement, and loosely based on the Sobon shed.

[D L Bahler]

There is also a number of options for filling in between timbers.
Usually, if you have a 8" post and fill in with a 4" wall, you would still have 4 inches of timber to see, for example.

This creates a far less redundant structure.

You could do the old way of keying studs directly into the frame. Or you could just toenail them and that would be fine.
Or, I prefer frame-and-plank methods, where you set heavy wooden planks into grooves cut in the wood. You can even set two layers of wood planks with a foam sandwich between them.

Then you can wrap the whole outside, with either method, with 2" foam.