ABOUT
For over 20 years, Bala Structures has built timber frames, additions, and renovations across Wakefield, Chelsea, and the surrounding Outaouais. Every frame is cut and raised the traditional way: mortise and tenon, wooden pegs, joinery built to outlast the people who ordered it.
Stéphane Charette started the company on that principle, and it hasn’t changed. What has changed is how you can get a piece of it: through our timber frame kits, built in-house and ready to assemble, and now through our showroom in Farrellton, where you can see the work up close before you buy.
We’re still the same shop. Same joinery, same standards, same reason people come back.
Based in Wakefield, Québec and founded by owner Stéphane Charette, Bala Structures has been building in the Gatineau Hills for almost three decades.
We are a fully licensed general contracting company that works collaboratively with architects, designers and homeowners to provide our clients with healthy, high performance homes designed to stand the test of time.
Our team of skilled and energetic builders bring a variety of specialties to the table, giving us the versatility to meet all the building needs of our clients.
Bala began in timber frame: handcrafted joinery, mortise and tenon, structures built by hand to last generations. Over the years, long-standing relationships with our clients led us to take on projects big and small, from commercial buildings and restaurants to gazebos, garages, and a few pretty impressive playhouses for some lucky kids.
Along the way, we developed deep expertise in resilient design, energy efficiency, and passive heating and cooling, building homes engineered to stand up to a changing climate and the more extreme weather it brings.
That work taught us a great deal. But our roots were always in the wood. Today we’re returning to what we do best: timber frame craft and ready-to-assemble timber frame kits, bringing the same hand-cut joinery and durability that defined our work from the start to structures you can assemble yourself.
Built for generations, now in kit form.
In striving to build the most comfortable, affordable and energy efficient homes possible, a natural evolution took place that brought us to where we are now. The vision of our client base and our expertise with the versatile craft of timber framing has given us the opportunity to work with a variety of high performance building designs and wall systems.
From our beginning until now, products have changed, techniques have changed, and the priorities of home owners have changed. We have risen to these challenges, and because of it we can offer a much greater diversity of skills to our clients.
From our beginning until now, products have changed, techniques have changed, and the priorities of home owners have changed. We have risen to these challenges, and because of it we can offer a much greater diversity of skills to our clients.
BALA BOUTIQUE
Come see the work in person. At our Farrellton showroom, walk around our timber frame kits, feel the joinery, and see how a Bala structure goes together before you build your own. You’ll also find handmade goods from local artisans, cutting boards, pottery, and more, crafted by our neighbours in the Outaouais.
Drop by and talk timber with the people who build it.
SERVICES
We build post-and-beam structures using traditional mortise and tenon joinery: no nails, no shortcuts, from timber frame additions, outbuildings, and pergolas to our ready-to-assemble kit line. For heritage barns and outbuildings, we also offer structural assessment and restoration, repairing or replacing damaged beams and reinforcing original joinery to bring the structure back to sound condition while preserving its character. Whatever the project, it gets the same craftsmanship and attention to detail.
TIMBER FRAME
From power tools to handcrafted
We are always happy to go back to our roots and pull out our chisels! With little more than a sketch of what you are thinking of building, we can work with you to design a custom frame to suit your lifestyle and needs. A timber frame offers enormous versatility in design, as it removes the need for load bearing walls. This allows you to create an open concept living space with vaulted ceilings and windows of almost any size.
With a little help from electricity of course, our frames are essentially hand crafted in the same manner that they have been for centuries, down to the wooden pegs that hold mortises and tenons together.
We can provide our clients with full architectural design services, or work with plans you bring to us. For those with a love of wood, there is little that compares to the awe-inspiring strength and beauty of a timber frame home.
prefab kits
From raw timber to your backyard.
Bring home a piece of true timber frame craft, ready to assemble. Each kit is hand-cut in our Farrellton shop using real mortise and tenon joinery, the same techniques we’ve trusted for over 20 years, in quality Hemlock and Cherry.
From BBQ shelters to kayak and canoe racks, our kits arrive ready to build, with everything you need and a clear assembly guide to walk you through it. No big-box shortcuts, just solid wood and honest joinery built to last generations.
Choose raw, delivered, or fully installed.
Barn Restorations
We do it all
We assess and restore existing timber frame barns and outbuildings, repairing or replacing damaged beams and reinforcing original mortise and tenon joinery. The goal is to bring the structure back to sound condition while preserving its heritage character: the same craftsmanship that goes into everything we build.
Visit Our Showroom
Bala Boutique
See our timber frame kits in person before you buy. Walk through real structures, touch the cedar, and understand the scale and quality of every piece.
Our showroom also features handmade goods from local Outaouais artisans.
1509 Route 105, Farrellton, Quebec
- Featured
- Timberframe
- Résidential
- Kits
PROJECTS
FROM BACKYARD KITS TO HERITAGE BARNS, EVERY STRUCTURE IS BUILT BY HAND TO LAST.
Support à canoe et kayak
DIY kits
Enseigne – Sign
Farrellton, QC
SEE MORE PROJECTS AND TESTIMONIALS
We have always been pleased with the quality of their work. They focus on creating beautiful work with lots of attention to details.
As a former carpenter I was impressed with the quality of their work and the positive and friendly attitude of their staff.
They did extremely high quality work, and were great to work with. They came up with many innovative solutions for construction details and finishings to create a beautiful unique home for us.
I have collaborated as the designer with Bala Structures on numerous new home and renovation projects with excellent results. They have always been attentive to homeowners' needs and concerns and are very conscious of the importance of sustainable design and construction priorities, and they consistently exhibit top-quality craftsmanship and professionalism in the execution of their projects.
