Originally, German (and other) master carpenters would peg the joints with allowance of approximately an inch (25 mm), enough room for the wood to move as it seasoned, then cut the pegs and drive the beam home fully into its socket.
To cope with variable sizes and shapes of hewn (by adze or axe) and sawn timbers, two main carpentry methods were employed: scribe carpentry and square rule carpentry.
Scribing or coping was used throughout Europe, especially from the 12th century to the 19th century and subsequently imported to North America where it was common into the early 19th century. In a scribe frame, timber sockets are fashioned or "tailor-made" to fit their corresponding timbers; thus each timber piece must be numbered (or "scribed").
Square-rule carpentry was developed in New England in the 18th century. It used housed joints in main timbers to allow for interchangeable braces and girts. Today, standardised timber sizing mean that timber framing can be incorporated into mass-production methods as per the joinery industry, especially where timber is cut by precision CNC machinery.
To finish the walls, the spaces between the timbers (in German called Fächer) were often infilled with wattle and daub, timber or brick.. Plastered faces on the exterior and interior were often “ceiled” with wainscoting for insulation and warmth. Most modern day post and beam structures are finished with timber cladding or insulated panels.
This juxtaposition of exposed timbered beams and infilled spaces created the distinctive "half-timbered", or occasionally termed "Tudor", style structure. Some images shown below show some post and beam timberframing during construction and some finished buildings, both modern and historical.
The Lovely French town of Vanne in Brittany has some wonderful historical post and beam houses
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