On 6 June, the 16th international competition for handcrafted log house builders took place as part of the sector’s Open Doors Week, with a record number of competitors from abroad. The Handcrafted Log House Builder of the Year 2026 is Veiko Palm.
The competition gives professional log house builders the opportunity to test their skills against the best in their field in a thrilling and engaging format. The main goal of the competition is to introduce and promote the profession of log house builder and to advance the tradition of log construction.
The handcrafted log house builders’ competition is one of a kind, both in Estonia and internationally. Competitors must demonstrate the best technique and speed in crafting one of the most important structural elements of a log house — the corner joint and the groove. The winner is the competitor who completes the task in the shortest time with the highest level of precision.
Competitors came from Estonia, Latvia and France. A total of 37 participants were registered across three categories. The competition was intense, with competitors pushing themselves to the very last moment. This year’s event was made special by the first-ever participation of a larger delegation from Latvia, confirming that the tradition of handcrafted log construction is alive and well across the entire Baltic region. “It was great to see a delegation from Latvia on the competition floor — and even better to hear that they are organising a similar competition in Latvia. Handcrafted log construction is our shared cultural heritage, something we must preserve together, and it is wonderful to see this tradition growing across borders. Coming together like this is exactly what this competition was created for,” said Ragnar Lõbu, founder of the competition and board member of log house producer Hobbiton OÜ.
In the Professionals category, the title went to multiple-time champion Veiko Palm (Palmaster OÜ). This year’s corner joint type for the Professionals category was drawn by lot as the Estonian dovetail corner with wind-lock. The battle for second and third place was fierce — Margus Palolill (Vanaajamaja MTÜ) claimed second place with a combined time just 8 seconds ahead of Maiker Reimann (Noodapera OÜ), a difference of just one millimetre in their finished work.
In the Axemen category — where competitors must build a corner joint without motorised tools within the allotted time — the competition was equally intense. Winner Alari Suun (Hobbiton OÜ) completed the task in a time that astonished all spectators and earned recognition from both the judges and fellow competitors. Alari Suun’s final time was 47 minutes and 37 seconds, while the maximum allowed time in this category is 2 hours and 40 minutes. Second place in the Axemen category went to Professionals winner Veiko Palm, and third place to Mikk Mustmaa (Majakratt OÜ).
This year’s competition also saw a special first — for the first time, the corner joint type was drawn by lot for the Students category as well, with the Estonian dovetail corner with wind-lock assigned to all students. The top three in the Students category finished within just 4 minutes of each other. Erik Haavam delivered the best performance with a time of one hour and eighteen minutes, followed by Erlend Valvik in second and Andrus Tamm in third. All Students category competitors came from Hiiumaa Vocational School’s log construction programme — the foundation of the sector’s next generation of skilled professionals.
Full results are available here.
The next international log house builders’ competition will take place as part of the International Log House Builders’ Conference on 20–22 May 2027 in Räpina, continuing the celebration and advancement of traditional building craftsmanship. At this year’s awards ceremony, next year’s competition corner joint type was also drawn by lot — the Scandinavian notch.
The competition was organised by the Estonian Timber House Association in cooperation with Hiiumaa Vocational School, RMK and handcrafted log house producer Hobbiton. Sponsors were Akzo Nobel Baltics, ESSVE, Husqvarna Estonia, Kero Trading, Majakratt, Puumarket, Reval Sport, Rothoblaas and Vanaajamaja MTÜ.