The Benefits Of Timber Frame
Why Use Timber Frame?
There is nothing new about using timber in the construction of homes – it has been a reliable building technique for centuries and is a far more common building technique in areas of the world such as Europe and USA.
There are many benefits when building with timber frame, here are just some of the benefits:
Environmental benefits
Timber has an inherently low CO2 cost to the environment in comparison to other conventional building materials. 0.8 tonnes of CO2 is saved from the atmosphere for every cubic meter wood is used over more traditional materials such as bricks, concrete and steel.
Timber is a renewable building source, and given that trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during their lifetime opposed to heavily polluting the atmosphere during the production process, they are considered a means of combatting global warming.
The increased use of timber as a building material will encourage the planting of more trees to keep up with the demand, meaning more CO2 is removed from our atmosphere.
After construction there are still benefits to timber frame – timber is a natural insulator and contributes towards reduced energy levels in all buildings. The thermal efficiency of timber means that a timber building will be warmer throughout the winter and will stay cooler during the summer months. The thermal efficiency of a timber building is so good that it will far surpass the requirements of Building Regulations without the need to fill the cavity!
Precision Off-Site Manufacturing
A major advantage of off-site produced panels is that they are produced in workshop conditions in a controlled environment. This allows for greater accuracy and greater consistency. This makes the panels inherently very accurate and made to a very high-quality standard, adding to their strength and durability – they are precision engineered products and we have a high level of quality control. Accurate and more consistently build panels leads to easier and quicker erection.
Workshop manufacturing of panels can be carried out all year round whereas onsite methods of construction can be subject to adverse weather conditions. This reduces delays on site and increases the quality of the product.
Faster Build Times
Off-site manufacture allows buildings to be manufactured whilst or even before works have commenced on site resulting in shorter project programmes and ultimately reduced building costs.
We build-in as much of the buildings construction in the workshop to reduce site build time with only the final assembly being required.
A small family home could go from delivery of the kit to a water tight building in around a week, allowing following trades to continue behind in a much more controlled environment.
Reduced Maintenance
Timber frame construction is a dry building method and offers a more stable structure once complete, which helps eliminate plaster shrinkage and therefore eliminate cracking of plasterboard. This reduces the time from when a building has been plastered and allows you to get in and decorate immediately after construction, rather than having to wait for it to ‘dry out’.
Lower maintenance in the first year of construction is a proven factor, with volume house-builders reporting around a 75% saving on call-back costs within the first year after construction.