Timber Framed Buildings

As some of you might know, i've converted an ex army barrack hut into a house.

I bought it from the British Legion who had been using it as a social club up until about 12 years ago.

No other builders were interested in it as the planning permission stated that it must remain looking the same from the outside. The planning did not extend to demolition and re build.

Hence it remains timber framed.

Having had the Estate Agents round to value it, they said if it was masonry clad it would be worth an extra £50,000.

I can't see why ?

What difference does it make to the price, after all, half of suburban America is timber framed ?

Does our fear of timber framing date back to the great fire of London in 1666?

And how can £2,000 worth of concrete blocks put £50,000 on a house ?

Is the world insane ?

 

"Is the world insane ? "

Nope, You are for letting an estate agent near it

Jack McH

 

Its not traditionally built for us over here Ziggy.

Does it also cost more to insure?

They even build flats now from plywood with an outside skin of bricks.

We are catching up on the modern world, but slowly.:D

 

:D I'm paying £600 a year to insure, but that includes contents as well.

When i was just insuring the building it was only £300 a year.

I just find it madness that timber framing scares off most of the U.K. mortgage and insurance providers.

 

Well everyone knows wood is bad, wood can not last
I mean just look at HMS VICTORY It has only lasted 251 years

Where you can buy a modern home made of BNQ Plywood sprayed with cement and harled for £320k, Now THAT is an investment

(Off on one of my mathmatical scenarios again TANGENTS)
In a recent previous life of kitchen fitter electrician and general wood work
Called to the new posh houses up the hill 250k and one year old
The owner put his foot through the carpet
Fibre board floor boards, burst, through wet Err drinks spilt at parties and NOTHING to do with the pet puppy
Smashing quality home that :-)

Jack McH

 

Most of Norway is timber framed too Ziggy. It's probably down to health and safety again, aswell as insurers. They probably see them as a fire risk. But any property that is maintained properly, timber framed or otherwise shouldn't be high risk.

The world is insane and unfortunately we've got nowhere else to go to escape.

 

That reminds me of "outside the asylum" from the Hitchikers Guide

Apparently the Fire Service prefer dealing with timber frames as they know the rate at which they burn.

 

I've worked on a Tudor barn that was built from Scots pine, still had the bark on bits of it.

The barn had leaned, so that the thatch was dripping onto the timber frame yet the timber was still sound.

 

I'd be without a job if it wasn't for timber framing!

The biggest issue a lack of understanding by the powers that be, including structural engineers and architects when it comes to timber framing. They all seem afraid of it, as it is a natural material, and their heads can't grasp that very simple aspect.





















ETC!!!

 

Some lovely stuff there Eddie

You're right, a lot of people get scared by lime mortar too, simply because they don't understand it.

One of my course tutors on my timber framing course was Peter McCurdy,

now he knows his timber. Do you know him Eddie ?

 

Drives you mad doesn't it. Its a new build house on the inside, you wouldn't know you were in an historic structure.

Love the summerhouse Shiney

Just scanned a pic of that Tudor barn I mentioned earlier.



Did some major works on that. You can see how the thatch was dripping onto the timber work due to the building moving.

The vertical tile repair on the corner was my "honest" repair to the girt crack that had opened up.

The Victorians had cut most of the tie beams through to make a walk through hay loft with no thought to what would happen to the building.

We replaced the timbers and secured the walls with hidden steels embedded in concrete. Re built all the failed brick paneling & put 17 tonnes of Lime Ash Floor in.

Sorry, I wandered off into a site report there:DOH:

 

Shiney, that is lovely. The attention to detail is superb

I am afraid that I don't. I own two books on the subject. One covering the history of oak framing and the other a roofing ready reckoner. Everything that I do is completely self taught.
I'm currently constructing a complicated frame which is really testing everything that I know. I can relax once I know that it all goes together!

 

Good man, I like self taught, that way you are not repeating other peoples mistakes.

I learned on site first, then I put my self through college, got asked by the tutor to take over the geology lecture when he realised I knew more about it than him, was made assistant to the principle tutor on 2 courses & then got sent to Turkey to teach the locals how to repair a Roman City. Way to go

Oh, Peter built a new timber frame & thatched building in London a few years back, you may have seen it on Doctor Who. Had a few witches in it:WINK1:

 

Casting my mind back about 40yrs during my college days I seem to remember seeing pictures of a burnt out building.
It showed two RSJs totally bent over a timber beam on the floor below.

The steelwork had just twisted and bent, the timber had charred badly but stayed in place.
Not sure what that proved, but it seemed impressive at the time:D