Wood framed houses in the UK

[PaulCa]

A friend of mine in work was talking about his new build house and mentioned something that made me stop him and ask, "You bought a wood framed house? In the UK?"

So apparently this practice has been picking up in the past few years of throwing wood framed houses up.

Surely with our notorious winter storms this is not a very wise idea...

All I can hope is that these wood framed houses are built substantially better than the match stick and cardboard they use in 'merica which turn into sawdust in the slightest storm.

Do you think this is another example of short-term-ism trying to solve the immediate housing problem while creating more issues with poor quality building standards later?

 

[Maccapacca]

No, timber framed houses have been used for years.

I expect what your friend is talking about is a timber frame that is then clad with brickwork. It is only really replacing the inner skin of blockwork. The rest is the same.

It's quicker, cleaner, less expensive, better quality as most of them are fabricated in a factory, greater insulation and a smaller carbon footprint.

That being said there are low quality versions around that are using the smallest dimension timbers just barely meeting design loads.

 

[ron3003]

Sure I read somewhere that the life expectancy of UK timber framed houses is just 60 years.

 

[Minusorange]

All I can hope is that these wood framed houses are built substantially better than the match stick and cardboard they use in 'merica which turn into sawdust in the slightest storm.

There's a logic for those fragile houses in the US, they're cheap to rebuild and because of the tornadoes and hurricanes they get all the time, they're often having to rebuild them, I doubt any of our UK homes would survive any better over there due to how powerful some of the hurricanes & tornadoes they get, the largest ever tornado was 2.6miles wide and had 300mph winds no house is going to survive even half that power

 

[PaulCa]

There's a logic for those fragile houses in the US, they're cheap to rebuild and because of the tornadoes and hurricanes they get all the time, they're often having to rebuild them, I doubt any of our UK homes would survive any better over there due to how powerful some of the hurricanes & tornadoes they get, the largest ever tornado was 2.6miles wide and had 300mph winds no house is going to survive even half that power

While I understand that logic. There are many, many times more smaller storms and hurricanes than EF5s and Cat 5s. Also, I would be less worried about the house and more worried about the fact that most fatalities are caused by bits of wooden house flying through the air at 200mph.

I have seen tornado damage trials where the only things standing are the brick houses and the brick parts of houses.

I don't know about your locale, but in Northern Ireland we get 80+mph winds at least once a year, 90+ ever 5 years or so and 100+ even 10 years or so. I know that I would rather be sitting in a brick and block house that weighs several hundred tons than a wooden framed thrown-up.

 

[Minusorange]

While I understand that logic. There are many, many times more smaller storms and hurricanes than EF5s and Cat 5s. Also, I would be less worried about the house and more worried about the fact that most fatalities are caused by bits of wooden house flying through the air at 200mph.

I have seen tornado damage trials where the only things standing are the brick houses and the brick parts of houses.

I don't know about your locale, but in Northern Ireland we get 80+mph winds at least once a year, 90+ ever 5 years or so and 100+ even 10 years or so. I know that I would rather be sitting in a brick and block house that weighs several hundred tons than a wooden framed thrown-up.

You have to remember it's not just winds, they have frequent flooding too and also wildfires, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes etc

It's just better to build cheap over there as the chances are higher that houses will need to be rebuilt compared to the UK where a house generally remains for hundreds of years (unless there's a war)

With the climate changing though and the UK seeing more flooding the economic model from the US may be imported here for new builds in potentially higher risk areas

 

[TacticalFish]

You're only safe underground.

I plan to buy some land and burrow.

 

[Zefan]

You're only safe underground.

I plan to buy some land and burrow.

 

[Em3bbs]

You'll struggle to get a decent mortgage (or a mortgage at all) as a wooden house is considered a non standard construction method in the UK. Conversely it will be hard to sell a new build if it is a wooden construction.

- A standard or traditionally constructed house is one made of bricks and mortar or stone, with a slate or tiled roof.
- A non-standard home is one that isn't made of brick or stone and doesn't have a tiled roof.

Timber and timber-framed homes
Timber-framed buildings in their various forms may be considered a risk due to the fact they have little or no foundations. They may also present more of a fire risk than standard buildings, and would be more affected in the event of flooding.

Timber homes are likely to get more popular in the future because of their sustainability and insulation potential, so lenders opinions towards them may change in the future.

https://www.gocompare.com/mortgages/unusual-construction/

 

[Sankari]

The Scandinavians have been building full timber houses for centuries. They don't seem to have any structural issues over there, so it's hard to understand why the UK would.

 

[MikeTheNative]

I think people are getting confused with timber framed (where brick is still used) and a house made fully from wood. Many of the big house builders now use timber framed, it allows them to build houses a lot faster.

 

[sovietspybob]

You need to differentiate between what you're talking about, a wooden house like a big shed or an actual timber framed house, some of the oldest houses in the UK are timber framed.

My house is timer framed as are a very large percentage of new built houses in the UK for the last 20+ years.

Ours is a timber frame with an outer breeze block and rendered skin so for insurance & mortgage purposes it's a traditional house with no complications, life expectancy is the same as any other 'brick and mortar' style build.

There's lots and lots of benefits, they're inherently warmer than a brick built houses, quicker to erect, easier to erect, more environmentally friendly etc etc

Here's some info on my build to show foundations, the frame and the block wall etc - https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/anyone-else-built-their-own-house.18804069/

 

[Efour]

The Scandinavians have been building full timber houses for centuries. They don't seem to have any structural issues over there, so it's hard to understand why the UK would.

It's nice if you wanna live in a twisted, warped shed.

Most modern houses I've been looking at ditched wood frames

 

[Sankari]

It's nice if you wanna live in a twisted, warped shed.

And yet, Scandinavian wood frame houses don't end up as twisted, warped sheds. Nor do Australian wood frame houses, come to think of it.

Perhaps we just build them better?

 

[d_brennen]

It's nice if you wanna live in a twisted, warped shed.

Most modern houses I've been looking at ditched wood frames

Maybe it's a different mindset to the market here. In other countries they build homes for people to live in, here it's a buy to let cash grab done as quickly and cheaply as possible with the government looking the other way.

Nothing wrong with timber framed houses if done right.

 

[Em3bbs]

And yet, Scandinavian wood frame houses don't end up as twisted, warped sheds. Nor do Australian wood frame houses, come to think of it.

Perhaps we just build them better?

You probably do, because it's a standard construction method in Australia so there will be more experience in that area.

The long and short of it is, in the UK it's difficult to get a mortgage on one. A friend of mine with a wooden house expertly made by Canadians really struggled to get an affordable mortgage and his resale value will also suffer. We can argue for days about whether the opinion of the mortgage lenders is valid or not, but most have decided the risk isn't worth it.

 

[Randomface74]

All new houses are wood-framed. They still have a bunch of breeze blocks and brick/stone around them. I wish they still made solid houses, if they did I would have bought one instead, but there isn't that choice.

 

[PaulCa]

You need to differentiate between what you're talking about, a wooden house like a big shed or an actual timber framed house, some of the oldest houses in the UK are timber framed.

My house is timer framed as are a very large percentage of new built houses in the UK for the last 20+ years.

Ours is a timber frame with an outer breeze block and rendered skin so for insurance & mortgage purposes it's a traditional house with no complications, life expectancy is the same as any other 'brick and mortar' style build.

As I understand it, the house frame, ie. the load bearing part of the house is wooden. The outer brick is just a facade, ie. it gives no structural integrity to the house.

Just as long as they will stand up to our weather, not be built as flimsy as those in Rural America and not turn into shrapnel in a big 10 year gale.

I would hope they are substantially cheaper too. Outside of wealth hotspots the price of houses in America is very low in comparison. This tallys with they lack of employment protections, so mortgages are easier to get if you house costs the equivalent of £40k. If after Brexit the Tories, as expected, go after the employment rights to encourage foreign investment we may be forced to build cheaper so that banks will lend to people with little to no job security.

 

[sdavlaws]

It's getting rarer to see full masonry walls, the company I work at supply plenty of masonry house builders who use spandrel panels (timber frame clad in OSB or Fire board depending on where it's sat). In the roof space.

 

[sovietspybob]

As I understand it, the house frame, ie. the load bearing part of the house is wooden. The outer brick is just a facade, ie. it gives no structural integrity to the house.

Just as long as they will stand up to our weather, not be built as flimsy as those in Rural America and not turn into shrapnel in a big 10 year gale.

I would hope they are substantially cheaper too. Outside of wealth hotspots the price of houses in America is very low in comparison. This tallys with they lack of employment protections, so mortgages are easier to get if you house costs the equivalent of £40k. If after Brexit the Tories, as expected, go after the employment rights to encourage foreign investment we may be forced to build cheaper so that banks will lend to people with little to no job security.

The outer blockwork is tied in to the frame so it does form part of the structure but yes the majority of the load bearing is done by the frame.

They cost pretty much the same to build all told, they're just the sensible choice as they're so many benefits over a full brick/block house. I think wooden houses are cheaper in america as they only clad the frame in wood and you don't need the same foundations as stuff made over here as you don't need to take in to account the weight of the blockwork etc so they are more 'flimsy' than stuff built over here, that's probably why one of the posters above friend with the Canadian built house struggled with mortgages as they build them very differently over there.