is timber framed housing ideal for rainy enviromental weather?

Question

amplanning on self building, dormer house in countryside, believe weather not too great in ireland and rains a lot, and am interested to know if a timber framed house is more suitiable to a brick one, site is open with no trees etc. and can be windy,

Answer 1

No, No, No.

Timber framed is fine when nothing ever goes wrong.

For timber framed to be acceptable you have to believe that the timber has been thoroughly treated at source - do you really believe that all those hourly paid workers at the timber treatment plant are being very careful with your wood?

And any on-site cutting, chiselling etc. which exposes untreated wood must be properly treated - and that is 100% impossible even if you try to be careful.

Even if the timber is properly treated by some magic, then you have to consider the construction process. Do you believe that those men swinging hammers at the nails are being careful, what's the odd miss or split eh?

Then of course you will never ever have any leak or burst pipe in your house.

Even if your wood does not succumb to rot if it is exposed to water saturation from life's little mishaps, then as it is load bearing, what do you think happens to all those load bearing members when they become soggy?

People talk about faster turn-around and lower cost, yes if the plan runs perfectly.

In reality what is the saving? We're talking about a house that is not just for you, not just for now, your house should be still useable in 100 years time.

Do you really think pieces of softwood with a lick of wood preservative will be around in 100 years?

Don't compare it to tudor construction, very old houses which use timber in the construction used native hardwood such as oak and beech, which have good tolerance to water saturation.

What is it about people nowadays that they want to use anything but a good fired clay brick?

I recently saw one timber framed house, which was clad in polystyrene sheets and the render was applied directly to the polystyrene, as an external skin. It might win an arts prize for modern innovation, but I'm glad my house is not built that way.

Answer 2

a brick house still would be timber framed, bricks are not used for the frame of a house, I don't know about Ireland, but bamboo is water proof steel framing is used now in houses

Answer 3

Yes its fine as long as you protect your house from that enviroment. In america we put siding on are house which will protect against rain and snow. Plus its cheaper in materials and labor to frame your house out of timber.

Answer 4

i live in a timber built house 2 floors high and so do 150 neighbours. i live in uk so yes timber houses are good as long as you build good.