Wooden Houses?

[subby]

Just been at the dentist and I passed, on the falls road near the bottom of the Whiterock road, a house being built....with the majority of it made from wood? It's getting a "brick face" put on it but the majority of the house is actually made of wood???

I know times are hard for developers but I'd like to know how much they are now saving by building from wood as opposed to brick/mortar.

I wonder if the buyers (or maybe tennants as it's falls road) will know that their house is made of wood. Wonder what price it'll go for as well?

Has anyone else seen this house?? Think it used to be some sort of H-Block memorial that was taken down a while ago to build this monstrosity, it's on the falls road near the bottom of the whiterock road

Edited July 6, 2009 by subby

[subby]

yeah that's the type

there was a large amount of houses built on the motorway in from north and those houses were same thing, wooden frames with bricks outside it.

[BelfastVI]

yeah that's the type

there was a large amount of houses built on the motorway in from north and those houses were same thing, wooden frames with bricks outside it.

Timber frame has been in existence for years and years. 90% of housing in the US and Canada are built this way. They are more expensive, but faster and some savings can be made against finance which I understand levels the costs out. They require less skill from the developer as most of the project is carried out by the timber frame supplier.

They are not inferior and if the correct specification and timber is employed you should have a more 'accurate' house that suffers less shrinkage cracks etc compared to a hand made house. Easier to heat up as you don't have to warm the timber. Insulation values are mostly the same as a modern hand made house. Masonry buildings retain heat better as you heat up the concrete mass (block walls) and they slowly release that heat back in to the building later on. You also have better use of underfloor heating with the traditionally built house. With falling labour rates the advantages of timber frame are dropping.

To answer your question - he is not saving anything. He is more likely someone who is not a developer and can't sell the land so has using the timber frame co. as a builder.

[subby]

I stand corrected

I still have some sort of "fire hazard" thought though about a timber home even though it's probably fireproof-treated

[Barl8]

I have found that these type of builds are becoming more popular. There is one going up just up the road from me. If my memory serves me right a certain development on the outskirts of Glengormley used this method also. I spoke to a contractor about the price difference and he did say that the cost would be much the same but this depends on the specification of the house. Some of the pros/cons would be that it can be constructed quicker as long as the plans for the wooden frame have been submitted in good time to the manufacture. A wooden house can be heated quickly and heat can leave the house quickly what ever way you look at it. The brick/block house does take longer to warm but it also takes longer to cool down better for them long winter nights. A brick/block house would have better sound proof throughout excluding stud walls. As with everything wooden frame houses can reduce sound by adding some materials to the inner stud of the wall throughout the house. To me I still prefer the brick/block build.

[sophia]

My friend lives in a timber framed house which is about 3 years old and located just outside Dublin.

I have stayed in it a couple of times.

Two points already mentioned:

1. it heats up quick, but heat is lost quick also.

2. sound insulation is bad - between rooms, floors and outside noise floods into the house.

[maxdiver]

Does NI have any timber factories?

We don't have that many trees - (because of those English)

Or does all the wood come from Scandanavian and Baltic pines.

(these make up a large % of the freight landed at Lisahally Port on Lough Foyle.

[BelfastVI]

Does NI have any timber factories?

We don't have that many trees - (because of those English)

Or does all the wood come from Scandanavian and Baltic pines.

(these make up a large % of the freight landed at Lisahally Port on Lough Foyle.

There is one in Fermanagh -Bally something - but the timber grown here is not suitable for housing, too green. Good timber frame housing will be made from Scandinavian kiln dried timber. Don't know why as I'm sure they have the same rain fall, but home grown timber is only good for fencing etc.

[BelfastVI]

I stand corrected

I still have some sort of "fire hazard" thought though about a timber home even though it's probably fireproof-treated

Only during construction. Once it is plastered and enclosed with brick or block it performs just as well as traditional.

[yadayada]

There is one in Fermanagh -Bally something - but the timber grown here is not suitable for housing, too green. Good timber frame housing will be made from Scandinavian kiln dried timber. Don't know why as I'm sure they have the same rain fall, but home grown timber is only good for fencing etc.

Trees grow faster here because it's rarely frosty and drought is sadly not a big problem. The result is a softer timber. Can you blame the English for that, too? I suspect most plantations of Sitka Spruce etc. here will end up as firewood in 20 years' time. Nothing wrong with that.

[BelfastVI]

Trees grow faster here because it's rarely frosty and drought is sadly not a big problem. The result is a softer timber. Can you blame the English for that, too? I suspect most plantations of Sitka Spruce etc. here will end up as firewood in 20 years' time. Nothing wrong with that.

Wrong person

[yadayada]

Wrong person

I know. I should have written "ye" or "one". Cromwell's fault, probably.

[NuBrit]

As an American, I am always amazed at the disdain that the British and Irish have for timber-framed homes. Some of the comments I've heard, from what I would consider intelligent people are incredible.

What if someone saws through the wall and nicks all my stuff

Damp and insect infestation will mean the house will collapse within 10 years

It would only take a bit of a storm to blow the house away

I have even had one friend tell me that they wouldn't stay the night in a timber-framed home for fear of it falling in and killing her. My timber built family home in Texas is still standing despite hurricanes, termites, tornados and everything else nature could throw at it! I'd love to have seen how an Irish or British house would have measured up in the same conditions.

As far as inferior sound insulation goes, even with a concrete-built home, most houses built these days have wooden ceilings, roofs and inner-partition walls. Indeed, even between concrete semi-detached houses, most houses have a single-block concrete wall with studed partition seperating them. In this effort to cut costs, insulation of any sort is forgotten about with the result that regardless of whether the house was built with timber or concrete - it's practically useless anyway.

People need to get away from the "four legs good; two legs bad" way of thinking about this. If you build either a timber-framed or concrete home properly and take care of it - it will last hundreds of years, end of. Open your eyes people, stop believing what the vested interests in the concrete industry are telling you!

[azogar]

i live in a timber frame house. we got quotes from different firms (NI based) and went for the company we liked the best. Biggest diff with cavity wall double skin (brick) house are that timber frame are single skin + wooden frame & plasterboard, insulation, fire proofing etc.)

pros -

no heating necessary from may through to sept.

quickly constructed

slightly cheaper (was for us in 2005)

cons -

sound proofing not so good (esp. internal)

always have to use plasterboard plugs when hanging anything etc. OR find the spacer joist if the attachment is going to be heavy (tv wall stand etc).

obviously there's more then that but these spring to mind. personally, i like them and would get one built again. the biggest mistake i made was going for wooden windows - complete nightmare, need plenty of upkeep and decay too quickly imho, upvc (or aluminum next time).

There are quite a few estates now that are timber frame construction.

[islandcyclist]

I had a wooden car once, but unfortunately it wooden go

[Barl8]

I had a wooden car once, but unfortunately it wooden go

[jonb]

Just been at the dentist and I passed, on the falls road near the bottom of the Whiterock road, a house being built....with the majority of it made from wood? It's getting a "brick face" put on it but the majority of the house is actually made of wood???

I know times are hard for developers but I'd like to know how much they are now saving by building from wood as opposed to brick/mortar.

I wonder if the buyers (or maybe tennants as it's falls road) will know that their house is made of wood. Wonder what price it'll go for as well?

Has anyone else seen this house?? Think it used to be some sort of H-Block memorial that was taken down a while ago to build this monstrosity, it's on the falls road near the bottom of the whiterock road

They are very popular in Scotland. Never known of any problems with them.

[BelfastVI]

I know. I should have written "ye" or "one". Cromwell's fault, probably.

I have lost you.

[S S]

People need to get away from the "four legs good; two legs bad" way of thinking about this. If you build either a timber-framed or concrete home properly and take care of it - it will last hundreds of years, end of. Open your eyes people, stop believing what the vested interests in the concrete industry are telling you!

Sounds like your trying to sell a timber framed house, give us the link for a wee nosey.

Edited July 7, 2009 by statinstoinker

[Sogy]

As an American, I am always amazed at the disdain that the British and Irish have for timber-framed homes. Some of the comments I've heard, from what I would consider intelligent people are incredible.

What if someone saws through the wall and nicks all my stuff

Damp and insect infestation will mean the house will collapse within 10 years

It would only take a bit of a storm to blow the house away

A someone who has lived in the States (below the Mason-Dixon line) way longer than here, I can say that stone/brick/concrete houses are sturdier and have fewer problems with storms (hurricanes) and insects than the timber-frames. The "sawing through the wall" argument, however, is simply ridiculous.

Timber-frames can last very long, so long as the roof and windows keep the rain out (once they don't, they collapse quickly and spectacularly). There are still quite a few lovely timber framed farmhouses in North Carolina, built after the War Between the States (before that, there were not enough sawmills and farmers built log cabins). Living in a timber-frame is just fine, especially if the house is detached (aka single-family) and larger than an average British house, which is almost always the case in America.

[subby]

lol @ sawing throught he house and nicking stuff

it's the glengormley development, that you see when driving into Belfast on the motorway from the North/Sandy roundabout direction, that I watched going up as timber framed. I just though it looked a bit cheap tbh. Wonder if the buyers know it's made of wood?

It wooden go.....

[Belfast Boy]

i live in a timber frame house. we got quotes from different firms (NI based) and went for the company we liked the best.

A family member is building a house and is looking at timber frame construction. Do you mind PM-ing me the company you used and what you thought of them?

I am following their build very closely, because building may be a good option for me and my fiancee.

From what I have learned about timber frame houses so far...

... people forget that almost all houses are partially timber framed. Most ceiling and roofs are timber framed and many houses also have timber framed stud walls upstairs.

Also, it would appear that the internal walls, in a timber frame house, can be made with boards that will improve soundproofing and reduce the need to find studs to hang all but the heaviest objects. One example material is Fermacell. Though, it is of course 2-3 times more expensive than ordinary plasterboard. However, I think it can be installed as a form of dry-lining. Therefore, no wet plastering is required.

Edited March 16, 2010 by Belfast Boy

[shipbuilder]

Am I right in saying that most 'passive' houses are timber-framed? If that's the case, won't timber frames be getting more popular rather than less?

[Rare Bear]

I had a wooden car once, but unfortunately it wooden go

Wooden car.

[mybad]

I watched the house the OP is referring to being built while travelling up and down the Falls in a black taxi everyday (as a passenger, not a driver). It seemed to me an odd place to go to the expense of a build as there are a lot of feral youths around that area at night. I really wouldn't want to live opposite the Beechmount Leisure Centre.

Going off-topic a bit - if you travel up the Falls a bit more on the same side, just opposite the Falls Park there are two lovely townhouses lying empty and being allowed to fall apart. I thought perhaps they might have been bought by a developer and left to rot because of the crash. It's a shocking waste.