J
johnheritage
Why do the guys in the US build so much using timber frames and we use bricks?
Those guys will do the entire house structure from timber and then use stud walls all through. This seems to make them extremely cheap and it's very easy to run services through the walls (vacuums / ethernets / waste pipes / air conditioning blah blah). Insulation can be blown into the stud work in no time and they often pressure test the finished result for leaks. If you don't like something where it is, it doesn't take long (or much effort) to take down and reframe a new wall. There are the rail based framing systems that make that even easier.
I'm curious if this is just tradition or if there's some other reason.
I also know steel frames are used extensively by commercial builders for warehouses - where it can be as simple as solid blocking up 10ft or so and then just the frame with some siding on; as it's not a living space. But I've seen them being used for other projects with insulation going in.
As the economy takes a blasting, and house prices are mind blowingly high, this seems interesting to me. I did see an episode of grand designs at one point in which the guys had bought an entire custom timber kit from one of the places in the US.
I know brickwork gives a more secure feel, but it's a bugger to lay the things and an even bigger bugger to make changes to it. So, why is it the only method we seem to use?
I would recommend a read of this article, as this is what I'm also wondering about and it seems easier to achieve using the frame methods;
Passivhaus
^^^^Forgetting the tree hugging implications and going for the money, !90%! less heat required to keep the thing warm, so that's 90% off each gas bill for a start, as the fossil fuels run out and the carbon tax goes on. Free, clean air in every room because the heating is done through an AC unit (venting to outside through a heat exchanger).
Those guys will do the entire house structure from timber and then use stud walls all through. This seems to make them extremely cheap and it's very easy to run services through the walls (vacuums / ethernets / waste pipes / air conditioning blah blah). Insulation can be blown into the stud work in no time and they often pressure test the finished result for leaks. If you don't like something where it is, it doesn't take long (or much effort) to take down and reframe a new wall. There are the rail based framing systems that make that even easier.
I'm curious if this is just tradition or if there's some other reason.
I also know steel frames are used extensively by commercial builders for warehouses - where it can be as simple as solid blocking up 10ft or so and then just the frame with some siding on; as it's not a living space. But I've seen them being used for other projects with insulation going in.
As the economy takes a blasting, and house prices are mind blowingly high, this seems interesting to me. I did see an episode of grand designs at one point in which the guys had bought an entire custom timber kit from one of the places in the US.
I know brickwork gives a more secure feel, but it's a bugger to lay the things and an even bigger bugger to make changes to it. So, why is it the only method we seem to use?
I would recommend a read of this article, as this is what I'm also wondering about and it seems easier to achieve using the frame methods;
Passivhaus
^^^^Forgetting the tree hugging implications and going for the money, !90%! less heat required to keep the thing warm, so that's 90% off each gas bill for a start, as the fossil fuels run out and the carbon tax goes on. Free, clean air in every room because the heating is done through an AC unit (venting to outside through a heat exchanger).