A guide to how to build a timber frame house.
Design and Structural Sign-Off
Firstly, architectural drawings must be produced and the structural calculations completed. ) and that the design is sufficiently robust to last the lifetime of the building. This is a legal requirement and must be completed prior to any timber being cut for the frame.
Planning permission for your timber frame house can be fabricated. The process can take anywhere between 8 weeks to many months and must be obtained before the fabrication of your timber framed house begins.
Frame Fabrication in the Workshop
The timber frame is then manufactured in the builders’ workshop. This typically involves the creation of wall panels, floor cassettes and roof trusses. Timber frame buildings are often created using wall panels which are formed by cutting studs and creating pockets for the floor and roof above. The studs and rafters are typically cut to length in the workshop to exact dimensions to ensure that they fit together precisely when assembled on site. Timber Frame Construction is worth getting right. For more on this, take a look at merlintimberframe.co.uk/.
Delivery and Crane Erection
The prefabricated frames arrive on site in a flat packed state and are erected within days.
Insulation and Weathertight Shell
As the frame goes up, the build begins to start to take shape. First of all, the insulation will be put into the frame – often structural insulated panels or a blown-fibre system between the studs. Next, a roof deck is fixed on top of the roof trusses, followed by a breathable outer membrane. Once the weathertight shell is complete, the internal trades can begin their work, and the build will start to look like any other new home.
Once the shell has been completed the rest of the house can be built out in the normal way.
