The Advantages of Using Timber for a Home's Frame

When having a new home built, your builder or contractor may give you some choices on the materials needed for every part of the project, including the home's frame itself. Timber framing is a traditional choice, and it offers many advantages over other materials. Note a few reasons why you might discuss having your home built with timber walls and a timber frame versus any other material.

1. Ease of removal and renovation

A home built with a timber frame and timber walls is easier to renovate when it comes to changing the footprint and moving those walls accordingly. If your home has a steel frame, you may not be able to easily knock down an exterior wall to open it up for a sunroom, additional bedroom, attached garage, and the like. However, timber frames are often easy enough for any homeowner to remove or move around. A home does need load-bearing walls inside, but these too can be relocated, support beams can be added, and other methods used that are less difficult for a homeowner to do on his or her own when your home is made timber versus steel or concrete.

2. Eco-friendly choice

You may think that cutting down trees for a timber-framed home is bad for the environment, but note that most lumber used in construction is grown from sustainable forests, or those planted specially for the construction industry. The wood is very easy to cut and fabricate for the frame; while you can cut and fabricate steel, this often includes the use of smelting processes, and this can mean fumes from the heat used. Concrete is made from materials that are easy to harvest but the emissions and fumes created by mixing trucks can also be a concern. Timber can simply be cut by traditional saws that may use less power and create far less pollution overall.

3. Lightweight material

User a lighter material for your construction can be very important if the soil on which it's being built is soft because of being moist or sandy. Over time, the weight of a home may cause it to shift so that you need to underpin the foundation in certain areas, or even bring in materials to make the soil stronger, such as clay or lime. This can become very expensive. Using timber can mean a lightweight construction that may have less risk of shifting, sinking, settling, or otherwise causing damage to the home.

For more information, contact Wadsworth Joinery or a similar company.

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