Lloyds Timber Frames, part of the CGL Developments is proving itself to be a national operator and an innovative leader in the growing off-site housing construction market.
Written by John O’Hanlon and produced by Nick Hargrave
We tend to think of timber framed houses in terms of the wooden structures, often kit-built from Scandinavian or Canadian suppliers, that crop up from time to time, are striking when they do appear, but which in this country are seen as a rarity.
However a house does not need to look like a log cabin or a tithe barn to be of basic timber construction. “The timber frame is the structural, load-bearing part of the house,” says Lloyd’s Marketing Director Duncan Dibble, “but you can have any kind of external finish you like – brick, block, wood or a combination of these. Basically there is no way of telling from the outside whether a house is timber-framed or not.”
However timber frame construction offers many advantages over brick, both for the end customer and for Lloyds Timber Frames’ direct customer, the contractor.
The benefits of off-site prefabrication are becoming more widely recognised throughout the construction industry, says Dibble. For the designer, the timber frame method offers flexible planning, energy efficiency, economic use of materials and a wide range of external finishes.
Compared with masonry construction, timber frame is more accurate and the lower overall dead weight of the structure, particularly if light cladding is used, may permit lighter foundations.
For the contractor, timber framed construction reduces site work and allows fast completion, avoiding most of the drying out time necessary with masonry construction and reducing the remedial ‘snagging’ required. For the client or occupant of the house, the high level of insulation possible can reduce the cost of heating…
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