New Timber Frame Build

Devontrish

Hi Jamminca69, I am not sure how relevant my post is going to be for you but here goes. I live in a frame build house...it's housing association believe it or not, and has won loads of awards for its type of construction (first of its kind in Devon at any rate, for a HA). The estate consists of 35 houses and flats, all similar, and took well over 2 years to complete (a brick built estate of this size would have been done in months i reckon!) I live in a 4 bedroomed house, and due to the extra size there is some breeze block work around the stairs area which doesn't exisit in the 2-3 bed properties.
One of the problems that we all found before moving in was getting contents insurance (obviously HA does the buildings side of things). Most of the bigger more independant insurers wouldn't even think about it when they knew it was a wood frame build. However the NFU were fantastic and VERY reasonably priced, and insured without batting an eyelid.
The houses have fantastic insulation, i believe they used recycled yellow pages...but the walls are about a foot thick! We have no ceiling upstairs...the roof goes right up to the rafters...looks amazing, and whatever they used to insulate the roof worked wonders! Triple glazing helps too! The wood used on the outside of them is green oak, and apparently won't need treating for a good few years yet...again thankfully not going to be my job!
I love living in a wooden house, although i think they would look better on the side of a mountain in austria rather than on the outskirts of our small cattle market town in the middle of nowhere in north devon!!!! But if i had the opportunity to self build i would definelty go down this avenue, there is a much more homely, earthy feel about them than most modern houses. (if you do a search on line you will find them as they have been so widely publised and awarded...whether there are any details there that may be of help to you i am not sure.)
Good luck with your plans!!!!

jamminca69

Devontrish wrote: »

Hi Jamminca69, I am not sure how relevant my post is going to be for you but here goes. I live in a frame build house...it's housing association believe it or not, and has won loads of awards for its type of construction (first of its kind in Devon at any rate, for a HA). The estate consists of 35 houses and flats, all similar, and took well over 2 years to complete (a brick built estate of this size would have been done in months i reckon!) I live in a 4 bedroomed house, and due to the extra size there is some breeze block work around the stairs area which doesn't exisit in the 2-3 bed properties.
One of the problems that we all found before moving in was getting contents insurance (obviously HA does the buildings side of things). Most of the bigger more independant insurers wouldn't even think about it when they knew it was a wood frame build. However the NFU were fantastic and VERY reasonably priced, and insured without batting an eyelid.
The houses have fantastic insulation, i believe they used recycled yellow pages...but the walls are about a foot thick! We have no ceiling upstairs...the roof goes right up to the rafters...looks amazing, and whatever they used to insulate the roof worked wonders! Triple glazing helps too! The wood used on the outside of them is green oak, and apparently won't need treating for a good few years yet...again thankfully not going to be my job!
I love living in a wooden house, although i think they would look better on the side of a mountain in austria rather than on the outskirts of our small cattle market town in the middle of nowhere in north devon!!!! But if i had the opportunity to self build i would definelty go down this avenue, there is a much more homely, earthy feel about them than most modern houses. (if you do a search on line you will find them as they have been so widely publised and awarded...whether there are any details there that may be of help to you i am not sure.)
Good luck with your plans!!!!

Thanks Trish

Im looking into the insurance side of things, mortgage wise ive been assured that most companies now do not make a distinction between the wood frame and masonry houses but insurance could be issue i supposed. Although if you go down NHBC guarantee router etc surely they cant not insure you?

Is the NFU you mention NFU Mutual insurance?

thanks

Devontrish

Yes it is. They are really good for all types of general insurance as well, but i guess as they insure a lot of farm out-buildings etc, they are much more experienced in wooden builds than most insurers. As an ex city dweller (and brick house) i was not aware of them in this capacity before.

jennifernil

jamminca69 wrote: »

Thanks Trish

Im looking into the insurance side of things, mortgage wise ive been assured that most companies now do not make a distinction between the wood frame and masonry houses but insurance could be issue i supposed. Although if you go down NHBC guarantee router etc surely they cant not insure you?

Is the NFU you mention NFU Mutual insurance?

thanks

I think the problem Trish had was because the house is also timber clad, and therefor considered more of a fire risk. Our Guide Hall is an all timber building and we certainly have to pay a huge amount for insurance (buildings and contents).

With a timber frame and brick or block outer skin you will not have any problems with insurance. I have just moved ours to M&S and paid £371 in total. This is unlimited cover with full accidental damage, all risks on stuff away from home, legal expenses etc, on a 5 bed house of 280 sq metres with 40 sq metres integral garage. On a replacement basis we would need cover of around £300k rebuilding and £80k contents.

hebridean

I'm about to start a Deeside timber frame build next month which will have taken eleven months from the purchase of the land. So after deciding on your plan/kit from the company i would advise you to give yourself eight to twelve months if you are building in the Highlands to get through planning and obtain your building warrant. Also get a local structural engineer to assess the plot and plans for the warrant which will speed things up a bit.
There's also another kit company called Scotframe which are very popular in the Western Isles who make a new frame called Supawall with a really low u value which is even lower than Passivehaus insulation guidelines. This however comes at an additional kit cost of around £10000 on a 200m2 house. Unfortunately i didn't like any of their designs and when architects start changing the designs there's extra costs involved. I am putting Kingspan insulation in all the exterior walls taking the present building regulations u values down a third. This year the building regulations also change for new builds in that new builds will have to have more or superior insulation, and i suspect that most companies will be using Kingspan to obtain these values.
I'm going to be using local tradesmen for the build which is the norm here and usually some family members or friends are tradesmen. There are also a few good websites where a lot of info can be found: greenbuildingforum, ebuildforum and diynotforums.

Best wishes and good luck.

jennifernil

jamminca69 wrote: »

Thanks for info Jennifer, the route you went down appeals to me - choosing the design, bricks, tiles, windows and finishes and telling them how you wanted the heating, plumbing and electrics.

I dont mind then getting involved it laying flooring, installing kitchen and im especially keen on installing all my own audio and visual equipment from scratch.

Can i ask who you used for this? Are they still trading? Will have to check them out if they are.

Thanks again

We used a local timber frame manufacturer, unfortunately they are no longer doing this type of one-off house and have moved into other markets.

I would think that there are quite a few "national" and "local"
companies which could either give you a quote similar to how we did it, or at least recommend a firm to undertake the build. It is worth getting several quotes, and asking them about other houses they have done so you can inspect the standard of work. Get a fixed price for what you want.

Our lot had trades they hired in, but always used the same contractors. We were particularly impressed with the brickies they used and the finishing joiners, the bits you see afterwards are very important.

My best tip would be......

Think carefully about what you want, do not rush into choosing things or necessarily accept what is supplied as standard, and once you have made a final choice, get it all down on paper and then get prices. Once you have accepted a price, do NOT start changing your mind about things, this can get VERY expensive!

ormus

timber frame build in this country is nothing like say the USA. in the USA you literally get a house delivered on a lorry. all you need is the labour for about 4 days.
and most timber frame in the UK seems to have a brick skin exterior. which seems to defeat the whole object somewhat?

the book, "Building Your Own Home" by Murray Armor is essential reading.
the bible for self builders.

jamminca69

hebridean wrote: »

I'm about to start a Deeside timber frame build next month which will have taken eleven months from the purchase of the land. So after deciding on your plan/kit from the company i would advise you to give yourself eight to twelve months if you are building in the Highlands to get through planning and obtain your building warrant. Also get a local structural engineer to assess the plot and plans for the warrant which will speed things up a bit.
There's also another kit company called Scotframe which are very popular in the Western Isles who make a new frame called Supawall with a really low u value which is even lower than Passivehaus insulation guidelines. This however comes at an additional kit cost of around £10000 on a 200m2 house. Unfortunately i didn't like any of their designs and when architects start changing the designs there's extra costs involved. I am putting Kingspan insulation in all the exterior walls taking the present building regulations u values down a third. This year the building regulations also change for new builds in that new builds will have to have more or superior insulation, and i suspect that most companies will be using Kingspan to obtain these values.
I'm going to be using local tradesmen for the build which is the norm here and usually some family members or friends are tradesmen. There are also a few good websites where a lot of info can be found: greenbuildingforum, ebuildforum and diynotforums.

Best wishes and good luck.

Good luck with your build, ill be trying mine in West Wales area.

What have you had done with regards to the foundations? do deeside give instructions of what they require there? do they also offer options with regards to insulation or have you arranged this yourself?

One query i had with them was when do you get the electricians, plumbers etc in as would make sense if they offered to do this as part of package rather than putting up all the interior walls only for you to then have to arrange for the electrician and plumber to come in afterwards.

thanks for info though ill check out those places :T

hebridean

The structural engineer will advise on the foundations (as will the brickie and digger driver) and the kit company will not be interested. The kit company only deals with the kit and the plans. It's up to you or your build manager etc to liase with building control, the planing department and everything else that comes your way. I know you would assume that buying a kit would make things easier as i did but it doesn't really. The only real benifit is that you can more or less buy the house of the shelf rather than going through the hiring of an architect and all that comes with that route.
The electricians and other trades kind of sort it out amongst themselves, but the first thing i'll be doing is getting the slate roof on and let the trades help themselves while this is being done. If you can get a hold of a good brickie/builder he will keep you right on the order of things and will unwittingly act as a site manager for you.

jamminca69

hebridean wrote: »

The structural engineer will advise on the foundations (as will the brickie and digger driver) and the kit company will not be interested. The kit company only deals with the kit and the plans. It's up to you or your build manager etc to liase with building control, the planing department and everything else that comes your way. I know you would assume that buying a kit would make things easier as i did but it doesn't really. The only real benifit is that you can more or less buy the house of the shelf rather than going through the hiring of an architect and all that comes with that route.
The electricians and other trades kind of sort it out amongst themselves, but the first thing i'll be doing is getting the slate roof on and let the trades help themselves while this is being done. If you can get a hold of a good brickie/builder he will keep you right on the order of things and will unwittingly act as a site manager for you.

Thanks again, very useful insight into the actual experiences which can only help people like me when we come to do it :T

Another query about the foundations if you dont mine, did you pass on the house design and all plans to the structural engineer and he then organised the foundations to best suit the house?

I am in process of contacting 4 or 5 local builders to see what sort of costs i could expect to complete the work after the structure has gone up. Have given them the measurements of the house we are looking at and listing the tasks we would like them to complete. Will see what they come back with.