Wood Frame Houses

Look around you at most new housing developments and you'll see that wood has become the material of choice for the 21st century. So why should you choose a wood frame for your self build?

By Gordon Miller

Stairs in Ross on Wye Barn, Grand Designs

Visibly, most contemporary apartments and houses are clad in wood - often birch, cedar or larch - but out of view, many homes are also being constructed with timber frames (or stick frames as they are often called in the trade).

Why Choose Wood?

The reasons for wood's recent popularity are not simply based on a fashion. In a world of diminishing resources and very real concerns about climate change, wood is a natural, carbon-neutral (which means it is eco-friendly) material that does not contribute to global warming, either when a tree is felled or when it is used in construction - apart from the embodied energy used in transportation.

Furthermore, increasingly in the UK and overseas most timber used in construction is from sustainably managed and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accredited sources. In practice, FSC accreditation means one or more tree is planted for every one felled, and felling is only permitted at the appropriate times - for the maximum benefit of the forest and not commerce.

But the popularity of building with wood is also a sensory one. Merry Albright, creative assistant at Border Oak Design & Construction, a family run business based in rural Herefordshire, said, 'One of the most compelling reasons to build with wood is the aesthetic one. In the UK people really appreciate hand craftsmanship.'

'So, pros of wood include the aesthetic value, and the characteristics and craftsmanship of building with wood. Timber houses also have a higher perceived value, and the longevity of timber is an incentive too. And wood's durability is a major plus point for its use as a building material.'