A-Z of Self Build Guides Choosing Building Materials

Date Published:

02/06/2008

So you've got your site and you're ready to start building your own Grand Design, but how do you choose the best materials for the job? 4Homes shows you how to ensure that your new build has got the right stuff...

It's really important to know about the latest building materials when you're building a new house and to work with your architect to find out what's right for your project. There's probably a product out there that will do exactly what you want but you've just got to do that extra bit of research to go beyond your preconceptions.

The argument in building is whether or not we build everything in steel, with super fast office construction methods, or whether we use the warm friendliness of wood. There's now a timber called Thermawood available. Thermawood takes an approach of trying to stop the damage to wood by water getting into it. It's more durable but weaker than untreated wood, so its used for cladding rather then structural materials. It is baked to give it this enhanced performance.

Also new engineered woods are coming to the market where planks are glued together in many individual layers to produce beams tens of metres long. These new timber products are very, very low energy to produce, and as proved by Henry's Oxford Grand Design, they can be employed with devastatingly beautiful effect.