ABSTRACT
Modern timber frame construction is virtually indistinguishable from its brick and block counterpart. In the 1960s a number of houses, mostly local authority-owned, were built in one form of timber framing or another. Many of these were built in cross-wall construction, in other words with blockwork party walls and timber framed front and back walls. In recent years, timber framing has become quite popular partly because it offers several advantages over more traditional forms of building. These include:
fast construction
quick return on borrowed capital
less dependence on traditional ‘wet’ skills
reduced drying-out time due to elimination of wet trades
reduced dead-load
improved quality control
less reliance on non-renewable resources.
