Why we love building with timber is a question that we often ask ourselves as we contemplate building a new home or renovating our existing home. There is something wonderfully satisfying about the idea of creating something from natural materials, of creating something out of the plentiful supply that nature provides us with. The process of building with wood seems to have an innate property that stands the test of time and wear and tear. It also seems to possess an intrinsic beauty that is hard to match in any other material. For a Timber Merchants Southampton, go to www.timbco.co.uk/
One of the first questions we have to answer when we start to consider building a new home is what materials to use. We need to decide whether we want to build using bricks and mortar or using hardwoods like oak. We then need to select a timber supplier to provide us with the right wood and cut to the right size. We will then need to have someone else do the framing, or get the frames built and assembled by hand. Then we must select the boards for the walling, flooring and any exterior trim we wish to install.
Once we have the skeleton of the building finished, we can begin to use wood in many different ways in the construction of the building. We can use joinery techniques, glue down laminated timber panels and even have the walls framed and attached using sliding joinery. Why we love using wood as a building material is that it is easily worked with and is strong enough to stand up to the forces of nature that any structure may encounter. It adds a natural appearance to the building that is hard to reproduce using other materials. In addition, using wood for the construction of a house adds an air of quality and luxury to the home that can’t be purchased or faked.
Another popular use of wood for the construction of buildings is to use it in the framing and the bracing of the walls. We are so used to seeing buildings constructed of concrete and metal that the idea of using timber beams to support the roof, or a column to hold up a wall seems unusual. However, the wooden beams that are used to support the roofs and the walls of homes provide us with a very valuable part of the structure of the building and have a stunning beauty.
Of course, another benefit of using timber as a building material is that it is environmentally friendly. When we think about how much energy, time and money we are saving when we use timber instead of other building materials, the benefits become clearer. By using timber for the framing of a new building, or the bracing of a wall, we are helping to keep our environment safe for our children and grandchildren. This makes the act of using wood to build a new house seem almost romantic in a sense. Building with timber not only makes your project easier and cheaper, but it will also help to save the planet.