Timber and brick exterior wall construction

[Moonshine]

I have seen a few builds with a brick exterior wall leaf on the exterior walls, and timber internal leaf of the internal wall.

Anyone able to shed any light on why it's done, as I would have thought all masonry or all timber would be more straight forward.

Is it purely down to looks of the brick exterior and a planning requirement?

I presume it's not done with a block exterior leaf which gets rendered?

Edited January 12, 2020 by Moonshine

[Dan F]

Some people do use a rendered block external leaf, yes.  A couple of different project managers that I spoke to regarding our build tried to convince us to use a block skin.  Their argument was:

i) more solid

ii) easier to mortgage.

 

We ignored them (we're not using them either) and we were able to get a mortgage without a problem.

 

 

 

[nod]

Quite few jobs I’ve worked on use TF and facing brick or a mixture of facing brick and rendered block

Bit more solid than just timber 

 

[K78]

I think this way of building is (or was common)in Scotland.

 

Most large developments local to me are block and brick now. We’re all TF a few years back. 

[nod]

I have student accommodation to do each year Brick and TF Usually between 200 and 300 rooms 

Break ground in Mark Everything complete by August Excellent way of building 

[Carrerahill]

8 hours ago, K78 said:

I think this way of building is (or was common)in Scotland.

 

Most large developments local to me are block and brick now. We’re all TF a few years back. 

Anything up to about 3 storey is often TF in Scotland for domestic buildings - they built some flats near our offices last year and when I drove past they brought back memories of Canada as everything out there is just big timber and OSB clad structures wrapped in Tyvek. That is what these looked like, then they rattled up a facing brick skin. 

 

If I was building my forever home it would probably be block cavity or something similar. Our extension is TF with external block skin and 19mm dash finish, so the external leaf is the weather protector really. 

 

Before the block work was up our extension was fully wind and water tight, windows and doors in etc. the outer skin is just a jacket and offers very little by way of support to the timber structure when it is built.

 

I have no issue with timber frame, if it is done well, TF got bad press mainly from the big house builders who use that matchstick wood in prefab panels. I saw some roof trusses on the back of a wagon just before Christmas and I pointed them out to my wife, our roof spans were smaller yet our timber was 2x8 these things looked to be about a 40mm x 75mm so not quite 2x3 - but it just square sawn stuff - it just looks like matchsticks to me. I assume they buy this timber direct as no merchant or even shed ever stocks the sort of wood they are using or perhaps they self mill - don't know. What I do know is I was in a SIPS factory a year or two ago and they have proper 2x4/6/8/9/10 and the stuff looked bloody solid. They also ensured all timber was below 10% moisture content before they used it, idea being that they wanted all the shrinkage etc. to have taken place before they build.

 

Our brick layer told me about a row of houses he worked on for one of the mid-sized house builders, they rattled the frames up, soaking wet, brick skin went on immediately after and the houses were fitted out and about 3 months later they got a call to say that some lintels had moved, they went in and the timber frame had shrunk so much that the doors and windows had all shifted and doors wouldn't open and close as they were being crushed! So it is practises like this that give a bad name to a construction method.

 

I actually monitored the shrinkage in our TF and even had some allowances calculated into it to allow for shrinkage - all in all I think it worked out very well as after the roof membrane and battens went on, but before it was fully wrapped and windows etc. put in it had time for the whole lot to dry out in the warm summer we had. I understand that most programs would not allow for this but we had other site work to get on with, concrete pours and new walls and things so the TF got a chance to settle and I am hoping this will give it the best start in life.