Timber framing

Timber framing is a system of house building in which large wooden posts and beams are used to support the whole structure of the house. Timber-framed houses are also termed half-timbered.

The structure

The main structure of a timber framed house is a frame of large wooden members joined together using mortice and tenon joints fastened with wooden pegs. The frame consists of vertical, horizontal and sloping elements of timber that enclose many kinds of panels infilled with wooden planking, plaster, wattle and daub, noggin (brickwork infill) or more recently, Sips (Structural Insulating Panels)'

The vertical timbers include posts (main supports at corners and other major uprights), and studs (subsidiary upright limbs in framed walls).

The horizontals include cill-beams, (also called ground-cills or sole-pieces, at the bottom of a wall into which posts and studs are fitted in through tenons), noggin-pieces (the horizontal timbers forming the tops and bottoms of the frames of infill-panels), and wall-plates (at the top of timber-framed walls that support the trusses and joists of the roof).

The sloping timbers include the trusses (the slanting timbers forming the triangular framework at gables and roof), braces (slanting beams giving extra support between horizontal or vertical members of the timber frame), or herringbone bracing (a decorative and supporting style of frame, usually at 45 ° to the upright and horizontal directions of the frame).

The history and traditions

The techniques used in timber framing date back thousands of years, and may be found in many parts of the world such as ancient Japan, Europe and medieval England.
In England the so-called Wealden house, in the Weald of Kent and Sussex, was one such type of timber-framed structure. The structure consisted of an open hall with bays on either side and often jettied upper floors. However, it was mainly in Tudor country houses and cottages that timber framing manifested itself, as well as in the several types of Tudor or Elizabethan Revival styles of the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth century.
However, in later revival styles the load-bearing timber frame structure has often been replaced by walls of brickwork or various materials, to which a decorative pattern resembling timber framing has been added on the outside, but that has no relevance to load bearing at all.

In Germany, too, the Deutsche Fachwerk Straße, the “Route that links Germany’s Medieval Timber-framed Houses”, that runs from Lower Saxony in the north of the country, via Hesse and southern Thuringia to Bavaria is an area renowned for its highly picturesque half-timbered buildings.

The ancient craft of timber framing has had a resurgence since the 1970s. This is largely due to such practitioners as Jack Sobon and Ted Benson who studied old plans and techniques and revived the technique that had been long neglected.

The assets of timber framing

The use of timber framing in buildings offers various benefits not least of these is aesthetic, as the large timbers are typically visible to the inside of the building. Other benefits come from the structural nature of timber frame which lends itself to open plan designs and allows for complete enclosure in effective insulation for energy efficiency.

External links

• Website of the Timber Framing Guild
• The German Route linking Germany's Timber-framed Houses