My Home Ireland

Posted by myhome on November 15th, 2007 in Concrete, Selfbuild, Timber Frame

The concrete industry has the slogan “concrete built is better built” - how did they get away with that claim? Sustainable Energy Ireland say ” If a timber frame house is built to the same building regulations as a concrete house (i.e. the u-value of the wall is the same, u-value of the roofs are the same etc) then both houses will perform identically. After that it is preference that decides which house is for you”

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Here is the concrete industry’s side of the story about concrete versus timber frame houses.
1) Strong : Concrete home building materials, including concrete blocks have excellent environmental credentials. Firstly, they are among the most durable of building materials. Concrete blocks will not warp, rust or rot and require little or no maintenance. Steel and timber on the other hand, consume considerably more energy in their maintenance and often require the use of toxic paints and preservatives to extend their service life. Whereas, many materials which are perceived as environmentally friendly lose their structural strength after a short number of years, the concrete block used in the construction of your home is likely to get structurally stronger with age. Concrete’s extremely long service life means not having to return to the environment for more materials and energy to repeat the task.

2) Noise:  Concrete homes invariably have solid concrete block walls between neighbouring homes. These “party” walls give good soundproofing, complying with the requirements set down in the building regulations. However, some lightweight timber framed homes have only timber stud (plasterboard) partitions as separation walls between neighbouring homes.
Shrinkage: Timber shrinkage causes other problems in homes. For example, timber joists which support upstairs floors will shrink when the heating system is turned on. This frequently causes separation between the tiles in bathroom showers and the shower base, causing cracks to appear in sealants which have been used to prevent water from seeping under the shower base. This can cause considerable damage, particularly where chipboard has been used as a flooring material. With concrete floors this type of severe shrinkage does not occur.
DIY Problems One of the most basic DIY tasks must surely be putting up curtain rails, cupboards and shelves. Its as easy as pie - drill some holes in the wall
- apply shelves and hey presto!
Or so you would think - but it isn’t necessarily so!
Of course there’s no problem if the wall is solidly built of plastered masonry, but the situation is less satisfactory where timber studwork and plasterboard are concerned. Firstly, you will have to locate the timbers behind the plasterboard if the item being fixed to the wall is going to carry any weight.
Locating supports may not be critical if just basic shelving is being installed. However, when you come to install a new kitchen, or to put up brackets to support a TV or curtain rail, a couple of centimetres in one direction or the other may well be critical to your plans and the nearest supporting timber can be as much as half a metre away from where you want to fix the screw.