On the fence about what material to build your new home in?
Read on for 6 reasons why timber is the best choice when building your new home and why it’s in fact the only way we choose to build our homes.
1. Timber Homes are versatile in looks and design
We all want an aesthetically pleasing home with versatility and plenty of design options, from modern to classic – a timber home provides just that.
With timber, there are so many choices in the finishes you can select, from the overall style to the cladding type, to even the way you lay it.
In addition, more innovative and intricate structural design features can be achieved with timber, such as your angular facades or your high raking and coffered ceilings. This means you can achieve a really different and unique-looking home.
Take a look at some of the versatile ways we’ve used timber in our client’s homes or find some inspiration on the James Hardie website here.
2. Timber Homes offer space maximisation
A finished timber wall is thinner than a double brick wall, giving you the potential for more space in your home.
To give you an idea, for a 250m2 slab there is the potential to gain another approximate 10m2 of space – you could add an additional ensuite, mud room, home office nook or large walk in pantry for that!
What will you do with your extra space?
Source: Builder User Guide for Construction of Timber-Framed Housing in WA, Timber Insight, 2017
3. Timber homes are often faster to build
Did you know that timber also offers the potential for a decreased build time, allowing you to move into your new home faster?
Yes! Due to the elimination of a number of “wet trades” i.e. bricklayer and float and set plasterers, timber homes are often faster to build. This means you get to access, move in and enjoy your new home sooner.
Not only will this bring you happiness, it may even result in significant savings in rent or more rental income for you.
4. Timber Homes gives you flexibility and freedom
Due to its lightweight nature, timber construction is easier to alter or extend. This gives you more flexibility and freedom to create the home of your dreams and you can even make changes to the design during construction! This is a bonus not easily afforded in brick home construction.
Long after construction, you just might find your home needs to adapt to some of the changes in your life. Whether that be a growing family which requires an extension for more space, or lifestyle or health changes which may require an addition or renovation – the lightweight construction of timber makes all this easy, so you don’t need to move.
Take a look at some of the homes we’ve altered and extended here
Another bonus is that timber construction works perfectly on challenging sites (not every site is perfect for every construction method) which means you can still have your dream home on your dream lot!
Source: Modern Methods of Housing Construction – An Analysis of the costs and benefits of the potential greater use of modern methods of housing construction in Western Australia, Urban Development Institute of Australia, February 2020 (benefits of timber frame construction begin pg 4)
5. Timber homes have a high thermal performance
The natural thermal properties of timber maximise insulation efficiency. In fact, with the correct insulation, timber frame has a higher thermal performance and provides a 60% greater insulating benefit than insulated double brick.
How is this calculated? With an R-value (a thermal resistance rating) – the measure used most commonly in the building and construction industry to determine a material’s ability to resist the transfer of heat. The higher the R-value, the better the insulation’s performance.
Find out more about thermal performance here
Sources: Builder User Guide for Construction of Timber-Framed Housing in WA, Timber Insight, 2017 and Insulation Handbook – Part 1 – Thermal Performance (Version 3), Insulation Council of Australia and New Zealand, Dec 2016
6. Timber Homes are environmentally friendly and energy efficient
Timber’s high thermal performance potential, coupled with the fact that timber is a renewable resource, also makes timber sustainable, energy-efficient and far better for the environment.
By building your new home with timber frame, you could help make the environment happier and your carbon footprint smaller. How? Not only does timber use less energy to manufacture, it actually removes carbon from the atmosphere and locks it up for the life of the building – in a way, lightweight timber-framed homes ‘touch the earth softly.’
With less energy required to cool your home in summer and keep your home warm in winter, there will be a lighter load on the environment and your finances.
Sources: Builder User Guide for Construction of Timber-Framed Housing in WA, Timber Insight, 2017 and Modern Methods of Housing Construction – An Analysis of the costs and benefits of the potential greater use of modern methods of housing construction in Western Australia, Urban Development Institute of Australia, February 2020
There are so many more reasons to love timber frame homes, these are just some of our favourites.
Let’s talk more about the benefits of building your new timber frame home today!
