Cest la vie Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Hi all, Just poosting to pick the brains of anyone who has experience of building in wood. I intend to build a large extension on the back of my house, due to practical and personal reasons I would like to build in wood, have spoken to several archi's about this and have had a mixed response. One bought up the point that due to the climate, I live in Herault, of extreme summer temperatures and fairly cold winters a wooden structure isnt the best plan as the wood expands and contract too much causing too much movement and cracking etc, is this the case and would it therefore be advisable to do it in Blocks? He also bought up the point that although its fantastic insulation in winter wood doesnt have the same advantages in summer against the heat, does any one have this experience?Hope someone can help a little.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre ZFP Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 A similar question was asked fairly recentlyhttp://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/966872/ShowPost.aspxI know your architect has spent many years studying his craft but to me it just sounds like tosh! How can a material (wood) insulate from the inside in winter and not from the outside in summer? People have been building timber framed and whole timber buildings for centuaries and they're still around. Very popular they are in Germany where they too have extremes of climate in a year. I know some archis are dead against anything you can't stick together with cement but I don't know why. OK you'll have to do a bit of timber treatment sometimes but is this any worse than say painting crepi? I'd say do a bit more research and if you're happy, go for it!Bon chance and keep us all informed how it goes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shimble Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 ill ask my work colleague, he built an extension in wood and didnt use oak or chestnut for expansion and contracting reasons, he did however use a hardwood (but only for the structure and frame....and is permantly exposed) that has no expansion problems his extension has been stood for at least 5 years and the wood surrounds aluminium doors. no movement and lokks as good as new cant remeber what woodhe used ill try and remember to ask him tomorrow .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shimble Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 oh bollox ive just remebered i havent asked, ill try and rember next week sorry we are really busy.....whoops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shimble Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 i remembered the wood he used ...right its a verander its been up 10 years and the frame is in this wood the frame holds aluminium sliding doors is exposed and has never moved he used an exotic wood called iroko ive spelt it like hes spelt it and how it sounds but i cant find any reference either in french or english so i think its been mispelt and ive tried different spellings so if anyone knows whats hes on about maybeits hickory but im really not sure apparantly its easy to find here.....ill try and verify but if any one knows more dit moi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 The main thing to consider when building in wood is the number of wood eating insects - especially when you get as far south as the Herault. That does not of course mean don't do it, but as far as I am aware there is no long term treatment against the little critters, and whereas capricorns tend not to go for hardwoods, termites are less discerning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shimble Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 well i think ten years and it looks like new is good enough but then what do i know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shimble Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 spoke to someone else today and its ikora Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 shimble, I think you were right the first time. The wood is Iroko. It is hardwood from Africa - a bit like teak which is found in SE Asia but not the same.more info here and hereDannyunless, of course there is a wood called ikora but I haven't heard of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shimble Posted July 29, 2007 Share Posted July 29, 2007 thanks it is iroko, thanks for the links, i really must check my spelling before posting :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Iroko, great stuff, hard wearing and good in all sorts of conditions.If you have to work it then use a very good dust mask, watch your eyes and wear surgical gloves. The dust is quite carcenagous (can't spell for knuttes), it makes my eyes sore, brings my hands up in a sore rash and my nose is sore too. BUT when it is in place it is good weather wise and last as well as teak for a fraction of the price. I personally won't turn it on my lathe, but I am making a garden bench from it at the moment, using all of the above. IF!!! it turns out OK I will post some pikkies.Plus there are all sorts of 'new' insulation materials being pushed here at the moment. Sheeps wool and hemp (behave, you can't smoke the insulation now can you?) are 2 of them. They are organic and replaceable, very green. Not a bad idea!!Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howards Carpentry Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Hello All,I've built many timber frame buildings both traditional oak and modern kit houses,also I've combined the two for a couple of clients.As yet I havent used Iroko for a frame only balcony hand rails where it has been specified, but it is a nice colour and I should imagine would work well. I'm sure I have heard it refered to in the past as Japanese oak. You could look on the web for the wood worker monthly magazine site and email them for information.As far as the climate goes, I cant see a problem using a combination of traditional and modern timber framing here as long as the design is right and I've used the layered quilt type insulation under the tiles many times, it works really well at both keeping heat in and out.Oak timber frames have been built all over europe for hundreds of years, they last a long time and look great while they do it. Cheers to all, enjoy your space Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Howard's Carpentry wrote "As yet I havent used Iroko for a frame only balcony hand rails where it has been specified, but it is a nice colour and I should imagine would work well. I'm sure I have heard it refered to in the past as Japanese oak."For more info on Japanese Oak see this page it is a kind of ... well ... Oak ! Not related to IrokoFor info on Iroko see this pageDanny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howards Carpentry Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Hi, I had a look, your right I must have misheard, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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