Benfield ATT Engineered Timber Frame Panels, in their most basic form, replace the need for breeze blocks in traditional construction. With each load-bearing panel being individually designed, engineered and manufactured, they are erected on-site with ease and within millimetre precision to form a sustainable timber frame building.
Factory production of the timber frame panels ensures that they are accurately manufactured to precise tolerances in a controlled environment away from the vagaries of British weather.
Engineered Timber Frame Panel Construction
The timber frame panels are rapidly erected on site and, with trussed rafters forming the roof, a weathertight building can be created in a matter of days. This enables work to continue in protected conditions within the building whilst the outer cladding and roof finishes are applied.
Timber frame is not just for houses; it is being used extensively for flats, schools, hotels, offices and sports facilities. Buildings up to eight storeys high can be constructed and, like all methods of construction, conform to the requirements of the Building Regulations.
Timber Frame Studwork, Castle Oak Nursing Home
Timber frame wall panels are made up of softwood vertical studs and horizontal rails with a wood-based panel sheathing and a plasterboard lining. The studs carry vertical loads through the structure and transfer them to the foundations. The sheathing provides resistance to lateral wind loads (known as racking resistance). Thermal insulation is usually incorporated in the spaces between the studs of external walls and protective membrane materials may also be required, depending on the design of the wall.
For most external walls a breather membrane on the external face of the panels protects the panels during construction and provides a second line of defence against any wind-driven rain that may penetrate the completed external cladding. A vapour control layer in the form of polythene sheet or plasterboard with an integral vapour control layer is normally required on the 'warm' side of the insulation, behind the plasterboard lining to limit the amount of water vapour entering the wall panel.
