ᐅ Experience with Timber Frame Walls 16–24 cm Thick

Hello everyone,

we are currently looking for a prefabricated house manufacturer that suits our needs.

The house will most likely be built using timber frame construction.

I have some concerns about the differences in the walls.

One manufacturer builds 16cm (6.3 inches) thick wooden walls, while another uses 24cm (9.4 inches) thick ones (insulation and drywall not included).
The thinner wall is said to have a better U-value, which I could possibly explain technically due to different insulation.
What really worries me is the structural stability. Is a wall with a 16cm (6.3 inches) timber frame significantly less stable?

Does anyone have experience or information about the differences between these types of walls?

Best regards

Meister_Lampe schrieb:
Is a wall with 16cm (6 inch) thick timber framing not significantly less stable?

Firstly, it is absolutely not unstable. Secondly, this question does not align with:

Meister_Lampe schrieb:
We are currently looking for a prefab home construction company that suits us.
It will probably be a house with timber frame construction.

This leads me to the counter-question of where this decision to have the house built in this way comes from, given the apparent limited familiarity with this building method.

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https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

I’m not familiar with Scanhaus Marlow Marlow.

So far, we have been in contact with Streif Haus, Weberhaus, Keitel Haus, Wolf, Weiss, and Bien Zenker.

11ant schrieb:
First of all, it is absolutely not unstable, and secondly, this question doesn’t really fit with that:

which leads me to ask where the decision to build the house that way comes from, especially given the apparent limited familiarity with this construction method.

For me, the question does make sense.
It’s not that I fundamentally distrust wood.
Wood has always been a good material.

I’m just wondering why some manufacturers use significantly more wood than others. I can’t imagine that wood is so cheap for a manufacturer that they use more simply out of “boredom.” There must be a reason for it.

Meister_Lampe schrieb:
It’s not that I fundamentally don’t trust wood.

I wasn’t talking about trust in this construction method, but familiarity with it. Someone who is firmly committed to a particular building method usually has reasons for that, which often don’t align with a lack of experience.

Meister_Lampe schrieb:
Wood has always been good.

Haha, coming from a family of butchers, I’d say there is no more “wood” in a prefab wall than there is meat in a sausage.

With a 16cm (6 inch) structural wood “core” and some sheathing, the wall is no longer considered complete today. Some manufacturers have simply shifted their systems to “thicker dimensions” from older constructions, while others have completely redesigned the wall assembly. They come to different conclusions: one doubles the additional insulation like an external insulation system on a solid wall, while another fills it between the studs and adjusts their thickness accordingly (in cross-section they are no longer square, so it’s not necessarily “more” wood).

To quote Hans Sachs again, may I assume correctly that your interest in prefab houses comes from one of the two classic myths: “they go faster” or “there are fewer final price surprises”?

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https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/

First of all: not all timber houses are the same.
Timber frame construction?
Timber panel construction?
Log house?
Every manufacturer claims to have “their” wall system and that it is the best. You hear this a lot during sales talks.

We have a timber house, built using timber frame construction.
In this method, all loads are transferred “from above” through the wooden beams. All secondary forces are distributed between the individual beams in the walls as well as in the floor and ceiling constructions. For this reason, a structural engineer must calculate everything based on your specific house and site conditions. For example, we have high snow and wind loads, plus seismic zone III. On top of that, the roof has an overhang of 2m (6.6 feet).

Our walls consist of beams measuring 20, 18, and 12 cm (8, 7, and 5 inches) depending on the load. The roof beams are 28 cm (11 inches). Insulation is placed between the individual beams and additional insulation is installed on the exterior wall.

Regarding the price, as mentioned above, our local builder had to reinforce the walls and roof according to the structural engineer’s calculations. As a result, the exterior insulation was reduced accordingly. There were no additional costs for this. However, the building is solidly constructed.