1. Do all municipalities accept timber frame construction?
A municipality or Regional Authority has never turned us down.
Our houses are welcomed on aesthetic grounds.

2. Is insurance greater on a timber house?
Our experience is that insurance on timber framed houses are no different to that for bricks and mortar.

3. What is the waiting time for a timber house?
This may vary depending on a number of factors. The time that the local authority takes to approve a plan, the amount of work that we have in hand and obviously the size of the house.
However, once we have an approved plan the actual construction of an average size house.

4. How durable are timber houses?
There are many examples of timber houses lasting for hundreds of years. And with modern treatments this certainly holds true today.

5. What about maintenance?
With houses that have a natural finish, we recommend an annual coating of a water repellant that protects the timber from moisture penetration, and UV rays. This is cheap and easy to apply. Often we paint our houses, and if a fiber cement board is used, repainting will probably only be necessary after five years.

6. What about the fire hazard?
Timber homes must have the same fire rating as is required for a brick house. Since we use 6mm ceiling board, our fire rating is better than many "conventional houses" with ceilings of only 6mm.

7. Can one have a fireplace in a timber house?
Yes, most certainly one can. These can be of brick or the less expensive freestanding type.

8. How about rocky or steep sites?
Timber houses are particularly adaptable to tricky sites requiring lighter foundations and are easily suspended at limited extra expense.

9. What about insulation?
Heat? Timber in itself is a very good insulator. We further insulate external walls and ceilings.
The result is a warm house in winter and a cool house in summer.
Noise? The decibel rating of a timber-frame partition with plasterboard on both sides is slightly lower than that of a single brick wall. By insulation partitions and staggering studs one can achieve better decibel rating than a double brick cavity wall.

10. Can one build to one's own design?
Very definitely. We encourage clients to be creative in helping us to design what they rally want. One of our services is a sketch plan and quotation for which there is a nominal charge. We will keep supplying sketch plans and quotes until we are happy that we have satisfied our client's needs and budget. Please refers to our custom house/office plan

11. Are there hidden costs?
Costs that may be overlooked are: Bond Costs - Lawyers Fees - Transfer Fees (on plots) - Sewerage Connection - Electrical Connection - Scrutiny Fee - Telephone - Excavation and retaining walls where necessary.

12. What about later additions?
Timber framed houses are simple at add onto. If we anticipate that a client might want to "add on" we make provision in the initial design to further simplify extensions.