The continuing growth of timber frame looks like good news for wood-based panel producers.
With timber frame’s share of new housing rising from 10% to 20% last year, and its growth outstripping other methods of construction, Norbord, for one, views backing the development of sector as a key part of its business strategy.
Sales director Maurice Fitzgibbon said the company was a strong supporter of the UK Timber Frame Association (UKTFA) and had a long-standing commitment to helping grow the market.
The company’s Sterling OSB is used as a sheathing material by many timber frame manufacturers to provide a key structural element of the house, capable of withstanding lateral loads and supporting multi-storey and wide span structures. In addition, it is a component of I-joists and floor cassette systems. And, as it is a locally-produced material from small diameter logs, says Norbord, it’s backed by a sound environmental message.
Norbord’s technical services manager Jim Caldwell said: “The success of Sterling OSB [in timber frame] comes from a mix of manufacturing a consistent high quality board, high sustainability rating and proven supply times through knowledgeable distributors.”
Norbord counts some of the UK’s leading timber frame manufacturers among its customers, including Stewart Milne Timber Systems (SMTS), Walker Timber Group and Pinewood Timber Systems.
At SMTS’s Aberdeen factory, the Sterling OSB is machined to size and pre-fitted to all external wall panels. It is also pre-fitted to all floor panels to provide a safety deck on site and the base on which the separating floors between flats will be fixed. In the factory, SMTS also pre-fits Norbord’s Caberdek flooring to floor cassettes. The chipboard flooring has a protective film which can be peeled off once construction is complete.
SIPTEC also uses Sterling OSB in the manufacture of its structural insulated panels. Placed either side of a polyurethane foam core, the OSB facings remain rigid in shear and transfer tensile and compressive forces down into the foundations.
SIPTEC has been manufacturing SIPS since 1982 and, until 1991, used Far Eastern plywood for the outer skins.
“However, Sterling OSB has a much better environmental profile because it is made from renewable softwood from properly-managed UK forests,” said SIPTEC director Tony Palmer.
Through distributor Montague L Meyer, Norbord supplies SIPTEC with large format, moisture resistant OSB boards produced to SIPTEC’s size requirements. Thicknesses range from 11-15mm.
“Our intake of OSB is increasing dramatically due to strong demand from our customer base, which includes builders, developers and self-builders,” said Mr Palmer.
The range of building projects with which SIPTEC is involved is also growing as timber frame becomes an established construction method for residential and commercial buildings, including medium rise structures.
“We are about to start an order for a 15-storey, 680-room hotel in Dubai,” said Mr Palmer.
Sterling OSB also features prominently in the structural elements of Scotframe’s timber frame buildings. Norbord’s 9mm OSB3 provides the sheathing on the external panels, while it is also used in the apex panels and sarking in the roof.
With two factories in Scotland and one in Ireland, the company produces more than 1,500 units a year and, it says its portfolio of 42 standard house designs means it has the largest range in the UK timber frame market.
Since the company was established in 1989, marketing manager Peter Hall said Scotframe has “manufactured and supplied timber frame house kits and commercial structures sufficient to build the equivalent of a small town”.
Now, that’s a lot of OSB.
