Timber

Throughout the house we are having to renew many of the old floors, staircases and walls. This means a lot of new timber and woodwork to replace joists that have been untouched for over 100 years.

Traditional timber is easy to source in this country but often the beams are irregular, poorly cut and not straight, meaning lots of hard work as each beam needs to be cut to precisely the same size. This challenge inspired us to experiment with Steico timber studs.

These manufactured studs look like timber I-beams and have very high strength and stiffness. They are traditionally used on the walls of timber frame houses (with insulation blown between them) - we have used them for the kitchen extension and, perhaps more daringly, to construct one floor of the house. Being stronger than the timber we have used elsewhere, the beams can be spaced further apart and still carry the same load. In fact, the Steico floor feels a lot more solid.

Overall, using the Steico studs mean that we are using a lot less timber than if we had stuck to the traditional equivalents. The downside (assuming they don’t fall down!) is that due to the way they are made, there are some restrictions on grooving or altering the joists. As for which system is better or more sustainable in the long run, the jury is still out!