Here in Scotland most houses or extensions are timber frame with a skin of masonry to protect and the windows/doors fixed 100mm back from the outside edge ie inside of the outside skin
I was in London during the summer for a weekend saw dampness inside every ingoe of the flat we were staying in my partners daughter pays a ridiculous rent for, why do they stick the windows right out to the edge and why not timber frame ? Things have move on since Barratt flew his helicopter

Damp isn’t caused by widow positions. If it was a newish build then damp is wholly unacceptable. An old house converted in to flats with each room nicely airtight is a great breeding ground for damp.

Yeah nothing to do with window positioning.

An old house converted in to flats with each room nicely airtight is a great breeding ground for damp.

And the landlord wont care – you’re still paying right?!

And the landlord wont care – you’re still paying right?!

To be fair, quite often the tenants don’t care either. Drying washing indoors, not opening windows, using minimal heating. I remember my old rented flat getting a bit musty.

As to the OP, not sure there is that much new build in London. Lots of converted Victorian buildings or 60s/70s flats.

Most houses I’ve seen (Wales) seem to be thermalite blocks on the inside and bricks on the outside. Works well – ours is warm as toast.

Weather conditions are far worse in Scotland. There are also a lot more trees in Scotland so for years it was too expensive for English houses to be built in timber.

As for window position it shouldn’t matter as long as the construction is detailed correctly, but of course a deeper reveal will generally give more weather protection to the window unit itself.

It’s a bit of a joke we are still using masonry external skins for housing. In fact almost all new houses in the UK are a bit of a joke. I stay at the moment (not through choice) in a ‘luxury’ timber frame new build. The quality of the materials is abysmal yet the house is worth a fortune as people like the location and tap and light fittings. It makes me depressed when you see what the housebuilders are allowed by the Government to put up these days. All comes down to money and the politicians being able to stand up in Parliament and say they have met new housing targets I suppose.

Why are brick walls so bad? Having seen a house fire in the USA, I’m glad mine is made of non-flammable materials. There, when houses burn down, they burn all the way down, in a minutes. Terrifying.

All comes down to money

Course it does. Houses are expensive enough as it is! You are quite at liberty to buy and design your own house in special materials if you like. Go ahead, no-one stopping you.

Personally I hate the idea of timber frame. I want my house built of materials with a long life that are not easily damaged by water. Maybe thats why the newest property I have lived in was 100 yrs old

Bad? I didn’t say brick walls were bad. Just unnecessary in this day and age for housing. Timber construction has far more advantages. We have stacks of timber in the UK which is a renewable resource so why not use it? And any serious house fire will destroy a house, timber or masonry.

And yes, no one stopping you building what you want IF you have the money. My point is that the country is covered with Brookside type developments which are an eyesore and an embarrassment.

There’s a different house purchasing method for new builds in the States though: you get a plot then decide on the design of house that’s going to sit on the foundations. In the UK it’s “Here’s a house we’ve built using the minimum amount of materials we can get away with”. There are also huge forests in the States and Canada so timber isn’t exactly scarce.

Timber framed houses were being constructed in the UK over thirty years ago when I was working in construction so they aren’t new. They did have block outer walls.

I’m not sure what thermal efficiency regs they have in the States for houses, presumably pretty decent given how cold it can get in winter over there.

I’m typing this from a timber framed brick clad house from 1969 in Bucks. No efficiency regs then so it’s a pain to heat.

Brick and block 00s house I moved from was much warmer as regs had moved on.

tjagain – I have to say your post is a classic example of one of the reasons builders still use masonry. The public perception is that masonry gives you a ‘proper’ house with a ‘long life’. Which is utter tosh I’m afraid.

The problem is not the use of timber itself it is the standards and designs that the housebuilders are allowed to build to, whether they use a masonry external skin or not. But yes I agree, I wouldn’t touch a low spec standard timber frame house new build by one of the big housebuilders either. A high spec timber frame with cladding or a 100+year old house in any material – yes please.

I want my house built of materials with a long life that are not easily damaged by water. Maybe thats why the newest property I have lived in was 100 yrs old

Having lived in London flats converted from 100 year+ old buildings and in a end of terrace 100+ year house it’s a revelation living in our self-built timber frame house. Consistent comfortable temperature requiring minimal energy to heat, bright, light, with good air quality and no damp. Can’t imagine living in a dark, damp, cold, draughty old house again.

But you aren’t comparing like with like. Compare a timber frame house and a block/brick one that have been built to the same regulations (and standard) and the comparison would be valid.

Well my flat in a 150yr old stone building is not dark, damp or draughty. But then it was built to far higher standards than properties are today. Ash coffins under the floors for sound insulation ( the void between the floor and ceiling is filled with ash) The exterior walls are nice and thick – like 18″ so it retains heat well. The roof has full sarking boards and the room sizes and heights you don’t get in a modern property. I have even fitted modern isulation as much as possible and being the attic I get all that lovely heat from downstairs.

Pays yer money takes your choice

Was looking at the new builds locally and while they were of reasonable quality you could definitely tell they were built as cheaply as they could get away with. Main issues was the lack of sound deadening internally, could easily hear the people upstairs. Having had a few friends who have bought new builds and had lots of issues with them I’m very minded to get an older property even though that will make my dream of owning a house further away, no help schemes for older stuff. I’d much rather have the odd job to do on something older than have a new house that is compromised from the start.

Well my flat in a 150yr old stone building is not dark, damp or draughty. But then it was built to far higher standards than properties are today. Ash coffins under the floors for sound insulation ( the void between the floor and ceiling is filled with ash) The exterior walls are nice and thick – like 18″ so it retains heat well. The roof has full sarking boards and the room sizes and heights you don’t get in a modern property. I have even fitted modern isulation as much as possible and being the attic I get all that lovely heat from downstairs.

Top floor?

Ask your ground floor neighbour if their flat is quite as toasty as yours.

Be sure to bung him a couple of quid for his gas bill since he’s paying to heat your flat as well.

I also live in a property with 18 inch thick stone walls. I need two boilers to heat it and I am single handedly supporting the profits of British Gas.

And any serious house fire will destroy a house, timber or masonry

A timber house will go up a lot faster, I’d bet. I sure as hell would not want to be in one, having seen a fire.

Was looking at the new builds locally and while they were of reasonable quality you could definitely tell they were built as cheaply as they could get away with.

There are higher quality houses available. But guess what – they cost more! Just like everything else.

Buying a Wimpey house and complaining it’s cheap is like buying a Dacia and complaining it’s not as nice as a Mercedes.

Well my flat in a 150yr old stone building is not dark, damp or draughty. But then it was built to far higher standards than properties are today.

I’ve lived in some well insulated new houses (both sound and heat) and I’ve lived in some SHOCKING old houses, far worse on both counts. And a lot of the really bad old houses have been pulled down over the years.

So it wasn’t all roses in ye olden days.

Modern new builds are crap. I’ve lived in two (still live in the second). Crap cheap softwood beams, flexible floors, squeaky chipboard floor boards/panels. Really built to a budget. The brick and blockwork is fine though and it is very very well insulated and efficient.

Would rather have a brick built house. My brother lives in a wood house in Scotland and he’s not impressed after putting an extension on his. It’s a nice home in terms of size and layout but not very attractive with the external rendering.

I would never live in a new semi detached house. I build the odd one in between proper work and the level of soundproofing required is not high. We just basically meet regs on stuff like that. However our quality is much better than that of the big house builders.

It’s a bit of a joke we are still using masonry external skins for housing. In fact almost all new houses in the UK are a bit of a joke. I stay at the moment (not through choice) in a ‘luxury’ timber frame new build. The quality of the materials is abysmal yet the house is worth a fortune as people like the location and tap and light fittings.

Brother in law and family bought a £600k new house in Notts. A week after they moved in it was noticed that floors are not quite flat and doors won’t shut properly. Short story = argue for nearly two years, then move out for 5 months while developer rips out all of first floor joists and internal walls, stairs, bathrooms and more, having discovered that all the joists were installed improperly and without bracing between. Move back in to discover a leak in the roof, and the fact that the boiler is barely big enough to heat the monstrosity of a house on posh estate in showy position and plot large property, and finally comfirm that ground floor is improperly insulated so downstairs by paying for heat camera survey, so downstairs is chuffing cold….

All extensions we work on now 6″ kits and over engineering ie 300mm x 600mm foundation with two layers of A193, loads of kingspan and dont forget sealing up everywhere or miss out a slim vent

I would never live in a new semi detached house. I build the odd one in between proper work and the level of soundproofing required is not high.

I have to say our 10 year old Wimpey, whilst not perfect, isn’t bad. It’s a semi and we very rarely hear next door. No TV noises and no talking, we can however hear them drop stuff in the shower. Neither neighbour has had kids though but one set did have yappy dogs we could only hear outside.