Solid wood house / partial self-labor, wall structure / differences

That's exciting, Ralf-Bux. My wife and I are facing exactly the same decision. Can you maybe share a few details (how much does each system cost you?) either here or via PM ***? We don’t have an offer yet, but next week we are going to visit a model house *** the Austrian manufacturer.....

Hello, well, I wouldn't make myself crazy about the costs. Have everything calculated concretely and then you will see.
One more note on the topic of leaving trees in the forest if you want to do something for environmental protection. We still have a perfectly functioning forestry industry in Europe with sustainably managed forests, we cut fewer trees than before, and the forest areas are growing. Moreover, young forests (reforestation) do much more for our climate than old ones. This is addressed to the primeval forest romantics.
Basically, I would build with solid wood. Explaining this would take an evening-long program.
First, ask your architect why he thinks you are better off with [HRB]. Does he have real arguments or is it just because he is not very familiar with solid wood construction?
What I noticed is that you are only dealing with so-called glue-free products. [Holz100] and [NurHolz]. Get informed about the products, CLT, KLH, BBS, etc. These products have greatly advanced timber construction in recent years and are produced in large quantities by various manufacturers. The glue-free ones are a niche and will remain so.
Log house is a construction method for which there are no good arguments today unless you are a cowboy and want to show it outwardly.
Regards Friedrich.

Hello Friedrich, thank you very much for your note about additional products. So far, we have only dealt with the glue-free products (although Holz 100 also uses a dab of glue), because we have read that it impairs vapor permeability and on the other hand is not so healthy/ecological. I saw that CLT uses PUR adhesive and that in turn contains MDI.

I am still very interested to know why you would only build solid wood.
Concise bullet points will do so you still have some time left in the evening.
The architect + building biologist we visited recently told us that he would only build HRB because solid wood is not worth it (regarding energy efficiency).
You would not gain any added value from it, only additional costs.

Thank you very much + regards

Ralf

Good evening Ralf,

The architect + building biologist we recently visited told us that he would only build HRB, since solid construction is not worthwhile at all (regarding energy efficiency).

I would like to assume that said architect is not able to sell added value and therefore favors HRB. The houses from the provider you mentioned in the initial post already cost considerably more than simple timber frame constructions.

Furthermore, I believe that with your budget only HRB will be possible or maybe solid construction for the exterior walls and HRB for the interior walls.

Rhenish regards

Good isocyanate is in the PUR adhesive, but that is only relevant during processing. After curing, which happens very quickly, the glue is emission-free. Yes, and if you build HRB, OSB is almost indispensable, and you have that too, and in a significant amount. The adhesive technology is nowadays indispensable. We owe it to this that there are now multi-storey buildings made of wood (9-storey buildings have already been constructed), and that is by far not the limit; large spans are possible with it, etc. Furthermore, wood is used much more efficiently today than it was in the past. Cross-laminated timber has a diffusion resistance of about 1.5 times that of bare wood. A negligible amount. Of course, it depends on the overall construction, just like with energy efficiency (U-value???). Why I prefer solid wood construction could be answered simply as follows: I have worked professionally with HRB for 25 years and now for 10 years with solid wood construction. The great advantage of CLT and the like fully comes into play with large buildings (multi-storey buildings, kindergartens, schools, administration, and industrial buildings). But it is also interesting for the homeowner:
- Better indoor climate (if you leave the elements visible)
- Much easier and more reliable to achieve airtightness and wind tightness
- No foils or adhesive tapes with all their uncertainties (subsequent trades)
- Simplest and safest assembly (only wood screws)
- Higher stability
- Larger ceiling spans (also they have significantly less vibration than wooden beam ceilings)
- Better structural values (also for example in bracing)
- Better fire protection (calculation based on charring, no cavities)
- Thermally a very inert material (heat storage, high summer thermal protection), but then you should also do the roof with it
- Simplest connections and joints
Yes, and, and, and, and.

Warning: I am not speaking against HRB. If it only works with HRB price-wise, then you don’t have to cry; it is still better than anything else that exists. Although, with clever planning, including the assemblies and subsequent trades, CLT and the like should hardly be more expensive. Yes, and here lies the crux: judging by your architect’s statements, I assume he can hardly design and calculate CLT and the like wisely for you. Very often something like this fails simply because of not wanting to.

Can you tell me which region you live in? Maybe I can give you a good tip here.

Regards, Friedrich.

Good evening Ralf,


I would like to suspect that the mentioned architect is not capable of selling added values and therefore favors HRB. The houses from the provider you named in the initial post already cost considerably more than simple timber frame constructions.

Furthermore, I believe that with your budget only HRB will be possible or maybe still solid for the exterior and HRB for the interior walls.

Rhenish regards

Hello Bauexperte, that may very well be true. But in terms of order, I would first do the ceilings in solid (the advantages compared to a beam structure are quite significant). Then, and here I certainly differ from most - roof slabs (summer thermal insulation, connections, etc.).
Regards Friedrich