All Timber Frames is a dedicated timber frame construction company based in Cheriton Fitzpaine, eight miles from Exeter.

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Amazing Views!

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We have been very fortunate so far this year, taking on some amazing projects of a wide range. This has included several Passive House standard builds, barn conversions and continuing with our straw bail panels (some of which stand 8 floors up in Bristol.

Our workers have also been very lucky in where they have been when erecting these projects, in the amazing views they have had while working on them. Along with being high up at 8 floors in Bristol, they have been: up in Anglesey completing a primary school project, in Maidencombe erecting the second plot we have build a timber frame for there, down to the end of Cornwall at The Lizard and currently viewing the Blackdown Hills from Pinhoe.

Wow, we have got about so far this year. Take a look at more of our projects here.

2016 Brings New Projects and Expanded Services

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December 2015 was a record month in terms of sales, and the New Year has seen a continuation with January figures being just short of those from December!

There has been the usual interesting mix of projects including: an artist’s studio, seven straw bale houses, a holiday lodge, a farm house, a barn conversion and a number of detached houses – one of these has a timber suspended ground floor, which sits on a series of timber posts set on compressed-stone mini piles.

The striking feature of these contracts is that 90% of the timber frames will be our closed panel system, with the vast majority of these being manufactured with a 235mm stud.

The geographical spread of the new contracts is illustrative of the area we generally cover, from Truro to Bristol, Minehead to Chard and quite a number throughout Devon!

Over the last couple of months there have been significant developments at All Timber Frames, including our new office building, which is well under way (although finding the time to do our own work is hard!) and by the end of this week the building will be fully weather tight! The cedar cladding looks fantastic, as do the Swedish external windows and doors supplied by Tanums Fonster. Apart from providing office facilities that reflect the quality of the frames we supply, the building will include a meeting room and welfare facilities that are fit for purpose! The building will also allow us to have a showroom for the products that we are now offering to our clients.

During the last year clients have frequently asked us if there are other products and services we can offer, as well as our timber frames. So to start we are now offering external windows and doors through Tanums Fonster, Lindab guttering, Velux and Fakro roof lights and insulation products – these products have been specifically chosen because they combine excellent quality with real value for money.

Further information on these products will soon be added to our website.

Illustrating a Variety of Timber Frame Specifications

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Our next six jobs to go to site illustrate the breadth of timber frame specifications we are able to offer our clients, as well as the diversity of jobs we are involved with…

This week we are erecting the second straw bale building at Yeotown Retreat Centre in Snapper, a village near Barnstaple. This building, with 400mm thick external wall panels will provide en suite accommodation for the retreat centre’s guests. Also this week, we will be erecting a small single storey extension to a property in Kingsteignton; due to site access constraints this frame will be a 140mm open panel system. We will however, be supplying the clients with insulation and other materials to help with the finishing of the build.

Next out of the yard will be a bungalow located near Tintagel. This is a 140mm closed panel system that features two new specification options. We are now offering clients a closed panel system where in addition to the external wall panels, the internal wall panels are also fully insulated and boarded on both faces of the stud work, with the electrical conduits and back boxes fitted in our factory. This system is proving popular with clients who are looking to reduce the amount of work required on site. The second new feature with this frame is the inclusion of Photon 33 as the internal membrane – this insulated membrane, combined with mineral wool insulation, batts between the studs allowing us to produce a 140mm panel that provides a U value of 0.17.

Also going to site, in the week commencing 26th October, will be a 235mm open frame system. This frame will be erected between existing steel frames, which formed the structure of a redundant barn on a farm near Tiverton. Planning for this new home was granted under the Permitted Development Rules, whereby old farm buildings can be converted into housing so long as the original dimensions of the barn are not altered in any way. This will be the third project of this kind that we have been involved with in as many months! We are also contracted to supply frames for two other such developments before the end of the year; one in Mid Devon and the second in Gloucestershire.

We are then going to be erecting the last in a five-house development in Lapford; as with the previous four properties, the frame will be a 235mm closed panel system. This will be followed by a contract for nine houses in Kingsteignton, where the frame will have insulated external wall panels.

Follow our progress on the latest projects section of our website, and don’t forget to like us on Facebook.
Six jobs, six different specifications – this illustrates the flexibility we offer our clients, it really is All Timber Frames!

A Round-Up of Our Recent Developments

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In addition to our usual fair of domestic contracts, we are currently erecting a farmhouse in Morchard Bishop, a pair of semi-detached houses in Lapford and we are also erecting a Boathouse for the Stoke Gabriel Boating Association – this particular building is located in a spectacular location, in a disused quarry at the end of Stoke Gabriel Creek, before it opens out into the River Dart.

The Boathouse building will consist of a boat storage area on the ground floor, a first floor club recreational room with changing facilities, and on the second floor, storage lockers for the members – Michael Simmons of Critical Mass Architects designed the building; naturally taking inspiration from boats, with the shape resembling an upturned yacht. The frame is a 235mm closed panel system, which achieves a U-value of 0.13 through the external wall panels. The day-by-day build programme is, however, being dictated by the tides, as the lorries and cranes need to access the site along the foreshore – so remember to keep an eye on our Facebook page for progress updates!

This project is sandwiched between two other non-domestic builds we are involved in:

We have just completed a job at Cleeve Abbey in Washford, Somerset, on a Medieval monastic site managed by English Heritage. The monastery was founded at the end of the 12th century by the Cistercian Order, and was disestablished in 1537 by Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The Abbey Church soon fell into ruin… However, the domestic portion of the monastery was saved by being converted into a country house, and then farm storage buildings.

Archaeological work on the site of the 13th century ruined refectory – adjacent to the existing intact 15th century refectory – revealed a tiled floor that is in almost perfect condition. The heraldic motifs on the tiles have allowed the floor to be dated to between 1272 and 1300. English Heritage describes this floor as one of the finest medieval floors in the whole of Europe! As part of the conservation of the floor, a permanent timber structure was designed to protect it from the elements whilst allowing the visiting public to view it at close quarters. Our contract was to supply and erect the portal frames and roof structure. The frames were made using seasoned European Oak with stainless steel flitch beams – each of the six portals measured over 8 metres in width. Follow on trades are currently on site and the building should be finished in the next month or so.

The second non-domestic build, and our third public project, is to supply the timber frame for the new scout building for Sid Vale Scout Group in Sidmouth. The building, measuring about 25 metres by 11 metres, will include a climbing wall, a fully vaulted hall, as well as a first floor element with meeting rooms. The frame will be a 235mm closed panel system and is scheduled to be delivered to site at the beginning of October.

Broadhempston Community Land Trust

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We’re not the only ones who are busy at the moment (did you catch our recent project round-up on Facebook?), our friends in the Broadhempston Community Land Trust (CLT) have been hard at work continuing their development of six affordable, self-built eco-homes. The scheme is enabling local residents, in housing need, to create and own a house within their local community – creating a solution to the ever rising, and often unobtainable housing market in this area (and the skills they’re learning during the building process are giving us a run for our money!) – Did you catch the news coverage on the BBC earlier this year?

All Timber Frames are really happy to be involved in this community-led project. To date, four of the houses have been erected and we are due to deliver the last two houses later this week. After erecting the structural timber frame, the community of builders will take over to finish the work, including internally lining the external wall panels with straw bales. 

Keep up with the project over on the Broadhempston CLT Facebook page!

Over the coming months, there will be a number of similar Community Land Trust projects, providing much needed affordable housing in rural communities across Devon and Cornwall.

Our New Facebook Page Has Launched!

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We are definitely busier than ever, with a number of projects already completed this year and plenty more well underway. To celebrate, we’ve recently launched our brand new Facebook page – so come on over and give us a like!

Having our Facebook page up and running has allowed us to upload real time updates of all builds, with the guys sharing information and photos almost daily, directly from site. Some of our most recent projects include a carefully crafted barrel roof, constructed in Thorverton using aesthetically pleasing (and extremely durable) Siberian larch. A redundant farm-building in mid Devon, which has been given a new lease of life in the form of a contemporary 6 bedroom family house. Plus we’ve also erected a pair of semi-detached 3 story houses, completed a build in Crediton and have a closed panel construction well underway in Seer Green, High Wycombe – and to top it all off the weather is getting better and better, which certainly makes a difference on site!

We’d love to hear your thoughts on our recent builds, so get involved in our new Facebook page – remember, if you’d like to submit a testimonial about a project we’ve worked on together, we’d love to hear it. They make for great ‘quote style’ posts over on Facebook.

Too Busy To Blog!

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Since the last post the level of activity has seen a marked increase, a trend which shows no sign of slowing down. The expansion in business of course brings its own challenges, notably in the number of people required to fulfil the commitments. Our workforce has increased by 30% over the last three months and new recruits are due to start with us in January. Our manufacturing space has seen the introduction of another two work benches and we are hoping to receive planning permission for a new company office building in our yard in January.

The recent projects have been as varied as ever, we are currently erecting the frames for two large detached houses, one in Dartington and the other in Otterton, next week we will erect a Gospel Hall in Exeter followed before Christmas by a pair of semis in Lapford. Projects completed in the last few months include five extensions of varying size, a block of flats, a bungalow and a couple of detached houses.

What ever the type of project our clients have been choosing our closed panel system in increasing numbers. At one time this was the choice of self builders but now developers are asking for the closed panel option, including a number who had previously had open frame systems from ourselves. The advantage of having more work carried out in the factory rather than on site is being more widely appreciated.

In response to a number of client requests we now plan to take the closed panel system a stage further by insulating the internal partitions, installing electrical conduits and back boxes and wall boarding both faces of the studwork in the factory. Now there is the opportunity to reduce further the site element of the build.

Finally, congratulations are due to our two apprentices. Both Will and Jack won the best student of the year award for their respective year group at Petroc College in Tiverton.

Annie Martin, Architect

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As a departure to our usual line of work, we have recently been engaged in a full build to provide a 14m x 5.5m home office for a local architect, Annie Martin. As soon as the polished concrete floor has been completed we will upload photos in the recent projects section of the web site. The new office is timely as last week Annie won two regional RIBA awards, one for a house in Chagford and the other for the Emerging Architect of the year. She now goes forward to the national awards later in the year. We will soon have a link to her web site, but in the meantime anyone looking for an excellent, innovative architect should go to anniemartin.co.uk to see examples of her work.

At present we are erecting a terrace of three houses in Aylesbeare as well as supplying the frames for five houses in Uffculm, whilst in the factory we are manufacturing the frames for a terrace of seven town houses in Watchet. Other contracts in the pipeline include six flats in Newton Abbot, detached houses in Hatherleigh and Shaugh Prior, and a scout building in Sidmouth.

It never rains…….

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The new year has seen a wide range of contracts coming in, so we are really living up to our name! We are doing a couple of school buildings, a toilet block on Exmouth sea front, extensions in Sidmouth and Chudleigh a home office for an architect in Cheriton Bishop, as well as homes in Bow, x 2, and Mylor Bridge in Cornwall. The only problem is the weather, the non stop rain has led to a number of sites experiencing delays to ground works, so when things eventually dry out we will be flat out on site work.

Waste Management and Other Matters

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It is often stated that timber frame construction generates far less waste than masonry builds, whilst true, we do have some waste from the manufacturing process to deal with. The biggest problem we had was the offcuts of Fermacell wall boards from our closed panel systems which had been growing at an alarming rate recently. Not wanting to send it to landfill we had thought about sending it back to the manufacturer for recycling, however we have now come up with a much more novel solution, bedding for cattle sheds. By breaking it down into small pieces local farmers are happy to take it for bedding for their cattle, therefore saving themselves as well as us a lot of money. Our timber waste is already being taken by local people for woodburners and our insulation offcuts are used by people who are increasing their loft insulation, so now with the Fermacell finding a good home we have virtually no waste going to landfill.

A few recent projects illustrate the breadth of work we carry out. We have recently completed a small extension in Sidmouth, a toilet block for East Devon Council, and an implement store for an estate on Dartmoor, as well as our more usual homes. The last one was for the owners of an organic market garden near Totnes.

Recently signed contracts demonstrate the geographical area we cover, we will in the next few months be supplying frames for a house in Portland near Weymouth as well as a house in the village  of Flushing near Falmouth.

Next week we are going to a site in Mount Hawke near Redruth to erect two 184mm closed panel timber frames, so anyone wishing to see a frame being erected should contact the office to arrange a site visit.