Is a timber house safe? Fire, sound, moisture and lifespan

Three things to know:

• Solid wood burns predictably. Unlike steel or concrete, CLT and heavy timber frame burn at a known rate — fire services and structural engineers can calculate with it precisely.
• Our panels achieve EI 30 to EI 120 fire resistance, depending on the build-up. For apartments we reach up to EI 120 with CLT. (EI 60 means, for example: the structure resists a fire for at least 60 minutes.)
• Fires rarely start in the structure. Almost all house fires start in furniture, appliances or the kitchen — where the building material makes no difference.

Our standard floor build-up achieves Rw ≥ 55 dB to Rw ≥ 65 dB, where the Dutch Building Decree requires Rw ≥ 52 dB between dwellings. For terraced houses and apartments we typically use CLT walls of 140 mm or more plus a decoupled lining wall — in practice little to no noise nuisance.

Properly designed and built: not a problem. Our panels leave the factory dry and are protected against rain during assembly. In use, the combination of a correctly designed structure, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and a watertight facade keeps the indoor climate permanently dry — and woodworm stands no chance in wood that stays dry. Our reference projects in Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and Latvia — all damp climates — show over 30 years of trouble-free service.

And in case of water damage, such as a burst pipe? The same as with any house: act quickly, dry, repair. Wood — unlike concrete — dries out relatively quickly, and a damaged panel element can often be replaced locally.

A timber house lasts as long as masonry, provided it is well maintained. Modern prefab timber construction is rated at 75–100+ years of economic lifespan; the oldest still-inhabited wooden houses in Europe are 800–1000 years old. Mortgage lenders and valuers routinely work with 50+ years.

Maintenance is comparable to or slightly less than masonry. If you choose a wooden facade, that means painting or staining once every 7–15 years — maintenance-free facades are also available. The structure itself requires no maintenance.