Bespoke Oak Framed Buildings
By Davies-Hughes & Sons Ltd
Working with Oak
We are a family business based on the Llyn Peninsula in North West Wales, working from a beautiful oak cruck framed & thatch roof workshop. We pride ourselves in creating buildings and woodwork of unique design and exceptional quality throughout the UK.
Our signature framing material is Oak. We combine traditional and contemporary methods to create exquisite bespoke designs, from visitor centres to porches & extensions.
The Oak revival
Green Oak framing is a well-tested and extremely adaptable century old building technology that is becoming more and more popular in recent times with self-builders across the UK and Europe.
It is known for its beauty, versatility and strength. A combination that sees us recognise Oak as an iconic timber frame material of today.
One of its greatest qualities is its ability to sit visually and structurally within both traditional and modern contexts with ease.
Strength
Our green oak frames will typically form the main structural element of a building or extension and boasts a lifespan measured not in decades but in Centuries. Due to its strength, it opens many opportunities in design – Load baring walls aren’t needed in internally, this allows for much more expansive spaces to be carefully designed.
Environmental Credentials
Green oak is also renowned for its environmental credentials, all our timber is sourced from sustainably managed and certified forests throughout the UK & Europe. This therefore promotes the continued management and survival of oak and mixed broadleaf woodlands, together with their associated habitats and wildlife.
Eco friendly and carbon neutral
Building with wood presents a sustainable alternative to conventional steel and concrete construction. Green Oak frames are low impact, carbon neutral, renewable and sustainable. Whilst we have also began to see Oak frames being used in low energy designs such as Passivhaus within the UK.
Efficiency
All our Oak frames are designed and manufactured off site in our workshops on the Llyn Peninsula. This means when we arrive on site our frames are erected quicker, and with less distribution than similar buildings of bricks and mortar.
Green Oak & Moisture content
Green Oak is used as the exclusive choice for framers throughout the UK. Being Green and newly cut it is easier to shape and cut than harder older timbers. Of which might have becoming deformed or suffered large splits.
The moisture content of Green Oak is between 30%-80%. Drying is on average recognised as 1 inch per year when air dried. Therefore, takes several years for oak to dry out. Our green Oak frames are formed whilst the moisture content is still relatively high so that tight joints & draw boring can be achieved.
Shrinkage
Predicting shrinkage and working to the woods strengths is of paramount importance when designing Oak framed structures. There is no getting away from the fact that Green Oak frames shrink. Our frames are carefully designed for shrinkage to add character and overall quality to our Oak Frames and as not to detract from it.
