Oak Frame: Design Solutions

ABOVE: Oak frame by Westwind Oak (westwindoak.com).

Beamed Ceilings

Traditional oak frame homes typically feature beamed oak ceilings — the visible floor joists of the storey above spanning between wall frames or tie beams. Unless covered by lath and plaster, the underside of the floorboards may also be visible between the joists, especially in more humble dwellings like cottages.

Beamed ceilings are a feature that can also be recreated in a partial oak frame home, or to give character to a room that has been built using another construction system. Generally a beamed ceiling looks best if it is structural rather than cosmetic.

A grand, if rather expensive, feature is a coffered oak ceiling, with oak beams running in both directions forming grids or squares.

Jetties

A jetty is where the upper storey overhangs the storey below, supported on floor joists cantilevered out over the ground floor walls. These ‘jetty bressumers’ are sometimes supported by decorative cornels, which may be carved. The principal posts (dragon posts) supporting the cantilevered beams (dragon beams) may be of larger oak sections for great strength. This feature may have its roots in the era when houses were taxed according to their ground floor area; it also provides an area below that is protected from the elements.

Cantilevering is a feature that can also be used on contemporary-style designs in oak, both outside and in, to create a gallery.

Vaulted Ceilings

In much the same way as the floor joists are visible on the underside of the ceilings in oak frame homes, so the oak roof structure may be visible in attic rooms, and other rooms that do not have an intermediate horizontal ceiling.

Opportunities to use a vaulted ceiling include above a single storey wing, such as a kitchen, dining or living room, in a galleried hallway, or above a bedroom, whether or not partially or fully within the pitch of the roof.

Due to the levels of insulation required in the roof to meet the Building Regulations, more often than not the rafters are concealed on new houses (insulation between and beneath the rafters). Where the rafters are covered in a new house, they can be in softwood, with only the roof trusses, purlins and bracing made from oak — this helps to reduce the frame cost.

Windows

Openings for windows and doors in early oak frame homes, especially simple rustic buildings such as cottages, were formed directly between the studwork, with the casements fixed into the frame with no surround. Casements were usually quite small – glass was expensive – and made from oak or metal with small-paned leaded lights. Later casements were made from cast iron or oak, and held in oak surrounds and casements arranged in pairs or larger multiples. On grander homes, larger windows were formed incorporating multiple lights.

Oak framing was superseded by masonry construction at around the same time as the development of the sash window in the 17th century. Other than in rural areas, few homes would originally have been built with sash windows. However, many oak frame homes would have been remodelled and/or extended, and sash windows may have been incorporated.

Today, period windows with double-glazed units are available in all styles. When building a period-style oak frame property, it is important to understand the local vernacular traditions and to choose an appropriate window style.

For a contemporary oak frame home the options are unlimited, although timber is likely to be the most appropriate choice for windows and doors, especially amongst those who choose to build in oak for ecological reasons.

Close Studding

Close studding – where the vertical timbers (studs) are set close together, dividing the wall into narrow panels – is a feature that evolved in the South-East and East of England, where demand for structural oak exhausted the supply of large trees. Smaller fast-grown oaks were therefore used, resulting in building systems that made use of shorter, thinner timbers. The feature later spread to the West, North-West, South-West and Wales.

Other forms of close studding also evolved, including herringbone, with diagonal timbers, chevron studding, and quatrefoil studding.

Plinths

Originally oak frame buildings were built with the posts buried into the ground, but damp caused the frames to rot prematurely, leading to the development of the framed wall, with the studs set into an oak cill beam raised above the damp ground on a masonry plinth.

In the stone belt areas the plinth would be of the local stone, whilst in downland areas it would typically be constructed from brick.

Pargeting

In the East of the country, plaster was applied to laths covering the external surface of the timber frame and a moulded finish to the lime plaster was created. This took the form of a pattern or elaborate mouldings.

More Advice on Oak Frame:

• Oak Frame: Design Masterclass
• Oak Frame: Frame Types
• Oak Frame: Experts' Views

Oak Frame Self-Builds:

• Oak Framed Cottage Built for £134,000
• A Traditional Style Oak Frame Self-build
• An Oak Frame Home on a Replacement Dwelling