We have just brought a 100yr old house and would like to find a timer expert to check our timbers are safe and the best way to restor/preserve them. Thank you

post in the job section which will receive some intrest from local tradesmen. hope this is of help

the best way to maintan any wood is to keep them well painted to stop the moistuer getting in to find out which timber need replacing get a screwdriver and prod the timber if it goes in to the timber the area of the timber is rotten and may need reparing or replacing depending on the size you are best to keep trying to get some one to look at them thanks mark small

You really need an expert to have a look just incase as they have been painted for a reason. But there are a few things to look out for Eg any cracks in the timber, tiny small holes caused by wood worm or beetles, check to see if the timbers are solid by touch or pushing a screwdriver into the wood, or dry or wet rot at the ends of the timbers which means are the ends solid or is there any white fungus growing on the timbers. You can buy products to help restore most timber problems unless the timbers are to far gone and weak. Hope that helps a little.

I have worked on the restoration of various types of timber framed buildings from barns, houses, cricket pavilions, even the timber in churches and castles and in my experience the best way to strip it back to timber and the way I will always use is a dry sand blast, it is a messy process but the end quality is worth it. Once this has been done a proper evaluation can be done. Like suggested above push a screwdriver into the timber if it goes in over an inch it will more than likely need replacing, however, sometimes the timber can be soft on the outside but rock solid on the inside. Also something to bear in mind is that where the timber is sat on any dwarf wall or touching the ground it can tend to rot from the in side out as a damp proof course will not have been used when constructed, so from the outside the timber will be fine but inside the timber will be decaying. This is something only an experienced timber framer will pick up on. Another thing to look out for is sheared compression. This is where the weight of the house has forced excessive amounts of pressure through a timber member and on to the mortise and tenon it is paired to. Two things that give a clear sign of this is a split in the timber around the mortise and any split pegs or pegs at different angles to the rest of them. This leads me onto any missing pegs (dowels) u should ensure that all the joints have got the correct amount of pegs. Replace missing pegs, any rotten or damaged ones must also be replaced. When it comes to the replacement of the timber there are various techniques that can be used to replace as little as possible. For example if a two meter section of a 6 meter beam is rotten then the whole beam does not have to be replaced, a small section can be inserted using an appropriate scarf joint. Another cost effective method is to use face splices if only a small area of the timber is rotten. I do hope this small amount of information has been helpful. Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions or require more advice, I am always more than willing to help Tel, 07854931165 Email, enquires@benjaminconstruction.co.uk Regards, Benjamin Hornberger. (Benjamin Construction)