Wood-Frame House Construction in Norway

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Wood-Frame House Construction in Norway

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Ser

NA7110

N21h8

no.

28

c. 2

BLDG

_{NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL}

CANADA

DIVISION OF BUILDING RESEARCH

HOUSING NOTE NO. 28

IN NORWAY

by

A.

T. HANSEN

REPRINTED FROM

CANADIAN BUILDER, VOL. XVI, No. 7,

JULY 1966,

p.

38-39.

OTTAWA, JULY 1966

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WOOD-FRAME CONSTRUCTION IN NORWAY

Cost-saving worth considering in siding,

stud=wall construction and flooring

By A. T. Hausen Housing Section,

Division of Building Research, N.R.C.

Canadian wood-frame construction has evolved to its present status largely through p r a c t i c a 1 experience, in- fluenced by the development of new building products, and to some extent building standards. These influences naturally vary from country to country with the result that countries with the same basic building systems fre- quently develop different approaches in their building practice. It is useful periodically to examine these different approaches to determine if they offer potential advantages over domestic practices.

Norway is one country worthy of such study. Its climate is similar to Canada's and its houses are common- ly of wood frame. A number of practices observed during a recent visit ap- pear to have potential value in this country and this article has been pre- pared to describe some that should be of direct interest to Canadian builders.

FRAMING AND SHEATHING

In Canada, the typical wood stud wall consists of studs spaced 16 in. apart even though a number of codes, including the Residential Standards, will permit a 24-in. spacing for bungalows. There seems to be a general reluctance to depart from the tradi- tional 16-in. spacing except for a relatively few builders. Norwegian practice, on the other hand, is to use 24-in. (60-cm.) spacing for all framing members, walls, ceilings, floors, and roofs. This includes two-storey build- ings as well as bungalows. Apparently this spacing has been used successful- ly for quite a few years. Even considering the fact that Norwegian stud sizes are full 2 in. by 4 in. (as com-

pared to 1 % in. by 3 % in. Canadian size) it would seem that Norwegian wall-framing practice is less conserva- tive than Canadian practice.

In addition to this wider framing spacing, the typical Norwegian wall does not include any separate sheathing except in a few areas where there is severe exposure to wind-driven rain. A layer of sheathing paper is installed, however, behind the siding as a second line of defence against rain and wind. In only exceptional cases are un- sheathed walls used in Canada, even though sheathing is not required by Residential Standards (except where the siding requires intermediate sup- port or when it is to be used as a nail- ing base). Experiance with unsheath- ed walls in N o r w a y seems quite satisfactory. As the omission of sheathing offers a potential saving of from $80.00 to $130.00 in an average house, depending on the type of sheathing used, this would seem to be an area for cost savings well worth considering.

SIDING

One of the features that gives Nor- wegian housing a characteristic archi- tecture is the siding, which is almost i,nvariably wood. The most common style is vertical board-on-board (Fig-

ure 2) although board-and-batten and horizontal clapboard siding are also used. Unlike lumber siding in this country, Norwegian siding is rough sawn and is not dressed. It is either stained or painted although stained finishes seem to be currently more popular i8n new construction. The effect of the rough board siding, either stained or painted, is quite striking and the heavy shadow lines of the siding provides a distinctive texture.

An interesting aspect of the use of rough sawn siding is the apparent ab-

sence of paint peeling problems. This may be attributed to the use of the rough lumber which enables greater paint penetration of the wood, and to the increased surface area caused by the roughness which provides a greater bonding surface for the paint. The general use of linseed oil paint may also be a factor, although it has been mentioned that in isolated in- stances where dressed lumber is used (such as trim) paint problems do oc- cur. In any event the rough siding provides an economical and relatively trouble-free cladding of pleasing ap- pearance.

FLOORING

Another feature of interest is the widespread use of factory-made plank flooring laid directly over the floor joists (usually spaced 24 in. o.c.) without any subflooring. Apparently this product has only been in use for a few years and is already a common construction material.

The planks are 6 ft long, 5% in. wide, and T6 _{in. thick (Figure 3). They} are both end-matched and side-matched, and are made of three laminations with the centre ply at right angles to the outer layers. The top layer consists of Ys -in.-thick factory

-

finished oak strips about 2%-in. wide and 12 in. long. The bottom and middle layers are %-in. thick layers of kiln-dried softwood. The planks are blind nailed to the joists so that, when laid, the over-all effect is that of a well-finished high-quality oak floor. The high de- gree of accuracy in the manufacture of the planks provides a finish in which it is practically impossible to distinguish joints between planks. In addition, the cross-ply construction provides dimensionally stable pieces, which resist significant movement with changing moisture content from sum- mer to winter.

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The planks are covered with heavy building paper during construction in order to protect the factory finish. The system is similar to that used in the NAHB Research House in Rockville, Maryland, except that the Norwegian planks are m u c h narrower and shorter.

The system allows the finish floor FIGURE 1 -VERTICAL BOARD-ON-BOARD SIDING

to be installed in one application, elim- inating the need for subflooring or subsequent sanding, sealing, and varn- ishing. The material cost of the flooring is reported to be $0.55 to $0.60 per square foot.

MISCELLANEOUS DETAILS

In addition to these items a number of other practices that may be of interest were noticed.

One was the extensive use of pre- fabricated bedroom closets. Many of these consist of Ys _{-in. hardboard lam-}

inated on both sides to a %-in.-thick wood frame. This construction is used for closet doors, closet fronts, dividers and shelves. The closets are designed for efficient, compact storage, a a d contain drawers and shelves as well as clothes hanging space.

A unique method of anchoring sill plates to the foundation wall was also

,

observed. Instead of the usual thread- ed anchor bolts, plain rods approxim- ately 1/4 to % in. diameter are imbed- ded in the tops of foundation walls at 6- to 8-ft intervals so that they pro- ject about 4 in. above the top of the

wall. Holes drilled in the sill plate _FIGURE_{2 -VERTICAL} _{BOARD-ON-BOARD SIDING} to receive the anchors are large

enough to allow some tolerance in lo- cating the plate. The plates are fixed in position by bending the rods over the plate with a hammer.

Another item of interest is the type ,, of door hardware used. Door latches _?

are operated by turning a handle rath- CROSS S E C T I O Y

er than a door knob as is typical in sortwaoo-'

this country. These handles are much easier to operate for children whose hands may be too small to grasp a door knob, and for the infirm whose hands are often weak or crippled. Similar hardware is available in Can- ada and indeed is used by some builders.

There are other items of construction that differ from Canadian practice but many of them would prove to be more expensive and others would probably not meet general con- sumer acceptance. The items mentioned are believed to be of sufficient merit to warrant consideration by Ca-