Our 2024 timber webinar series is confirmed. This year we have webinars taking place under the topics of timber frames, technical timber, CLT and fundamentals of timber. The webinars, presented by our BM TRADA technical experts, are aimed at all levels and free to attend.
Timber Frame Series
Thursday 26 September 2024. 11:00-12:00 GMT. Right on site: Key timber frame details with Robin Lancashire, Senior Timber Frame Consultant
- Sole plates
- External wall cavities
- Differential movement.
Thursday, 10 October 2024. Moisture management in timber frame design and construction with Robin Lancashire, Senior Timber Frame Consultant
- The 4 D’s of wall design
- Avoiding trapped construction moisture
- Details to reducing decay risk in use.
Timber Technical Series
Thursday, 18 April 2024. 11:00-13.00 BST. Strength Grading with Nick Clifford, Senior Technical Timber Consultant, and Dr Dan Ridley-Ellis, Edinburgh Napier University
- Purpose of strength grading
- How strength of timber is determined – the three properties of timber called the 'grade determining properties'
- What is strength grading
- Methods of strength grading and which is better
- Types of machines in machine grading
- Strength grades and strength classes
- Dry or wet graded and Service classes
- Marking (stamps)
- Sizes and processing – can one resize structurally graded timber?
- Which timbers can we strength grade and the practicalities
- Factors affecting strength of timber
- Principles of visual strength grading
- Brief look at standards and some end-use strength grading.
Thursday, 2 May 2024. 11:00-13:00 BST. Modified woods and panel products with Dr Andy Pitman, Principal Technical Consultant, and Adam Moring, Timber Technical Consultant
- The main benefits of using modified woods
- The range of modified woods sold on the UK market
- Thermally modified woods – Brimstone, Abodo, Thermowood and Lunawood
- Resin-modified woods – Kebony and Rhinowood
- Chemically-modified woods – Accoya and Tricoya
- Environmental credentials
- Project examples
- Plywood
- Wood particleboards – including chipboard & cement particleboard
- OSB
- Fibreboards – the wet & dry (MDF) process
- The composition of these panels and how they are made
- Advantages of wood-based panels compared to solid wood
- Specification, types, grades and marking of panel products and how they relate to performance characteristics such as appearance, durability, moisture, strength and end-useTypical applications and why
- “Exterior grade” plywood – how to specify it and in which environments to use it
- Marine plywood.
Thursday, 16 May 2024. 11:00-12:00 BST. Understanding wood degrading insects and microorganisms with Dr Andy Pitman, Principal Technical Consultant
- Wood degrading insects
- Wood boring beetles
- Preferred timbers for egg laying
- Optimum conditions for development of the larvae
- Damage caused by degrading insects
- Reinfestations
- Wood degrading fungi
- Types of and requirements for decay
- Early detection and remediation
- Designing to reduce risk from decay.
Thursday, 6 June 2024. 11:00-12:00 BST. Timber adhesives with Richard Nunn, Sales Director, Ureka
- Content to be confirmed.
CLT Series
Thursday, 4 July 2024. 11:00-12:00 BST. Achieving durability with CLT: Mitigating construction phase moisture with Nick Clifford, Senior Timber Technical Consultant
- Moisture management planning
- High risk zones
- Moisture monitoring
- Remedial works.
Thursday, 18 July 2024. 11:00-12:00 BST. Achieving durability with CLT: Designing for durability with Nick Clifford, Senior Timber Technical Consultant
- History and current status
- High risk zones and details
- Remedial works
- Moisture monitoring
- Specification changes for using CLT.
Fundamentals of Timber Series
Thursday, 7 November 2024. 11:00-13:00 GMT. From trees to timber with Ben Sharples, Technical Manager, and Dr Andy Pitman, Principal Technical Consultant
- The versatility of wood and its limitations
- Considerations when using timber in a wide range of applications and environments
- Choice of species through to correctly detailing for the end use
- What a tree is and how its growth strategies affect its properties
- Basic cell structure
- Nomenclature and classification
- What is in a name?
Thursday, 14 November 2024. 11:00-13:00 GMT. Quality and properties of timber with Dr Andy Pitman, Principal Technical Consultant, and Nick Clifford, Senior Timber Technical Consultant
- Variability of timber
- Appearance – grain, texture, figure
- Density, reaction wood, juvenile wood, heartwood and sapwood
- How these all affect timber properties
- Timber and wood characteristics
- Timber as a structural product
- Toxicity, chemical reaction and corrosive properties in conjunction with other materials
- What is meant by 'Quality of timber'
- Difference between appearance, visual and strength grading
- Features assessed for grading purposes and how to measure them
- General principle of grading rules
- Explanation of commercial grading rules
- Strength grading and strength classes.
Thursday, 28 November 2024. 11:00-13:00 GMT. Moisture in timber with Adam Moring, Timber Technical Consultant, and Nick Clifford, Senior Timber Technical Consultant
- The most important timber issue to understand
- Green timber and seasoned timber
- Understanding the amount of water in timber
- Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC) and Fibre Saturation Point (FSP)
- The meaning of 12% moisture content
- Why and how the moisture content of timber changes
- Drying of timber and good methods of storing timber
- Shrinkage and movement: are they the same?
- How much timber shrinks and how this occurs
- Shrinkage and swelling in the different planes of timber
- Movement classifications and determining the amount of shrinkage
- How we can accommodate shrinkage and swelling
- Introduction to Use Classes and in-service moisture contents.
Thursday, 5 December 2024. 11:00-13.00 GMT. Protecting timber with Dr Andy Pitman, Principal Technical Consultant, and Gavin Fidler, Timber Technical Consultant
- Natural durability to fungi, insects and marine borers
- Types of insect and marine borers
- Natural durability classes and service life
- Wood preservation – when to specify and how
- How the length of desired service life is achieved
- The need for coatings
- Weathering of timber
- Types of coatings, including paints, varnishes, stains, floor and deck finishes
- Common faults and how to avoid them.
Our Services
Bespoke Timber Solutions
Find out more about the specification and performance of timber in a wide variety of applications.
Design Detail Evaluation
Independent advice and guidance on how best to detail and specify timber in a variety of applications.
Timber and Insect Identification
Our experts have knowledge in timber species and wood boring insect identification in all types of timber and timber-based products
In Situ Visual Strength Grading
Our timber experts provide indicative visual strength grading of softwoods and hardwoods in situ to provide the appropriate strength class.
Joinery
We provide joinery inspection which includes and verification of design detailing, construction and installation of internal and external joinery, i.e. cladding, doors, windows, flooring, skirting etc.
Plywood testing
Find out more about plywood testing from BM TRADA’s UKAS accredited laboratory.
Timber Cladding and Decking Inspections
Our service covers fault finding and diagnostic work on timber cladding and decking boards in a variety of locations.
Timber Condition and Structural Surveys
Our experts offer a range of specialist independent condition and structural surveys of timber components in new and existing structures.
Timber Condition Surveys for Rail
Condition and strength survey for the rail industry.
Timber Engineering
Checking design calculations, assisting with product development and inspecting new and existing buildings.
Timber Expert Witness
We offer an expert witness service for all disputes involving timber and wood-based products.
Timber Frame Consultancy
frameCHECK - independent third-party consultancy on the design and build quality of timber.
Timber Preservative Testing
BM TRADA offers timber preservative testing of treated wood using test methods and protocols from relevant British and European Standards to establish whether treatment levels in wood samples have been met at the time of treatment.
Timber Species Verification
This service provides a useful due diligence system to meet the European Timber Regulations.
Wood Coatings
Our experts have a wealth of experience in diagnostic work determining the causes of coating failures and wood decay on exterior joinery including cladding.
Wood Flooring
Diagnostic work on performance, aesthetic and structural issues of timber flooring in domestic, industrial and residential applications.