The quest for faster, more cost-efficient and environmentally-sustainable construction methods has accelerated the take-up of timber frame construction in the housebuilding market.

While some traditional housebuilders continue in their allegiance to conventional brick and block construction, many have also seen that timber frame is quick and easy to erect. It is also true that the principle raw material – European softwood – has the best environmental profile of any construction material and it is now increasingly common for builders to employ both methods and derive benefits according to their own preferences and market demands.

As the UK’s leading producer of engineered wood-based panels, Norbord is continuously searching for ways in which to enhance the performance of its products. Given that most of its OSB, particleboard and MDF output is destined for the construction industry, Norbord is consequently at the vanguard of efforts to improve building efficiency.

Government policy and, in particular, campaigners for the Sustainability Agenda, have intensified the drive towards greater efficiency both in terms of the energy-efficiency of operational buildings and the efficiency of the building process itself. Hence there is official endorsement of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) which deliver warm, well-insulated buildings quickly and to high quality standards. Timber is at the heart of many forms of Modern Methods of Construction with both modular and panel systems of construction using components manufactured off-site and assembled on-site quickly and easily by relatively low skilled operatives. This speed and ease of assembly is one of the keys to efficiency in housebuilding.

The factory control achieved “off-site” is another key factor in workmanship and quality standards being of a high level. This is due to site variables being largely eliminated (eg weather) and the best companies have buildings erected in only a few days. This brings tangible benefits for all - the householder and the builder/developer.

Norbord’s products are used in many modern timber frame systems, with OSB the first choice for sheathing, sarking and the construction of pre-manufactured cassettes. Additionally, in many traditionally-built houses, Norbord’s Caberdek tongue-and-grooved protected particleboard is a staple ingredient in many domestic floor constructions.

Caberdek is easy to install. Its machined joints fit snugly together and the boards are fixed to the supporting joists with a standard nailgun. But as speed is an essential component of efficient timber frame erection, anything that can reduce on-site construction times will reduce costs and the risk of construction defects.

Norbord’s latest initiative is to develop a method by which Caberdek flooring can be fixed more quickly and more efficiently. Moreover, it is expected that this new method will deliver better standards of construction of the finished floor.

At the heart of the new method is an established Norbord product: Fast Fix adhesive. Fast Fix is a structural PU adhesive applied by skeleton gun and developed several years ago to bond Caberdek tongue-and-groove boards to joists.

A common current practice is to glue the panel joints and secure the floor to the underlying joists by applying a film of PVA adhesive to the top of the joists and securing each panel with four nails through the panel ends and four nails into each intermediate joist.

The Fast-Fix method involves fixing the panels to the joists with Fast-Fix adhesive which, as a structural PU adhesive, (with a pedigree in Boat building) creates both a bond and an intermediate layer between the joist and the board. This stronger adhesive layer means that perimeter nailing is required as normal with only three nails per full panel, one at each end and one on central intermediate joists.

The results of trials indicate a time-saving of 45 minutes per house using Fast Fix. Laying 80m² of floor using conventional methods takes approximately two hours and 15 minutes; with Fast Fix, the estimated time is just 90 minutes.

The 45-minute estimated time saving achieved is well worth developing further on other installations. Based on estimated labour costs of £45 per hour – that is, one joiner and one apprentice – a major developer building 14,000 houses per year could save in the region of £480,000 per year in labour alone if using Fast Fix method.

There are other benefits too, not least the saving in materials due to the drastically reduced nailing requirement. Norbord is currently evaluating its trial results and looking for potential enhancement. One example is the method of application – conventional skeleton guns were used in the trial and alternative methods of application could further reduce installation times.

Other notable benefits from the above method are substantially reduced risk of creaking noise which sometimes occurs up to one year later due to joist shrinkage and a floor assembly which is approximately 30 to 40% stronger than the norm, principally due to the continuity of the bonding onto the joist material.