1. Presentation

A timber-frame house is, by definition, made entirely of wood or wood-derived materials. It therefore meets the criteria of a dry construction, as opposed to more traditional constructions based on the use of concrete, poured cement or cinder blocks, which are therefore classified as wet constructions.

There are five construction principles for a timber house [TBA 1 720] :

• half-timbered construction: an ancestral building technique that defies time;

• solid panel construction: a fast-developing industrial...