Is it true that Traditional Timber Frames are more fire resistant than stick built homes, post and beam homes with metal connectors and/or manufactured trusses with steel gusset plates?
This question was recently answered in a letter to Timber Framing; Journal Of The Timber Framers Guild, by Ryan Gilbert who is a firefighter in Bellingham, WA. “Timber- Framed construction is significantly more resistant to fire damage than common stick framing and considerably more resistant to fire damage than construction using unprotected steel support members” (i.e. post and beam). “Solid wood is very stable at high temperatures and creates its own insulation upon contact with fire. As a result, heavy timber construction is given a two hour fire rating by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).” He goes on to say that “the beauty of Timber Frame joinery under fire load is that, as the outside of a beam chars, it turns mostly to carbon. Carbon is a great insulator, so the load-bearing portions of the joinery and members remain intact for much longer than in lightweight truss construction. He goes on to say that steel gusset plates fail rapidly in a fire, and engineered woo
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