Great Barwick Oak Frame Repairs

The oak frame of this Grade II listed property in the hamlet of Great Barwick, Hertfordshire needed  low disturbance repairs to preserve the heritage and structure of the building.

Completely removing the beam would have caused significant disturbance to the fenestration and front elevation of the building

Water ingress into the bessemer beam supporting the front elevation  had contributed to  decay, resulting in the lower edge of the beam’s structural integrity being compromised.

Oak bessemer beam Great Barwick

The decayed timber was removed by cutting regular shaped sections of timber from the beam.
Oak beam repair - Great Barwick

The amount of timber removed was sufficient to get to sound solid wood to keep the amount of wood being removed to a minimum.

Removal of decayed timber - Great Barwick

New species matched oak of a similar moisture content was then  cut to size and bonded in place with Rotafix Structural Adhesive (RSA) as it is an ideal choice for this application as it has a long open time and a slow cure.

As the glue line for the Rotafix Structural is a thickly applied 2-4mm this filled any irregularity between the surfaces.  The slow setting nature of the adhesive allowed the manipulation and movement  of the replacement timber pieces without the adhesive curing prematurely.

Rotafix Structural Adhesive was injected into accessible areas to ensure that voids were completely filled to prevent further decay.

The thixotropic consistency of the adhesive allows it to be be pumped vertically without slump. The low shrinkage and flexible nature of the cure adhesive makes it ideal for filling voids.

Oak beam repairs - Great Barwick

Matching the species and moisture content of the timber is important as it will then expand and contract at the same rate as the existing timber.

The replacement timber pieces  will be shaped and stained to blend in with the existing timber in due course.

For further information about the Resiwood system of repair, using RSA Structural Adhesive or obtaining species matched replacement timber pieces manufactured to meet your requirements please contact us on +44 (0)1639 730481 where one of our technical team will be happy to assist.

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