On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 09:47:29 GMT, "John Smith"
wrote:

Assuming global warming is happening what are the potential downsides to
timber frame houses here in the UK?

Not much. Timber we use in the UK is fairly bug-resistant. Our
problem is fungal rots, and a climate that gets wetter might make this
worse.

We don't have a lot of trouble with wood borers in timber framing.
Those that do attack it just don't make enough damage to really weaken
things - a powder-post beetle attack in a chair leg is one thing, but
in a roof timber it's just an irrelevance. The big-hole borers (like
Death Watch beetle) are far less common.

An increase in winter temperature will probably increase the range of
one house longhorn beetle sub-species that's already found in the far
SE and Kent. There are several widespread UK wood-boring longhorn
species, but they don't attack dry timber, except for this one
species. Having that range further afield could be a problem, as these
beasties leave 1/4" holes.

The UK climate would have to shift a _lot_ before we saw termites.

The main problem with termite attack, compared to beetle larvae, is
that termites are eating timber for food, beetles for living space.
Termites will hollow a timber out completely from the inside, but most
beetle species will actually leave a gap between adjacent tunnels.
Although they do weaken things to some extent, it's nothing like the
total collapse that termites bring.
--
Smert' spamionam