The Timberapex journal ยท Cairns

Timber Building Notes From Far North QLD

Timberapex writes about the things that actually decide whether a timber build survives this climate: species choice, moisture, drainage and ventilation.

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2 articles published so far
16 years building in QLD
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Two pieces worth your time

We are not trying to fill a content calendar. These go up when we have something genuinely useful to say, usually after the same question comes up on a third phone call.

Timber species selection for humid northern Australian climates
Materials Article 01

Choosing Timber Species for a Hot and Humid Climate

Merbau looked like a bargain until we pulled up boards that had been down six years. This piece walks through what actually holds in ten wet months a year, what a moisture meter reading really means, and the two species we stopped specifying after one bad summer north of Cairns.

It is the article we send to anyone comparing builder quotes, because species choice is the single biggest difference hidden inside a per square metre price.

Read the article
Outdoor cedar sauna built on a Queensland property
Saunas Article 02

What Changes When You Build a Sauna Outdoors

An outdoor sauna is not an indoor sauna with the walls taken off. Drainage, roof overhang, foundation height and cross-ventilation all change, and getting any of them wrong is expensive to fix later. We cover the four differences that matter and the two mistakes we see on almost every DIY build we are called out to look at.

If you are weighing up a standalone unit against a full bathhouse, this is worth fifteen minutes before you commit to anything.

Read the article
How we write

No fluff, no stock phrases

Everything we publish comes out of a job we have actually done. If we are telling you spotted gum lasts better than something else, it is because we have pulled up both and compared them. If we mention a price, it is a price from our own invoices.

We keep the article list short because there is no point writing weekly updates nobody reads. When we do post something, it answers a question we get asked often enough to be worth putting in writing.

  • Written by the people on the tools, not a copywriter
  • Every claim comes from a build we completed
  • Updated when our experience changes, not on a schedule
Timberapex workshop floor with cedar stacks and a part-cut frame Where the writing comes from, Wharf Street
What we do

The work behind the notes

Most of what ends up here starts life as a problem on a build. Two services generate nearly all of it.

Custom timber frame home built by Timberapex

Custom Timber Frame Homes

Design and build for homes and cabins across Far North Queensland, with the frame cut and test-fitted in our workshop before it goes on a truck.

Frequent questions

Things readers write in about

The messages we get after publishing something usually land on the same three points, so here they are up front.

Can I get the drawings or species list from an article?

Yes, if it is a standard detail we are happy to send it. For anything tied to a specific client's build, we will not share the plans, but we can tell you what species and grade we used.

Do you take guest posts or sponsorships?

No. Everything here is written by our crew about our own work. We would rather publish two solid pieces a year than turn this into an advertising board.

Something in an article does not match my situation.

That happens, because advice for a coastal block at Port Douglas does not always transfer to a dry site out at Mareeba. Send us the details and we will tell you what would change.

Start a build

Got a block and a rough idea?

Send us the location, the size you are thinking about and whether a sauna is part of the plan. You will get a line-by-line quote with the species, grade and finish named, usually inside four working days.

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