Spooner

Manufacturer: J.L. Spooner Limited Ltd, Hull, England.
Designer: R Binnington
Period built: 1948–55
Number built: 4800

The Spooner timber framed house, was generally built with using a traditional style, full brick exterior but occasionally due to material shortages, they were also built using bricks at the lower level and profiled steel cladding sheets to the upper storey. This latter alteration caused many to confuse the Spooner Timber Framed House, with the very similar looking BISF (British Iron & Steel Federation) steel framed house.

Spooner houses were built as bungalows and 2-storey semi-detached and terraced houses.
Having a steep, medium or shallow pitch gable roof covered with tiles, profiled steel or asbestos cement sheets.
The external walls of houses were constructed of brick throughout, or in some cases up to first floor level with vertically profiled steel sheets above.
Some houses have a flat canopy over front door and some houses have steel framed windows.
The external front and rear walls of bungalows were usually finished in render.

Spooner Timber framed House Construction.

Substructure: Concrete strip footings with a brick under- building.
Damp Proof Course.
External walls: Platform frame construction with storey height timber frame panels which are braced diagonally with 1″ steel strapping, overlaid with reinforced bituminous felt and separately clad with brick.
Internal walls lined with plasterboard
Separating wall: Timber frame cavity wall backed with fibreboard and lined up to eaves level with plasterboard. The cavity is filled with concrete. Mineral fibre packing located at head of wall. Galvanised steel sheet shutter at ends of wall.
Partitions: Timber stud lined with plasterboard.
Ground floor: Constructed in concrete.
First floor: Tongue & Groove boarding on timber joists.
Ceilings: Plasterboard at ground floor. Fibreboard at first floor.
Roof: Timber trusses, bituminous felt and tiles. Mineral wool insulation in roof space.

Spooner House Variations
The upper storey external walls are sometimes separately clad with vertically profiled metal sheeting.
The front and rear walls of bungalows are rendered.
Profiled steel sheets or asbestos cement roof sheets were sometimes used in place of roof tiles.

Surveyors Notes

Localised softening/ decay found at bottom frame rail.
Decay of reinforced bituminous felt breather membrane found at foot of cavity.
Bulging or leaning external brickwork. Collapse of gable apex brickwork. In some cases a there is scarcity and corrosion of wall ties.
Excess mortar accumulation at foot of cavity. Corrosion found to steel lintels.
Notable gaps found in the fire stops at separating wall.
Decay of window joinery.