FAQs

ASH stands for Australian Sustainable Hardwoods. ASH is a privately owned Australian timber mill and manufacturer and has over 3,000 different profile offerings in product ranges like flooring. bench tops and panels, mass-timber members, mouldings and architraves, veneers, windows and doors, staircase components, cladding, DAR/sawn and external profiles.

Mass timber is priced based on the specific requirement of material volume + CNC time + bracketry and fasteners. While a basic $m3 rate can be provided by the MASSLAM team, it’s more accurate to be specific about your needs. Talk to one of the MASSLAM team to provide a quality estimate.

An ‘apples for apples’ comparison needs to be considered. For example, an office structure with visually expressed columns, beams and soffit in mass timber would be comparable to a concrete structure + the architectural joinery used to meet the architectural intent. Similarly there are reduced foundations, deliveries and overheads due to the speed of installation, safety and reduced weight achieved in mass timber. When considered holistically, mass timber can be significantly more
cost effective. Talk to the mass timber team to ensure design considers cost efficiency.

Yes – to ensure your mass timber is sustainable, make sure you source it from third party verified sources such as those with accreditation to PEFC, Responsible Wood (RW) or FSC.

If ASH have your project booked into the production schedule, ASH can guarantee the timber. Thanks to building sustainability schemes, climate objectives and human desires for natural materials, demand on certified timber is increasing year on year – in all categories and in most parts of the world. ASH are no different. However, ASH are uniquely in control of supply from log to finished product. If ASH have an agreement to supply your mass timber project, it will be delivered on time.

The following are maximum production sizes. Longer, wider, thicker can be achieved through engineered solutions (talk to the MASSLAM design team for more). Length: 12m. Depth = 1,300mm. Width = 450mm. In a high strength product such as MASSLAM 45, a maximum column size of 1,300mm x 450 can be the equivalent strength of a European Spruce 1,300 x 900mm.

Regardless of species used and the natural durability class or any Hazard Class treatment employed, it is not recommended that any GLT, Glulam, CLT or mass timber be used in full weather (Service Class 3). To use in external environments – design, detailing and protection measures need to be employed so that any member conforms to a weather exposure level of Service Class 2 or less. For detailed explanations, read the MASSLAM Design Guide or this blog on Service Classes.

All coating types (to our knowledge) are suitable on MASSLAM although which coating is best for your application will depend on the application of use, design intent, sustainability or longevity requirements, risk areas, desired maintenance regime, etc. To learn which coating might be best for your project, read the MASSLAM Coatings guide.

ASH recommend and offer a one-way, vapour permeable plastic wrap as a temporary weather protection solution to best protect each member from the impacts of weather exposure before the members are fully protected in their intended application. Throughout years of tests and experience, the temporary wrap has shown to have the best protection when compared against all other known temporary weather protection measures investigated – including pre-coating. While most projects are supplied with a pre-coat by ASH, our experience and preference is that the vapour permeable wrap is best.

It is a clear treatment. We use the Tru-Core H3 Azole treatment – otherwise sold as IronAsh.

Wraptite SA is a one-way, vapour permeable, self adhesive membrane which comes standard on all MASSLAM end grain. This limits weather checks or movement-in-service related issues in the ends of all members.

The timbers used in our MASSLAM mass timber range include GoodWood Victorian ash and Tasmanian Oak, Radiata Pine, and Plantation Oak. This provides a wide range of strength and appearance options for any mass timber project.

CLT, or Cross Laminated Timber, is a mass timber panel where each layer is glued at 90 degree orientation to the layers adjacent. CLT is typically used for floors in post and beam construction (in conjunction with MASSLAM or GLT) and/or in load bearing walls and floors in residential structures. ASH do not supply cross laminated timber panels however do offer panelised solutions such as Advanced Timber Composites (ATC) for floors and/or load bearing columns in place of walls.

A MASSLAM specialist is someone from our extensive in-house engineer and design team. ASH has a wide range of experts ranging from structural engineering to logistics so we can have better control of project solutions by supplying our own feedstock, automated manufacturing capability, skilled finishing and packaging, and delivery to site. This means that our design team work with project stakeholders and closely with our inhouse production team so that we can provide consistent information for manufacture.

Want a sneak peak of our products before purchasing? Great! Simply fill in the sample form and get them to you asap. Samples are reserved for industry professionals, so if you aren’t in that category, contact us and we’ll connect you with one of our friendly resellers.

Great to hear you’re interested in our high quality, sustainable timber products. To order exactly what you want, contact us by filling in this form or give us a call on 03 5139 7000 and we will point you in the right direction.

Trees capture and store carbon and are renewable, recyclable and biodegradable. When we choose sustainably and responsibly harvested timber over other materials, we reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and their consequent carbon emissions.

Learn more about the ultimate renewable here.

100% of our timber is sourced from regrowth forests, and 100% is regrown. Find out more here.

Plantation Oak is a plantation grown Shining Gum and is a sustainably sourced hardwood. Plantation Oak is PEFC certified by Responsible Wood – a third party not-for-profit that sets globally recognised standards for managing forests sustainably. Learn more on the sustainably page.