Abstract
Timber is one of the oldest building materials used by mankind, and its environmental and sustainable credentials are certainly more persuasive than those of concrete or brick. One only has to survey the historic building stock in the UK to see that, with good design, timber framed structures can last for many hundreds of years. However, when degradation sets in, the majority of the existing historic UK timber framed buildings receive repairs that are either resin assisted, screwed, or bolted. This is frequently required at beam ends, where the timber has traditionally been interfacing with a moisture absorbent and retaining material, such as brick, which focuses and exacerbates degradation processes.