How can a half-built house be left in the weather with no issues? I’m talking about a wood frame with plastic in the rain type of thing.
In: Engineering
Timber frames and most mortar and such can actually get wet no problem, it’s just if they retain the moister and don’t dry out that it becomes an issue, to the best of my knowledge.
Standard wood used for framing such as 2x4s and 2x6s do actualled start to warp after enough tine in the sun.
I frame houses and if we leave the material uncovered for even a few days in the sun it will warp and become much harder to work with.
Basically i see 3 issues.
1. Rain will fuck up isolation materials like rockwool or the likes(styrofoam is a non issue). It takes ages to dry out and will make it lump together and be bad in general. So it cant be in direct rain for any period really. Wood can last a long time, even untreated, but mostly you use some chemicals to keep wood from rotting away. Especially the wood that is meant to be outside(outer wall) is chemically treated. Wood skeleton will not be exposed and doesnt need protection other then ventilation and a outer wall.
2. Sunlight is a factor but its a slow process for it to become problematic. Mostly in regard to plastics this could become an issue.
3. Wind can knock shit down and blow out the plastic barrier(very bad).
So in regards to seeing some wooden house with a roof and no real outer wall just maybe some sheet of fabric(dont know the english term) the house can stand like that for a long time no issues. It will get damp and have moist problems but it could still stand for a long time.
I use to help frame houses and once you nail the boards into place they resist warping well in the rain for a while. I threw away so many boards that were left out when someone didn’t cover the boards back up with a tarp when leaving on a Friday. Also normally the day after it rains you spend a lot of time cleaning up water. Normally you can push broom rainwater off somewhere, but sometimes you may even need a squeegee. Also the wind will blow stuff over a lot. Once the roof is on water will mostly be diverted from going anywhere important. They wrap the houses in plastic and shingle the roofs to give time for everything else. Then they come back later and put decorative stuff like brick, rock, stucko, siding etc.
I’m a home builder here in Portland Oregon where it rains half the year. We build all year round. We frame it and don’t care if it gets wet. Then once the roof is on I bring in specialty crews who use moisture meters and see where the water is accumulated. We use fans, heaters and dehumidifiers to suck all the water out of the wood framing to the appropriate moisture content and then they certify it.
It needs to stay wet awhile for molds and such to start growing. We pull the water out way before that happens.
In fact we do this even in the summer sometimes if we don’t use kiln dried wood and we do get water out. That’s because the framing lumber comes to us green and “pond cured” as we call it where it’s basically been floating in water till recently and is still real heavy.
Spend the extra money to get the roof sheathing on and papered (water proofed). The sun and rain will combine to degrade spruce/pine/fir framing lumber, and composite timbers. Once the frame is “dried in” it will tolerate a fair amount of rain. Sun is also bad for wood’s stability.
Washington Electrician here: while most of the time they are, they’re not always! Conduction materials are made to be able to withstand a certain amount of moisture and then dry out and be OK, however, D.R. Horton and few builders had a whole slew of problems one year and had to rent a bunch of the newly framed houses because of mold!
There are issues if its left to long. One jobsite is using a new chipboard that lasts a few days longer in the elements.
I frame in Ontario canada and it’s cool but can’t imagine how crazy of a cost it would be: builders are renting portable domes for bad weather conditions.
Are trees damaged by the rain?
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