Since plastic doesn’t biodegrade, why aren’t more houses built with plastic instead of wood parts?
In: Engineering
It should be noted that wood used in the construction of houses is treated to make it harder to biodegrade. It may also be protected with a varnish or polycoat if it will be exposed to the elements. The vast majority of wood in a home will *not* be exposed to elements beyond some humidity. There’s also not a whole lot of organisms that are good at destroying and decomposing wood that don’t require a ton of moisture (like fungi) and usually aren’t immediately dangerous as long as you take care of your home even a little bit. Homeowners go through a lot of trouble to prevent the ones that *are* immediately dangerous (like termites) from getting into the home.
Houses can survive even pretty substantial natural disasters like flooding and still remain structurally sound. There are centuries-old houses with the original wood structure that are still standing today. The biodegradability of wood just isn’t a concern when it comes to making houses out of the stuff, provided you take care of it properly.
On the other hand, wood is cheap (current shortage notwithstanding), pretty lightweight, flexible, easy to cut, often aesthetically appealing, sustainable (when properly managed), and ubiquitous in many countries. There’s no reason *not* to use wood framing when it’s available and affordable.
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