why are most suburban houses in the US built with wood, instead of bricks and mortar?
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I learned in history class that the types of trees in America had long straight trunks as well as relatively straight, even branches which made them easier to convert to building materials. The trees in western Europe and Africa are more ‘spindely’ so they don’t make for great building materials since you can’t get nice even lumber. Well, that is what we learned 🙂
In some regions of the US seismic activity causes a high failure rate of masonry structures. Wood structures are flexible, whereas mortar structures are brittle under seismic forces, so the wooden structures tend to be more resilient in these seismically active regions. That is one reasons why wood is used in some regions.
These days in the mid west it is just the price of brick, and the vinyl and or steel siding they use today is relatively maintenance free. They use to build brick homes because maintenance was so much lower than wood siding. The one place you can’t build brick homes is an earthquake zone. Masonry construction is failure prone in earthquakes.
Ease of quick construction. Also flexibility of wood means it is more forgiving of differential settling, which is common in new development and less of a concern in much of Europe
When building a fresh town into a city from the ground up, you are going to rebuild it a few times. Europe has been around a long time. Things are literally set in stone. We knew building North American cities that we would be going through several rebirths to get to a more final form.
That’s where wood comes in. It’s cheap, plentiful, quiet, fast to build big homes with, cheap, energy efficient when insulated properly, any halfwit handyman can knock a wall down and put it somewhere else in a weekend. Did I mention it’s cheap?
We reconsruct wood houses all the time. Jack it and add a new story. Tear it down to the studs and modernize it. Add a new bedroom. Change the floor plan to open concept. And we fell in love with this concept. Houses are meant to be made to suit you. In Europe people tend to conform to their dwellings. Because it is older than they are and a PITA to modify. And it will be around for a century. But you are kinda stuck with what ya got or it is expensive to change it. That wood house will be fucked in 50 years. But that’s fine. Because society changed in 50 years. How we live and spend our time changed.
We don’t give 2 shits about that 1970’s bungalo. Knock it down and put up a story of concrete parking /retail shops and 5 stories of wood frame condos on top. We make cities that can easily change, evolve and grow.
Also, we live on the ring of fire. Wood structures perform great in earthquakes. They really absorb well and the mass is very low. Concrete and block cracks. Even with the new earthquake codes, it won’t fall down. But it IS condemned from all the cracks.
Here in earthquake country of Oregon, even a properly built brick and mortar building is less safe. A wooden structure can better absorb the sway.
I scrolled down and I am surprised that I didn’t see anyone talking about Flex.
One major advantage wood has over bricks and mortar is that also very strong, but it can flex and deal much better with wind then brick and mortar in that aspect.
I think it’s more regional. Down here in SWFL, *most* newer houses are all cinder block. You know hurricanes and such.
Edit: this was not supposed to be a parent comment. Sorry.
Cost: Wood costs less to build with.
Speed: Wood is easier and faster to build with
Durability: Wood tends to be more forgiving/replaceable in all climates.
Availability: Wood is cheap and available for the time being, usually in all areas of North America. Transport is cheap also.
Flexibility: With home changing hands every 10-20 years, new owners can quickly remodel rooms and configuration.
Last but not least, Housing codes: Where clear specifications on build quality and engineering have to be followed for the structure ot be approved in all regions. (fire prevention, flood proof, insulation, energy waste, etc.)
When it comes down to it it’s more to do with local resources. More of a particular material in the general area (less than say 500km). That paired with the local climate (hurricane area etc).
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