Are most houses in the US really made of wood?

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BracedRhombus@reddit

Let's flip that. Why do Europeans build houses from brick and stone?

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79215185-1feb-44c6@reddit

Especially when it's a non-renewable resource.

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Over_Knowledge_1114@reddit

It's very common, almost all houses in the US are wood frame

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MajesticBread9147@reddit

It's very common but I wouldn't say almost all.

Brick houses are very common as well. Especially in urban areas. Before modern building techniques and materials wood was undesirable because you don't want streets of rowhomes made entirely of wood at the same time we were heating and cooking with fires. Maybe it's survivorship bias, but at least where I live homes built between like 1860 and 1940 were all brick outside as the main structure. And in the winter time the bricks from the fireplace would conduct heat around the house through the brick. Untreated wood also has the problem of warping much more over time than brick does, which is a problem for large structures.

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Over_Knowledge_1114@reddit

You're not wrong, but as a percentage the houses you are talking about are a very low number.

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MajesticBread9147@reddit

Are they? In my experience they're extremely common. Especially since brick is durable enough that people typically don't tear the old houses down, they just gut reno them.

Obama lived in one and I grew up in one.

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Over_Knowledge_1114@reddit

Google says there are 65+ all brick houses in my city of 900k people. Also there are probably a few thousand stick frame houses currently being built.

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-something-clever-@reddit

Also, many of the brick houses that people see are wood-frames houses with a brick facade. They aren't actually constructed with bricks.

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IconoclastExplosive@reddit

I admit a limited knowledge base since I've only ever lived on the west coast, but wood is easily at least 90% of the market share for framing. Brock facade is common enough but the actual skeleton of the home is wood, and the foundation often is too. Wood foundations aren't the majority but they're not rare IME.

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Prior_Lobster_5240@reddit

It might be brick on the outside, but the FRAMING is done with wood as the previous comment said.

Brick exterior or not, almost every house is made from wood.

Barndominiums are a current fad that often have metal framing. Condos and apartments in cities also will be metal.

But almost all houses are framed with wood.

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spezizacuk@reddit

I would add that homes built 100+ years ago made with heart pine can last a really long time. My home was built in 1900 and is made entirely of heart pine. The wood is old growth where the wood is soaked in oils from the natural long term growth of the tree. All the old growth pine forests are wiped out now so the wood has to be treated but homes built of wood up to the 1920s or so are super resistant to rot or termite damage. The termites will not eat heart pine because of the oil. The wood in my house looks just as good as it did 100+ years ago. America was covered in pine and hardwood forests that were 100s of years old during its early history. Those forest are all but gone now replaced with planted forests.

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MrLongWalk@reddit

Yes, same in Canada and much of Scandinavia

Wood is cheaper, more renewable, more easily transported and repaired, easier to insulate against our extreme swings in temperature and humidity, is damaged less by our rapid freeze thaw cycle, etc.

It’s easier for Europeans to think we simply don’t know brick is better than to remember any of the above though.

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An8thOfFeanor@reddit

A brick house won't withstand a tornado, but it will bury the occupants under rubble and take forever to rebuild compared to wood.

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tangledbysnow@reddit

Derechos. Yes tornadoes are a thing and can be super destructive but derechos are worse. Derechos are more common, becoming even more common still, and do a lot more damage than many tornadoes. Derechos by definition have to have damage over 240 miles.

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sweetbaker@reddit

Brick also doesn’t do well in earthquakes 😅

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MrLongWalk@reddit

Tell it to the Euros, apparently they simply know better

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WillDupage@reddit

It’s largely dependent on location. Currently most newly constructed houses across the country are wood framed. Historically brick was the material of choice where clay was available, and a kiln was set up. In more rural areas, wood construction was more common because obtaining and transporting brick was cost prohibitive. In cities developed before World War Two, brick is very common. Chicago required masonry construction after the Great Fire. Milwaukee is known for its cream colored brick.
Postwar construction in mainly timber for speed, ease, and cost.

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ATLien_3000@reddit

In the next thread:

Why can't Europeans afford their own homes such that they live with Mom and Dad into their 40s?

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whip_lash_2@reddit

Yes. It is far cheaper and a European-style house will not save you from a tornado or hurricane. Not sure about comparative earthquake performance but much of the US doesn't really have earthquakes.

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triggerhappymidget@reddit

As someone who grew up in California and now lives in Washington, wood actually does a bit better in earthquakes than brick. It's got some give to it and can bend.

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shibby3388@reddit

Wood construction is far more common in Japan, but no one gives them shit for it. Only Americans are accused of building inferior houses out of wood.

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AndreaTwerk@reddit

Also very common in Germany and Scandinavia. There are thousand year old wooden churches there but for some reason Europeans think wood is as weak as cardboard.

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79215185-1feb-44c6@reddit

And we have multi-hundred year old wood frame homes in the US.

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AvarethTaika@reddit

probably because they use steel frames or at least bolts with seismic protection with cnc joinery whereas America uses nails and spike sheets most of the time. In earthquake prone areas construction is better often using steel beams, strong ties, and shear walls, but still wood primarily.

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ember428@reddit

I don't think OP was making a judgement call, just asking a question!

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Mormacil@reddit

Japan years them down every few decades and wood is exceptional for earthquakes. Neither of those apply to the majority of the US.

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Litzz11@reddit

The frame is wood, but brick, stone, stucco, etc. are common on the exterior.

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RoseHawkechik@reddit

But that's usually a veneer (i.e., "just for pretty",) it's not structural.

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Yeahboyeah@reddit

This!

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PinkNinjaKitty@reddit

These threads are so often ways for me to learn new things, too. I’m in South Florida and almost no homes around me are made of wood; here, homes are made from concrete block. I was pretty surprised at all the answers here saying most houses are made of wood, but it must be common in most parts of the country.

I looked it up and apparently concrete block is required in South Florida for the most part by building codes. Wooden houses exist, but they’re pretty old (pre-1950s I’d guess), and very prone to termites and wearing down in the Florida weather. Other parts of the country don’t have the same issues.

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LavenderPearlTea@reddit

I honestly don’t know how you build houses without wood.

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Prior_Lobster_5240@reddit

Google "monolithic dome" for funsies

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79215185-1feb-44c6@reddit

What would you expect them to be made out of?

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dontdoxmebro@reddit

Like Japan, Scandinavia, and many other parts of the world that have abundant forests, most American and Canadian houses have a wooden frame. The exterior maybe clad in wood, brick, stone, vinyl, stucco, concrete fiberboard, etc. Concrete fiberboard is currently the most common material being installed on new houses in my area. Wood framed walls allow insulation to be installed in between framing members, so modern wood framed houses are typically very well insulated and quiet. Wood framed houses are usually the safest choice in earthquake prone areas. Wood is a completely renewable resource.

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SteampunkRobin@reddit

Something like 95% of US homes have wood frames, but that doesn’t mean they are all entirely made of wood. I don’t know the percentages but the exteriors can also be brick, stucco, fiber cement, etc.

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ZaphodG@reddit

The homeless use corrugated cardboard

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Remarkable_Table_279@reddit

Not completely of wood but yes most of our houses have a wooden frame that we then overlay other materials on & around

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Remarkable_Table_279@reddit

There are some steel frame houses (my sister’s is one) but they’re old.

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CtForrestEye@reddit

The wood construction lasts well too. We more than 50 homes in this town that we're built before 1776. And another 50 that were built before the civil war.

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Redditconvert22@reddit

Yes, except in places with hurricane building codes, like Florida, where the outer walls are concrete block.

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Apprehensive-Pop-201@reddit

Yep. From shows I have seen, though, so are house in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. It's almost like people build houses out of available resources.

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simplyexistingnow@reddit

Wood is pretty common but you also have brick and block

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Thelonius16@reddit

What movies show the specifics of a wooden house? Other than Lethal Weapon 2?

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Clydebearpig@reddit

Any movie that shows a subdivision being built, flophouses, bodies in the walls, this old house, renovation shows, etc.

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FIRElifeRVA@reddit

Yes, the U.S has predominantly wood frame homes. Even when you see “brick” homes, the brick is just a veneer and the frame is still wood. Lumber is relatively cheap, and builders can complete a whole frame in mere days.

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Kielbasa_Nunchucka@reddit

the most common type of home being built now is a wood frame sitting on top of a cinder block foundation that is laid on a concrete pad.

the wood frame is the "skeleton" of the house, which is then sheathed (wrapped) on the outside with OSB or plywood (or multi-layer panels that incorporate wood and foam/fiberglass insulation).

after the sheathing is on, the exterior gets a weather-resistant wrap and then siding, while the interior gets stuffed with fiberglass insulation and then wall board (dry wall). the roof gets covered with OSB and then tar paper and asphalt shingles.

we have in the past and still do occasionally build homes from brick, tho most modern subdivisions use brick as an aesthetic accent. same goes for natural stone. cinder block and concrete are usually just used for the foundation; rarely will a home be built with these as the main material.

most apartments or "multi-family dwellings" are built to different standards and use steel framing instead of wood, tho wood still gets used for smaller ones.

source: I am a union commercial carpenter who started his career as a non-union residential carpenter and house painter.

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eapaul80@reddit

Foreigners would love our wooden 2x4 lengths. They’re not even 2 inches by 4 inches. It’s 1.5”x3.5” And they’re usually 92 and 5/8 inches long.

But yes, wood is by far the most used framing material.

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illegalsex@reddit

Almost all of them. Even wealthy people building their dream home are typically still use wood-framed construction.

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RemozThaGod@reddit

We have a shit ton of trees, especially compared to rocks.

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asteriskelipses@reddit

Yet in the 90s, in the Pacific Northwest, we clearcut a vast percentage of all trees… It's a fucking shame

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-Minne@reddit

My understanding is that most modern lumber actually comes from tree farms.

Admittedly that comes from an ancient episode of Modern Marvels before certain... elements of the government stopped thinking the EPA should be a thing.

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RightYouAreKen1@reddit

Tree farms are a thing, but so are “managed forests” that are very common in the PNW.

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asteriskelipses@reddit

Modern? Quite possibly! But in the 90s, the lumber industry did so much fucking damage… What a decade it was!

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On_my_last_spoon@reddit

I grew up in a log cabin even! That’s the quintessential American pioneer house!

Now my house is wood frame with aluminum siding

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TehWildMan_@reddit

Yes, outside of residential construction above 5 floors, in which case wooden framing is typically prohibited by code, wood is very commonly used for structural elements

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RunRunDMC212@reddit

It’s the most abundant local resource, but it is also suitable for the environment. Most of the US gets very large swings in temperature and humidity and wood framing can expand and contract to better accommodate those shifts.

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Far-Cod-8858@reddit

I have yet to find one that isn't wood lol. Maybe those 3d printed concrete ones are an exception, but otherwise, everything from normal homes to mobile homes primarily use wood framing

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Super_Direction498@reddit

Most brick houses pre 1930 are structural brick construction.

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Bigbadbrindledog@reddit

In Florida concrete block is more common than wood frame.

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DowntownEmu@reddit

Not just houses, we often have large community buildings which are also made of wood

The student center at my university was a wood structure

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Upbeat_Call4935@reddit

Yes…but also depends on area and when it was built. I live a couple miles from the coast in hurricane country. My house was built 40 some years ago. My house and most in my area built in that time and before are single level concrete block.

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tetlee@reddit

10+ years living in Phoenix I've only ever seen wood frame houses. The only time I've seen anything else is the horrible prefabricated concrete commercial buildings which sadly are increasingly common.

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thenerdygeek@reddit

Even the brick houses nowadays are actually made primarily with wood and just have a thin brick veneer on the outside.

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Super_Direction498@reddit

If the entire exterior appears to be brick it usually is, but it's a regular, one brick thick (3 and 5/8ths of an inch thick) non-structural veneer. Thin brick veneer (more like tile) is a fraction of all brick sales and exterior brickwork.

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Warm_Objective4162@reddit

Old homes might be solid brick (I have a house from 1920 that is brick and block), but anything built after the 40s is almost definitely wood

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nerdymom27@reddit

Yep. Mine is 1930s and it’s brick and horsehair plaster

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SapphirePath@reddit

Our little pigs discovered that wood is plenty strong enough to keep out the huffing and puffing of the wolf.

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Ok_Gas5386@reddit

Wood frame on concrete foundation. Older houses have a stone or brick foundation. If you see a stone, brick, or stucco home, it’s probably just a veneer over a wood frame.

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Cheap_Coffee@reddit

It's very common to the point of almost being the rule.

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94grampaw@reddit

Mostly yes but definitely depends of the area, some places have lots of brick houses some places no one does(earthquakes).

I dont know why Europeans make such a big deal about it, most houses in my neighborhood are wood and over 100 year old, some are almost 200 years old.

The oldest house built by Europeans that people still live in is 389 years old and its wood.

Wood makes good houses.

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jreashville@reddit

Yes, trees are very plentiful so it makes sense for wood to be the most common building material.

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Traditional-Let9530@reddit

Yeah, most single-family homes in the US are wood-framed, it’s cheaper, faster to build, and works well with their climate and building codes, while brick or concrete is less common outside certain regions.

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theimmortalgoon@reddit

I grew up in Oregon.

Not only was wood cheap and readily available, but on the Cascadian Subduction Zone, there are tremors and earthquakes.

Stone cracks and crumbles fairly quickly in such an environment, and wood gives a little bit more.

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kreativegaming@reddit

It depends on when the houses were made modern houses are almost always wood, but houses from a 100 years ago can be made from a lot of different things. However we do have a lot of trees in this country so why wouldn't we use an abundant resource for our houses. Like wtf are they building with where you live? My guess is a common resource like I think a lot of UK houses use stone but yall build everything out of stone even your henges

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silversurf1234567890@reddit

Wood frame. Covered in brick or vinyl

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Penguin_Life_Now@reddit

It somewhat depends on the region, but yes the vast majority are wood, or wood with mostly decorative brick. Though some are concrete are all brick, though most brick houses in the US in modern times are just brick fascia over wood frame construction, not structural brick as it is MUCH cheaper.

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