18 ms·

Its fascinating how different building Houses is in USA and Germany. The typical US Woodhouse is easy and fast to build. In Germany it can take a Year to build

Its fascinating how different building Houses is in USA and Germany. The typical US Woodhouse is easy and fast to build. In Germany it can take a Year to build a "Massiv" House: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlnUVxqAzDU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlnUVxqAzDU

gbraad 8y ago
Therefore, I am less impressed. As this feels mostly like attaching panels and pulling some wires. Sure, great to see this happening. I remember helping my father to restore a 100+ year old house. We completely raised the roof to fix the brickwork... after this replaced the roof in segments, addressed each room individually... etc etc... renovating everything, add new waterwork, modernize the electricity in an existing house. It took long... but the result is also there!
cateye 8y ago
Is this difference mainly caused by weather conditions or is it a cultural or economical consequence?
- adventured 8y ago
  The US has, for practical purposes, an unlimited supply of cost effective, renewable timber (domestically + Canada). It makes tremendous economic sense. Also consider the renewable + cost + timber supply factor, when it comes to population. Germany's population has barely increased since 1970. The US population has increased by ~55% in that time, adding over 100 million people. Rarely building new structures for a stagnate population base is a very different consideration vs building for a population that has been quite expansive for over a century. Just on the environmental concerns alone, I don't think you want the US to rebuild all of its housing with concrete. The median US house is between 50% and 100% larger than the median house in developed Europe, at half the price or less per sq metre. The median US house is generally the first or second largest in the world. Maintenance is not dramatic for wood structures, assuming they're properly built. Once they're enclosed, if properly maintained, you should have to do relatively little work to the core structure of the building over many decades. As it pertains to heating & cooling, high quality insulation today means there's little concern for external weather, whether you're in New Hampshire or Arizona.
  - hobofan 8y ago
    That only answers one half of the question, doesn't it? Germany should also have the same unlimited supply of timber (it has the same percentage of forests of their land area), so why don't Germans build wood houses?
    - Tepix 8y ago
      Stone houses last longer. Whenever I see a report about a tornado or a hurricane in the US I wonder what the damage would be like if people had stone houses instead of wooden houses that disintegrate during a storm and then in turn damage other houses. It reminds me of the Kessler Syndrome.
      - Retric 8y ago
        The roof in a brick house would still get ripped off, as would the windows and doors. Depending on wind speed the walls might or might not survive but the house would cost just about as much to repair.
        Tepix 8y ago
        I'm not sure if the roof construction is the same in the US and in Germany. Pitched roofs do well against storms (30° roof slope is best). Luckily, we don't have deadly hurricanes.
        Amezarak 8y ago
        Nearly all house roofs are pitched, at least in the southeast. I have never seen one that wasn't. Very sharp pitches are more common in newer homes, though, in my experience.
      - maxerickson 8y ago
        Wood structures built to current code will survive most hurricanes just fine.
      - 8y ago
- ivanhoe 8y ago
  The price of timber in Europe is way higher. I'm always amazed when watching US woodworking channels on Youtube how cheaply they get their materials, especially two-by-fours. This is causing another interesting difference, in Europe most of the simpler furniture is made of laminated particle boards (IKEA style), while my impression is that in US plywood is more common. In Europe plywood is fairly expensive, which made particle boards and mdf way more popular.
  - Cthulhu_ 8y ago
    I've yet to find proper wood in e.g. DIY stores over here, is that the reason? I should probably look for a proper wood store though.
    - jcims 8y ago
      Yes look for hardwood lumber stores. Some of them are chains, we have a small sawmill near us that has or can get just about anything i would want. You'll still need the DIY shops for hardware/tools/etc.
    - SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
      I'm not sure where "over here" refers to but here in the UK "wood yards" are fairly common, especially in more rural areas and are typically much cheaper than DIY places. Often they'll even cut it to size and deliver as well!
      - walshemj 8y ago
        Proper high quality wood is a bit nich area my first job had its own stock of hardwoods used for building hydrodynamic models - which where works of art in there own right.
    - blattimwind 8y ago
      The large hardware store chains only stock standard softwoods and some board materials, all in subpar quality. This mostly caters to the "jigsaw and woodscrews" faction.
willyt 8y ago
Timber framed houses are common in Scandinavia. They are also pretty common in the UK, but you wouldn't know it because they often have a non-loadbearing brick or blockwork outer skin which relies on the timber frame for stability, i.e. to resist wind loads. A timber structure will last as long as a masonry structure if the main structural timber frame is kept dry. Timber cladding, like they have in the US and Scandinavia, does need to be kept painted and parts will need to be replaced occasionally.
dakna 8y ago
It evolved from German/Dutch/British building techniques brought over from early settlers. Most houses were built with Timber Frame construction ("Fachwerkhaus" in Germany). Over the years this was adapted to have more ready-made materials available and spend less time on the building site. Saw mills delivered wood posts (studs) and boards, and eventually everything converged to standard sizes and become modular. Lumber is/was available everywhere. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_(construction)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_(construction) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_(construction)https://...
toomanybeersies 8y ago
Coming from an earthquake prone country, looking at how that house is constructed is making me very nervous. Structural masonry is a really bad idea in seismically active areas (which evidently Germany is not).

gbraad 8y ago

Therefore, I am less impressed. As this feels mostly like attaching panels and pulling some wires. Sure, great to see this happening. I remember helping my father to restore a 100+ year old house. We completely raised the roof to fix the brickwork... after this replaced the roof in segments, addressed each room individually... etc etc... renovating everything, add new waterwork, modernize the electricity in an existing house. It took long... but the result is also there!

cateye 8y ago

Is this difference mainly caused by weather conditions or is it a cultural or economical consequence?

adventured 8y ago
The US has, for practical purposes, an unlimited supply of cost effective, renewable timber (domestically + Canada). It makes tremendous economic sense. Also consider the renewable + cost + timber supply factor, when it comes to population. Germany's population has barely increased since 1970. The US population has increased by ~55% in that time, adding over 100 million people. Rarely building new structures for a stagnate population base is a very different consideration vs building for a population that has been quite expansive for over a century. Just on the environmental concerns alone, I don't think you want the US to rebuild all of its housing with concrete. The median US house is between 50% and 100% larger than the median house in developed Europe, at half the price or less per sq metre. The median US house is generally the first or second largest in the world. Maintenance is not dramatic for wood structures, assuming they're properly built. Once they're enclosed, if properly maintained, you should have to do relatively little work to the core structure of the building over many decades. As it pertains to heating & cooling, high quality insulation today means there's little concern for external weather, whether you're in New Hampshire or Arizona.
- hobofan 8y ago
  That only answers one half of the question, doesn't it? Germany should also have the same unlimited supply of timber (it has the same percentage of forests of their land area), so why don't Germans build wood houses?
  - Tepix 8y ago
    Stone houses last longer. Whenever I see a report about a tornado or a hurricane in the US I wonder what the damage would be like if people had stone houses instead of wooden houses that disintegrate during a storm and then in turn damage other houses. It reminds me of the Kessler Syndrome.
    - Retric 8y ago
      The roof in a brick house would still get ripped off, as would the windows and doors. Depending on wind speed the walls might or might not survive but the house would cost just about as much to repair.
      - Tepix 8y ago
        I'm not sure if the roof construction is the same in the US and in Germany. Pitched roofs do well against storms (30° roof slope is best). Luckily, we don't have deadly hurricanes.
        Amezarak 8y ago
        Nearly all house roofs are pitched, at least in the southeast. I have never seen one that wasn't. Very sharp pitches are more common in newer homes, though, in my experience.
    - maxerickson 8y ago
      Wood structures built to current code will survive most hurricanes just fine.
    - 8y ago
ivanhoe 8y ago
The price of timber in Europe is way higher. I'm always amazed when watching US woodworking channels on Youtube how cheaply they get their materials, especially two-by-fours. This is causing another interesting difference, in Europe most of the simpler furniture is made of laminated particle boards (IKEA style), while my impression is that in US plywood is more common. In Europe plywood is fairly expensive, which made particle boards and mdf way more popular.
- Cthulhu_ 8y ago
  I've yet to find proper wood in e.g. DIY stores over here, is that the reason? I should probably look for a proper wood store though.
  - jcims 8y ago
    Yes look for hardwood lumber stores. Some of them are chains, we have a small sawmill near us that has or can get just about anything i would want. You'll still need the DIY shops for hardware/tools/etc.
  - SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
    I'm not sure where "over here" refers to but here in the UK "wood yards" are fairly common, especially in more rural areas and are typically much cheaper than DIY places. Often they'll even cut it to size and deliver as well!
    - walshemj 8y ago
      Proper high quality wood is a bit nich area my first job had its own stock of hardwoods used for building hydrodynamic models - which where works of art in there own right.
  - blattimwind 8y ago
    The large hardware store chains only stock standard softwoods and some board materials, all in subpar quality. This mostly caters to the "jigsaw and woodscrews" faction.

willyt 8y ago

Timber framed houses are common in Scandinavia. They are also pretty common in the UK, but you wouldn't know it because they often have a non-loadbearing brick or blockwork outer skin which relies on the timber frame for stability, i.e. to resist wind loads. A timber structure will last as long as a masonry structure if the main structural timber frame is kept dry. Timber cladding, like they have in the US and Scandinavia, does need to be kept painted and parts will need to be replaced occasionally.

dakna 8y ago

It evolved from German/Dutch/British building techniques brought over from early settlers. Most houses were built with Timber Frame construction ("Fachwerkhaus" in Germany). Over the years this was adapted to have more ready-made materials available and spend less time on the building site. Saw mills delivered wood posts (studs) and boards, and eventually everything converged to standard sizes and become modular. Lumber is/was available everywhere. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_(construction)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_(construction) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_(construction)https://...

toomanybeersies 8y ago

Coming from an earthquake prone country, looking at how that house is constructed is making me very nervous. Structural masonry is a really bad idea in seismically active areas (which evidently Germany is not).