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> American houses are made of wood... Well, this depends on _where_ the house is built. Building codes vary wildly across the US. You won't find a new house in

by elteto 7y ago

> American houses are made of wood... Well, this depends on _where_ the house is built. Building codes vary wildly across the US. You won't find a new house in South Florida built out of wood. In Texas you will find a lot of new houses with internal wooden frames, but the outside walls are made of solid brick, I think this is called "brick veneer".

xyzzyz 7y ago
> You won't find a new house in South Florida built out of wood. Interesting, what do they build them from? > In Texas you will find a lot of new houses with internal wooden frames, but the outside walls are made of solid brick, I think this is called "brick veneer". Brick veneer is just a decoration. It’s not structural in any way. There is usually an inch wide gap between the veneer and the actual wall for drying purposes.
- elteto 7y ago
  In South Florida external walls are typically concrete, and roofs use ceramic roof tiles. I think roof frames are made of wood. Interesting note on the brick veneer. Even if they are not structural I think they are more durable than other types of siding.
  - xyzzyz 7y ago
    What kind of concrete construction are they using? Straight up reinforced concrete? Or something like ICFs? Or maybe mortar joined cinder blocks? Do you maybe have some links I could read up about that? As for brick veneer, I dunno really about its durability. It definitely is less susceptible to decay than traditional wood siding, but I don’t think it’s any better than cement fiber cladding, or other modern non-wood materials. Additionally, if anything goes wrong with it, I think it’s much harder to fix it in a seamless way, unlike other most types of siding, where you can just repaint them after repair. I have it on half of my house, and I can’t say I’m a huge fan.
    - Jamwinner 7y ago
      A cursury search shows they mostly use CMU ( concrete masonry units ) aka, blocks. The floors and roofs are typically still wood frame construction. https://blog.icihomes.com/2010/03/19/concrete-block-vs-engineered-wood-frame/ https://blog.icihomes.com/2010/03/19/concrete-block-vs-engin...

by elteto 7y ago

xyzzyz 7y ago

> You won't find a new house in South Florida built out of wood. Interesting, what do they build them from? > In Texas you will find a lot of new houses with internal wooden frames, but the outside walls are made of solid brick, I think this is called "brick veneer". Brick veneer is just a decoration. It’s not structural in any way. There is usually an inch wide gap between the veneer and the actual wall for drying purposes.

elteto 7y ago
In South Florida external walls are typically concrete, and roofs use ceramic roof tiles. I think roof frames are made of wood. Interesting note on the brick veneer. Even if they are not structural I think they are more durable than other types of siding.
- xyzzyz 7y ago
  What kind of concrete construction are they using? Straight up reinforced concrete? Or something like ICFs? Or maybe mortar joined cinder blocks? Do you maybe have some links I could read up about that? As for brick veneer, I dunno really about its durability. It definitely is less susceptible to decay than traditional wood siding, but I don’t think it’s any better than cement fiber cladding, or other modern non-wood materials. Additionally, if anything goes wrong with it, I think it’s much harder to fix it in a seamless way, unlike other most types of siding, where you can just repaint them after repair. I have it on half of my house, and I can’t say I’m a huge fan.
  - Jamwinner 7y ago
    A cursury search shows they mostly use CMU ( concrete masonry units ) aka, blocks. The floors and roofs are typically still wood frame construction. https://blog.icihomes.com/2010/03/19/concrete-block-vs-engineered-wood-frame/ https://blog.icihomes.com/2010/03/19/concrete-block-vs-engin...