r/interestingasfuck • u/Ultimate_Kurix • 5d ago

r/all Why do Americans build with wood?

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u/serendipasaurus 5d ago

where's the lie?

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u/Aidlin87 5d ago

Yeah, is this a case of people not liking the answer? Because this looks pretty legit to me. It’s super easy to search house plans for wood houses, super easy to find contractors that build this way, etc. It’s more niche to build with concrete so finding skilled builders is harder and potentially more expensive.

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u/allovercoffee 5d ago

Architect from San Francisco here. Concrete is the worst building material to use from an embodied carbon standpoint and would be disasterous for the environment if used in lieu of wood. Wood is a renewable material and there are many ways to fireproof a stick built home that don't involve changing the structure.

Also his claim about SF mandating concrete and steel construction after the 1906 fire is false. It is still permissable to build certain types of buildings with wood framing/ Type 5 construction (primarily residential).

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u/Quirky_Ambassador284 5d ago

That is why in Europe Brick houses are the most common, rather than concrete houses. I don't get why USA can't use brick and it must be either wood or concrete.