For the modern house, it is classy to have wood for the materials. But for the lower middle class like our family, we would prefer concrete because it is much cheaper, durable and low cost maintenance. What more if there are termites in the area? Over here, it would be impractical to build a house made of wood because of the prevalence of termites. And building a concrete house is contributing to the betterment of the ecological system of the planet.
It depends on where you live. In Thailand, timber felling is strictly controlled, so only the very rich can afford to build a house made completely of timber. In fact, some rich people who wanted a full teak house had to buy an old one from somewhere and dismantle it piece by piece to reassemble again where they want it. In Malaysia, wood is cheap and it's the preferred material for the poorer folks. Myself, I prefer wood to concrete. It's much cooler and more pleasant to the eyes. As for the question of forest conservation, it's a matter of controlled felling. What has caused deforestation is greed and not need.
Modern houses use concrete, and the old style log cabin is a holiday home. On a practical level, concrete will last longer, but it does depend on where you live in the world. Wood cabins are very cold in winter in places where the temperatures drop. One needs to think of conserving heat, and a log cabin isn't great for that when the climate is generally cool. In the old days there was no choice, but today there is.
I think concrete house is more costly compared to wood house. Termites don’t damage concrete while in the wood is damage they need to be chemically treated. Most important thing is It depends on where you live.
Well unless you are willing to deal with a pausible mites infestation,dampness, fire hazards, I wouldn't bother with wood. On the other hand although, Wood structures are light and relatively easier and quicker to build with and have lower transportation requirements. They do not need a lot of material as compared to that of concrete (thinner framing) and in case of collapse (due to whatever reason it might be), are a bit safer than falling concrete and masonry debris.
I think it depends on where you live, the style of your house, and what you can afford. Most houses where I grew up had cement foundations and about two feet of cement or bricks from the ground up or more to prevent termites. But the support beams were made out of wood, though the newer houses had steel. If you have a modern house and live in a warm climate, you can get away with a cement house and mold it to give it a unique design. But if you are going for a more traditional look, you have to do wood housing. Also, I found that if you live in a place with cold wet winters, you have to be careful with cement because a leak can lead to ice causing cracks in the cement. Also, it's much harder to warm up a concrete house in the winter.
I would have to think that a wood house is much much more susceptible to damage from natural elements and other things like that, but at the same time it might be a lot cheaper to make. I am not sure, and I am betting that you would just want to go with whichever one is newer.
We have a wooden house and termites are a major problem. We get round this by painting the house with used engine oil in the lower levels near the ground. This deters the termites effectively. But few people are building using wood since yellowstones are cheaper as they are mined locally with wood being used for furnishings and interior fixtures.
Yes, termites are a problem with wooden houses. I remember building a house in the countryside out of wood. All the pillars were coated with an anti-termite solution. However, the termites still managed to get up into the house. I think there is wood which is already pre-soaked in anti-termite solution at the factory. Perhaps these would work better at deterring the termites.
Though it looks really nice to have a wooden house, I don't think I can afford to have a wooden house and it is more applicable for us to have concrete house here. Termites is one of the issue, and I think we really need to learn how to take good care of the woods as there are always rainy days here. Moreover, I can just afford to buy the house that was already built by someone else, and not designed by me.
Building a house with wood is not as cheap as you might think, there are some types of woods that are very expensive. particularly, I prefer a house built entirely of concrete.
Nowadays, it's more practical to build concrete houses not only because it is more durable than wood but also because it offers better protection against a host of elements - natural and otherwise. I would feel so much safer if I'm living in a house that is not easily penetrable by stray bullets or intruders. Concrete houses are likewise more likely to withstand strong typhoons and other weather disturbances than wooden houses. It's not classy these days to construct houses made entirely of wood. Rather, it's the practice of injecting wood in certain parts of the house that makes it classy.
Wood is very expensive building material. Concerete is also expensive, however, there is so little maintainence cost for concerete that over the time, concerete building becomes cheap. However, I am more into prefab homes. It saves time and money. Prefab homes are built in a short time and cost less than wood or concerete. Prefabs home are also earthquake resistant.
The part of the world where I live, houses are only built from concrete never from wood. So I have never lived in a house built from wood. But I would like to have the experience. I have seen some cool houses on TV made in less than 2 weeks from planks.
I live in a house built with concrete, most houses if not all are made of concrete here. When I lived in another country I lived in a wood house which was thought to be stronger than concrete. I really don't know as I have seen many wood houses rot sometimes but I guess it depends on the place one lives in.
As a civil engineer, I would prefer to build a house made of concrete because of its easy construction, versatile nature, and high durability. Wood houses will be classy but it can be built where there is the least amount of termite attacks. But always concrete is a go and we can even have low-cost housing built with cheaper but effective materials.
