MAMEWorld Forums - The Loony Bin - Re: It's beginning to look a lot like garage-mas...

It is about strength to weight and cost.

A 10-15 ft run of wood is fairly light and more importantly flexible. Buildings are not static. They literally float in the dirt. But considering dirt is also fairly unforgiving the house flexes.

For example at the top of the Sears tower (or whatever it is called these days) you can feel the building sway in the wind. Same thing with the balloon type construction done these days. As the wind blows on the house they move a bit.

If you build a building that is too tight it would literally tear itself apart in a few years. Build it to wobbly and it will do the same.

Also cost is a big issue. Wood is still relatively cheaper. A steel i-beam costs quite a bit. So a standard size house would cost 10x for the same size.

Concrete while good for insulation is actually a fairly crummy building material. It can take a HUGE amount of static stress. But when it goes it shatters. Wood bends quite a bit before giving out. Concrete is also *VERY* heavy. So you cant hire a small work crew to put your house together. Start using steel i-beams and concrete you need to hire cranes, metal workers, and cement workers to put it together.

So material wise wood is *MUCH* cheaper both cost wise and labor wise.

If you want insulation, buy insulation. The 1 1/2 inch foam core board is a R-8 (which is 'ok') or fiberglass batt insulation (starts at r-10). It is also pretty flexible, light and cheap per sq ft (all key in construction). However it is not very strong so not used for primary load bearing in construction. Most insulation is not about thickness but about creating air pockets. For example triple pane windows. Usually 3 or more layers of air (which btw is an excellent insulator).

If you are getting 400 dollar gas bills get more insulation and seal up around the windows a bit better. But as someone else mentioned make sure you have good air transfer to the outside, or you could end up with a 'sick' house. Also if it is an older house (1980s down) it probably is all single pane windows. Just replacing the windows can save you a lot (both summer and winter).