Here in Mexico houses are typicaly built with brick, block and concrete, while in the neighboring USA the system of choice is "stick frame". This is the only country I know of that uses this light construction system, but there seem to be more.

Please tell us about the typical system in your country and others you know of.

Quoting from [germex]:

Here in Mexico houses are typicaly built with brick, block and concrete, while in the neighboring USA the system of choice is "stick frame". This is the only country I know of that uses this light construction system, but there seem to be more.

Please tell us about the typical system in your country and others you know of.

Your hypothesis that all US houses are made using a "stick frame" is totally incorrect. This methodology is used more commonly in the west where earthquakes are more likely. The wood framing has "give" to it unlike general brick/ block construction, which has no "give" in it.

Try looking at the east coast and you will see a HUGE number of brick houses, where the movement required to withstand earthquakes is not as important.

Quoting from [Foow]:

Your hypothesis that all US houses are made using a "stick frame" is totally incorrect. This methodology is used more commonly in the west where earthquakes are more likely. The wood framing has "give" to it unlike general brick/ block construction, which has no "give" in it.

Try looking at the east coast and you will see a HUGE number of brick houses, where the movement required to withstand earthquakes is not as important.

Thanks for the input! - Now that you mention it, I remember pictures of many brick houses in New York and New England. A case of "duh", i guess!

But what about Australia and other countries you know? I would like to get an overview. And others might be interested, too, in knowing what's going on around the world.

But what about Australia and other countries you know? I would like to get an overview. And others might be interested, too, in knowing what's going on around the world.

Here in Scandinavia we have long tradition with timber-frame and log home building. We relied on logs and various kinds of stick-built houses for centuries (Viking dwellings anyone?). When Christianity came, with it came brick and stone made churches. Denmark was the first to adobt brick building and nowadays as you travel in Denmark, you see red brick houses everywhere.


Norway, Sweden and Finland have been slower to surf the brick wave, but nevertheless timber-frame and log homes are becoming less and less popular. Apartment houses are standard concrete element houses and dominate housing. Stone (leca) houses are increasingly popular in single detached housing, because they allow multitude of forms (customisation and design) and are easy to build close to being zero-energy houses.


Market used to be full of owner-builders, but today turnkey housing systems dominate the market. Almost every house that is built today is to some degree based on standard models by any of hundreds of home constructing companies/factories.

Quoting from [jarkko]:


Here in Scandinavia we have long tradition with timber-frame and log home building. We relied on logs and various kinds of stick-built houses for centuries (Viking dwellings anyone?). When Christianity came, with it came brick and stone made churches. Denmark was the first to adobt brick building and nowadays as you travel in Denmark, you see red brick houses everywhere.



Norway, Sweden and Finland have been slower to surf the brick wave, but nevertheless timber-frame and log homes are becoming less and less popular. Apartment houses are standard concrete element houses and dominate housing. Stone (leca) houses are increasingly popular in single detached housing, because they allow multitude of forms (customisation and design) and are easy to build close to being zero-energy houses.



Market used to be full of owner-builders, but today turnkey housing systems dominate the market. Almost every house that is built today is to some degree based on standard models by any of hundreds of home constructing companies/factories.

Tthanks for that well-explained description of building systems in Scadinavia! Well, you have a pretty low population density, together with abundant pine forests, so it only makes sense to build with wood. If you don't use the mature trees, they will only fall down by themselves.

Did I understand you right that natural stones are quite frequently used to build houses? Do you know what kind of stone? I have tried igneous rock, but at that time I didn't know that you have to soak it in water for a few days to make sure the mortar adheres to it. I had to rebuild!

By the way, did you know that the first Christian church in Denmark was still built of wood and is perfectly well preserved? I have only seen it in pictures, and it is a beauty!

Quoting from [germex]:

Quoting from [jarkko]:



Here in Scandinavia we have long tradition with timber-frame and log home building. We relied on logs and various kinds of stick-built houses for centuries (Viking dwellings anyone?). When Christianity came, with it came brick and stone made churches. Denmark was the first to adobt brick building and nowadays as you travel in Denmark, you see red brick houses everywhere.




Norway, Sweden and Finland have been slower to surf the brick wave, but nevertheless timber-frame and log homes are becoming less and less popular. Apartment houses are standard concrete element houses and dominate housing. Stone (leca) houses are increasingly popular in single detached housing, because they allow multitude of forms (customisation and design) and are easy to build close to being zero-energy houses.




Market used to be full of owner-builders, but today turnkey housing systems dominate the market. Almost every house that is built today is to some degree based on standard models by any of hundreds of home constructing companies/factories.

Tthanks for that well-explained description of building systems in Scadinavia! Well, you have a pretty low population density, together with abundant pine forests, so it only makes sense to build with wood. If you don't use the mature trees, they will only fall down by themselves.

Did I understand you right that natural stones are quite frequently used to build houses? Do you know what kind of stone? I have tried igneous rock, but at that time I didn't know that you have to soak it in water for a few days to make sure the mortar adheres to it. I had to rebuild!

By the way, did you know that the first Christian church in Denmark was still built of wood and is perfectly well preserved? I have only seen it in pictures, and it is a beauty!

these are very wonderful communication, I get a lot of information here. You are professional in construction. I am interested in stick-built houses.  In ancient China, it is also have wood house.

Quoting from [Faye Mao]: these are very wonderful communication, I get a lot of information here. You are professional in construction. I am interested in stick-built houses.  In ancient China, it is also have wood house.

Why exactly are you interested in stick-built houses? They are delicate (wood burns, attracts termites, etc.), short-lived, and therefore the average cost of ownership per year is extremely high. Carpenters in the US love them for precisely this reason, but otherwise...

Quoting from [germex]:

Here in Mexico houses are typicaly built with brick, block and concrete, while in the neighboring USA the system of choice is "stick frame". This is the only country I know of that uses this light construction system, but there seem to be more.

Please tell us about the typical system in your country and others you know of.

In Brazil we have a very long tradition of building with brick made of cement but usually for the lower income or commercial building.Houses made of bricks made of clay is very normal and not hazardous do health as some brick cements are.Brazil is actually a great place to study construction because it's diversity it has influences from all over the world.

Ed

In Mexico cement blocks are also considered to be of "inferior" quality, compared to burnt clay bricks. But in reality, among both you'll find all kinds of qualities, so you have to look at the particular brand you are planning to buy.

What I haven't found very reasonable to use is the American stick-frame system. Supposedly it is more "elastic" and therefore is believed to resist earthquakes better, but real life has shown me that the opposite is true.

Though there is a system that is based on hollow steel "sticks" (similar to the American wooden sticks), covered with fiber-reinforced magnesium cement boards. In theory this system sounds good, but I would like to receive more input to be able to make up my mind.

So if anybody reads this post, please add your grain of wisdom.

Quoting from [germex]:

Here in Mexico houses are typicaly built with brick, block and concrete, while in the neighboring USA the system of choice is "stick frame". This is the only country I know of that uses this light construction system, but there seem to be more.

Please tell us about the typical system in your country and others you know of.

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I'm sorry to say, but I was just taking terms from my mother tongue, hence the stone, which is used more like a general term for all sorts of brick and block houses (aircrete etc.).

In house building, natural stone has not been popular material for long time. Processing is too expensive and time consuming, hence it is used in other products like flooring, fire places... These usages fetch higher price and there are less competing products because of the demanding purpose of use.

Trees that fall before harvesting have actually vital role to play in maintaining forests' biodiversity. Almost all of Finnish forest have been felled at some point of time and while natural forest cycle runs 400-500 years, we tend to cut trees as they reach 50 years. I know this is hard comparison, but situation is bit similar as if rain forests would be cut down and replaced with eucalyptus trees... Still, Finland treats its forests far better than many other country for example, in some parts of the world (States), it is already considered good forestry if every felled tree is compensated by planting one tree seedling (somewhere).

Yes, I have been living in Denmark and those old wooden buildings are familiar. However, if you really want to see something amazing, you need to visit Norway's old wooden churches. They had amazing skills back then. Actually Finland also has many stunning log framed churches. With wood there is just one problem, it tends to burn at some point... :)