Advantages and Disadvantages of Wood Framing

Today, we’re going to learn everything about wood construction. Wood has been one of the oldest building materials used in constructions since the Neolithic Age. Nowadays, it is still one of the most popular, being used in 90% of the constructions in the United States. The good news is that, with the advances in engineering, wood now is a modern material with many treatments to avoid past common problems. 

Speaking about the improvements this sector has made, mass timber is all wooden and is one of the most modern nowadays. This includes heavy timber, lumber elements, and innovative products that make the wood more resistant to fire, like Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), Nail-Laminated Timber (NLT), and Glue Laminated Beams (GLB). 

Let’s go over some pros and cons of wood framing. 

Advantages 

1. Simple and fast construction

 Different than the other types of construction wood it can be cut on-site, and no heavy materials are required to do that. This is a huge advantage since you won’t need to hold up the project to fix the wood. That makes the project go fast, because some of the elements are prefabricated that allow for more control over the details, and accelerate the building process. 

2. Simple and fast construction

Wood has a low-thermal conductivity, which means that it will keep the temperature constant, a big pro compared to steel and other materials. In simple words, you will not spend so much money to heat and cool the house.

3. Sound absorption 

Wood absorbs the sounds around the house instead of amplifying it. Wood acoustics are ideal to minimize the echo in living rooms or other spaces in the house, a wonderful pro for those who want to have more privacy.

4. Cost

This is one of the major reasons people choose to build a wood house. Wood doesn’t require special equipment, so it reduces the construction costs, and in the long-term, you will for sure save money on electric bills because of the insulation properties. 

Disadvantages 

1. Fire risks

Even though we have many modern materials that reduce the risk of fire, as we mentioned in the beginning of the article, it’s still more likely to burn than the other materials, which is more common in the beginning of the construction, since all the protection against fire is not completed. 

2. Wood rot 

Wood rot is something that is still a problem nowadays, even though we have many advances in this field. Some ways to avoid the rot, mold, and mildew is to pay attention to moisture control, properly seal windows, and take other preventative measures. 

3. Structural Limitations

According to the International Code Council, wood construction has to follow some measures, for example, it can not be very tall.  So, if you want to build a tall building or a huge house, the best idea is to combine materials like concrete or steel framing with wood.  

These are some advantages and disadvantages of wood framing construction. You can evaluate with your builder what is best for your project. If you want to know more about steel framing, check out our post Pros and Cons of Steel Framing.