# Why are houses build in wood in North America? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 25, 2016, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-houses-build-in-wood-in-north-america/744160 "2016-01-25T08:40:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-houses-build-in-wood-in-north-america/744160/61 "2016-01-28T18:17:27Z")
Of course the “heavily wooded” aspect of North America applies especially to the east, where Europeans first colonized. When they started pushing west, they came to the Great Plains, and encountered a limitless sea of grassland stretching to the horizon in many places. Many of the early settlers built sod houses because they might have to travel for miles to find a tree. Further west, scrublands and desert. The western forests are mostly conifer, which yields stuff like doug fir for construction, but there’s a distinct lack of hardwood. Eucalyptus is all over CA because Australian miners during the gold rush noted the lack of usable timber trees in much of the area, thought that the climate was a lot like parts of Oz, and came up with the idea of transplanting Eucalyptus to create a timber and fuel tree industry. Yeah. We now have lots of what many people regard as a 200 foot tall weed and fire hazard. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-houses-build-in-wood-in-north-america/744160/62 "2016-01-28T18:25:48Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Also, tornadoes are quite capable of destroying brick and cinderblock buildings, either because of structural defects in the building or because very few walls of any sort are going to stand up well to, for instance, having a fully loaded semi-trailer truck slammed into, which is one of the things tornadoes do. With tornadoes it’s not just the winds (although those are dangerous enough) but also the large debris that said winds throw about the landscape. [This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WABqwKjQM_c) has flying trucks starting about 18 seconds into the video and features other results of tornados flinging large pieces of stuff around. Brick walls won’t stand up appreciably better than wood will to that treatment. Indeed. If a tornado [hits your brick house](http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/lch/events/111703/tbd03.JPG), it just means you have a heavier wall fall on you. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-houses-build-in-wood-in-north-america/744160/63 "2016-01-28T19:55:51Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Of course the “heavily wooded” aspect of North America applies especially to the east, where Europeans first colonized. When they started pushing west, they came to the Great Plains, and encountered a limitless sea of grassland stretching to the horizon in many places. Many of the early settlers built sod houses because they might have to travel for miles to find a tree. Further west, scrublands and desert. > > The western forests are mostly conifer, which yields stuff like doug fir for construction, but there’s a distinct lack of hardwood. > > Eucalyptus is all over CA because Australian miners during the gold rush noted the lack of usable timber trees in much of the area, thought that the climate was a lot like parts of Oz, and came up with the idea of transplanting Eucalyptus to create a timber and fuel tree industry. Yeah. We now have lots of what many people regard as a 200 foot tall weed and fire hazard. Are the eucalyptus trees not good timber? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-houses-build-in-wood-in-north-america/744160/64 "2016-01-28T20:18:00Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Are the eucalyptus trees not good timber? There is a long story associated CA and eucalyptuses. They are used for timber in Australia. In CA, it didn’t work out. For instance, when they attempted to make railroad ties out of the wood, it warped severely. You find many differing opinions as to why not, including: 1 - They attempted to harvest them before they were mature enough. 2 - The CA climate made them grow too quickly, and they grew in a manner which didn’t make suitable timber. 3 - American sawmill operators didn’t know how to season them properly. Eucalyptus has a rather peculiar spiraling grain, and has to be handled differently. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-houses-build-in-wood-in-north-america/744160/65 "2016-01-28T20:25:19Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > It’s also a lot cheaper and faster than building with brick or concrete, but there’s no shortage of brick or concrete block residences in the US. And a lot of the brick/stone buildings come from after citywide fires. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-houses-build-in-wood-in-north-america/744160/66 "2016-01-29T01:00:59Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > Wood houses that keep standing for hundreds of years?? Color me skeptical. Especially that _have_ been standing for that long without the benefits of recent advanced treatment methods. > [@the\_diego](#): > > More than a thousand years, actually, though doubtless you have repairs and replacements all the time. Remember, before the “old” capital of Kyoto, there was Nara. > > [Hōryū-ji - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8Dry%C5%AB-ji) > [Tōdai-ji - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Ddai-ji) There is a [Quaker meetinghouse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Haven_Meeting_House) (i.e. church) in Easton, Maryland that was built of wood in 1684 and is still standing and used. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-houses-build-in-wood-in-north-america/744160/67 "2016-01-29T01:11:31Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > There is a [Quaker meetinghouse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Haven_Meeting_House) (i.e. church) in Easton, Maryland that was built of wood in 1684 and is still standing and used. Only slightly younger is the [Saylesville Friends Meetinghouse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saylesville_Meetinghouse)in Lincoln RI. I’ve been in the cellar to see the original rough hewn wood beams, over 300 years old, and the original bark remains in some spots. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-houses-build-in-wood-in-north-america/744160/68 "2016-01-29T02:17:23Z")
According to Dave Barry; We use wood because its the only material that can warp, rot, and burn. Not to mention be eaten by insects. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-houses-build-in-wood-in-north-america/744160/69 "2016-02-01T16:39:01Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > My house has been standing since 1912 with exactly the same wood holding it up the entire time. There is no sign at all it will fall down anytime soon. Houses far older made of wood are not uncommon at all. My house was built in 1750 and is still going strong. \ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-houses-build-in-wood-in-north-america/744160.md?page=3)