How To Evaluate Building Materials, Especially Wood

When it comes to building materials, most houses are built of lumber. Lumber is not very expensive, is readily available, is strong and durable, and is easy to work. Ease of working is perhaps the most important property as far as the amateur builder is concerned. A saw, a hammer, a hand axe, a square, a plane, and a few chisels will equip a person to make almost anything out of wood.

Wood can be securely fastened by the simple process of driving a few nails; no other material is so easy to fasten. A little glue placed between two pieces of wood and pressed for a few hours will weld them securely together. Steel requires elaborate welding or riveting, concrete requires reinforcing and intricate forms, brick requires considerable skill to get a passable job, but wood doesn't seem to care who works with it.

Wood is permanent and durable as long as it is kept dry. Wood frame houses two or three hundred years old are not uncommon. But if moisture gets into wood, decay starts and termites are attracted to it. Termites can be a real problem in the warmer southern parts of the United States, but proper care in framing can keep their threat to the minimum.

An important thing to remember when using wood as one of your building materials is that certain wood needs to be used in certain situations. Wood that comes in contact with foundations, or with concrete, brick, or other surfaces that are inclined to be damp, or wood that is exposed to the weather should be cedar, redwood, or cypress, or should be pressure-treated with chemicals.

Lumber contains many natural defects and acquires others in the process of milling and distribution. The natural defects consist of knots, splits, wane, pitch seams, decay, cross grain, worm holes, etc., and the acquired ones may be under size, warp, twist, and most important, crookedness.

Small knots are not considered a defect in the construction grades, but large knots, especially near the center of joists or rafters, do weaken the piece materially. Although there is no need to worry about slight cracks or checks, a piece that is split too far should have the split part spiked well together or should be cut off and used for short pieces of some kind.

Discard any pieces of wood that show signs of decay or contain too many worm holes. Crooked pieces can sometimes be straightened, especially where two are used together, by placing them so the curvature of one tends to counteract the curvature of the other and spiking them together.

A handy tip to remember when selecting your building materials is that by selecting the better pieces for the most important places, a really good frame can be built, containing many pieces that are not of themselves first class. Be sure to use plenty of nails, for the way building frames are often nailed, less than a fourth of the actual strength of the timbers can be developed by the nails.

The local lumber dealer will know what grades are required by the local building code, and what is ordinarily used in the vicinity. Do not try to economize too much in the quality of the lumber you use. Of course, a few small knots are expected in framing lumber; a large knot in the lower edge of a joist near the center of the span is much more serious than one near the end of the joist.

Where two or three members are spiked together, a knot in one piece should do no harm. The members in the frame of a house are not actually stressed anywhere near to the breaking point; joists and rafters which are required to be of certain sizes so they will not sag too much, are actually much stronger than they would otherwise need to be.

Exterior walls are often made of stucco, brick, concrete blocks, aluminum, shakes, as well as wood siding.

Concrete is one of the most durable and strong building materials. The cost of the concrete is low, but the forms to hold it in shape are usually expensive.

In places not subject to earthquakes walls of solid brick make an excellent building, permanent and of pleasing appearance, requiring little or no upkeep.

The choice is yours to build your house of suitable building materials.