Wood

 Wood is one of the most important construction materials used in North America because of its strength, versatility, endurability, availability in nature and aesthetical look. Fom all materials studied in class, wood is the one that is truly renewable. This page's content is related to wood as a construction material, its properties, qualities and main aspects. The information is shown as a summary of the video, written material and oral presentation showed in class.

First, we have to start with a brief defenition of wood. It is a natural source that grows mostly from trees and it's made from a cellulose composite. Since not all the trees are the same, there are different types of wood all around the world. In North America wooden structures have been preferred because they can stand the anual rainfall, earthquakes, string winds and climate changes. Therefore, wood is kwown as a very endurable construction material and has been tested that wood provides lower grades of risk over natural disasters.

In the past wood was used as it was found; the trees were cut in logs and they were used to construct small buildings. With the help of technology, wood is manufactured and treated before it is used but wooden structures are not suitable for foundations since wood is biodegradable. There are different types of wood and manufactured wood, for example, plywood is a manufacture type of wood sheets used to cosntruct the fisrs layers of wall and to provide more resistancy. Plywood doesn't contribute any aestheticity.

In order to build a wooden house that resists earthquakes, the attachments from the wood structure to the concrete foundation must be very strong. It is known that fire and termites are the biggest obstacles for wood constructions, but it's proven that the causes of fire are not the construction materials of the building itself but its contents. Besides treating the wood to make it more fire resistant, the soil o the construction is also treated to dispose of the termite problem.

Concerning the confort, wood housing has turned into the best option because this kind of construction methods allows warmer temperatures in inter seasons, which allows to save energy and lowering the costs of bills. Also, wooden structures provide aesthetical qualities to a building.

But wood isn't just a construction material, since it's been used by human, the first tools and funiture were created from wood. The main aspect of wood constructions is that they can endure decades, wood is cheaper than steel and concrete and it is a renewable source. (Summary: Joyce Zambrano)