Suse & Lexi,

How much coal is burnt in producing the steel for the framework of a house ? How much coal is burnt in producing the timber framework of a house ?

I rest my case. Plant more trees - and not just for house material but for a host of other long-term uses as well. And down the track, when a particular bit of wood has no more uses, mulch it up and plough it into the soil. Win-win-win !

Joe

Suse that is not right, & that is putting it nicely.

We moved to Townsville straight after dad came home after the war. We lived in what was the 6Th last house on the road up Castle Hill, so very high & exposed. It was a bit of a prestige area, open to all the breezes, with great views across the bay to Magnetic Island.

It was a typical Queenslander, high set, with 10 foot verandahs on 3 sides. It was the typical single skin weatherboard structure, & was surrounded by similar houses. I believe most of the homes in the area were built in the 1920s.

I was back there a few years ago, it is now a high prestige area, & all bar one those timber houses are still there, & looking beautiful. The only one missing had a huge mango tree fall on it in one of the many cyclones they have seen.

Of course, those houses were built when every joint was checked in, & cross nailed. Quite different to stuff built in the last 30 years, where things are popped together skew nailed, with little nails from a nail gun.

You really should stop believing everything fed to us by academics. They usually have vested interests in these things, particularly when they have research grants to protect, & even if they actually believe what they tell us, it is highly coloured by those interests.

The Building Code is fine, as are the Australian Standards. Manufacturers also issue installation and use guidelines. All good stuff.

However builders are NOT required to satisfy any of that as an absolute minimum. A builder can do as he chooses. It is not possible to object where one sees, for example, a builder installing a compressed particle board floor with a nail gun , instead of gluing and screwing in accordance with the manufacturer's guidelines (and creating unsolvable problems later for the home owner). Or supporting decks and house flooring joists with untreated pine posts into soil and surrounded with blueboard or brick veneer.

What the home owner must do is shut up and pay up when the builder declares practical completion. Otherwise the home-owner is in breach of contract. Later, when problems ensue, the home owner must hope that problems evidence within the statutory insurance period and that he can prove that the said problems were directly the consequence of deficiency by the builder. Any builder who cuts corners will also play hard ball.

The government building regulators are diplomats. Worse, they are not proactive.

Years ago, an inspector for construction, plumbing, electrical (to take some instances) did inspect thoroughly and he had support to say 'No!'.

Building regulation and inspection is all show. Builders regularly cut corners with impunity. Decks fail, showers leak, you name it.

Loudmouth, that house hasn't been through a cyclone, so it hasn't really been tested.

In any case, I am not suggesting ALL wooden houses would be wrecked by cyclones, like the houses built back in the good ol' days that Hasbeen loves so much.
We all know that those days are long gone...

I have lived in Derby and Darwin, and been through cyclones in both places.
Believe me, they don't build wooden houses in Darwin anymore....

None of you have commented on wooden houses and fire yet?
How would we get past that problem boys?

Suseonline, "Believe me, they don't build wooden houses in Darwin anymore"

It is the design and construction, not the framing material. I did give this link to you earlier,

http://www.timberqueensland.com.au/Docs/News%20and%20Events/Media-Releases-2011/Feb-14-Timber-structures-withstand-Yasi.pdf

Suseonline, "None of you have commented on wooden houses and fire yet?"

How many country homes are constructed of timber? Thousands and they still survive. Heavens, they have stoves and fireplaces which might surprise some.

Any house will burn, or its contents will, or its occupants will not survive through heat and oxygen deprivation, or gas poisoning.

The solution is prevention. Burn-offs. Fire breaks. Pro-activity in keeping a clear area around and no fuel in gardens or roof guttering. Fire warning and fire-fighting protocols.

Greens don't understand any of that. They don't even understand why farmers mowed fire breaks along country roads and cleared brush away from assets. To keyboard greens, indigenous fires are different somehow. Cultural, must be good. Firebreaks by old white men (farmers) are not good, somehow. For Greens it is always complicated.

Why are you always on about Greens OTB?
I didn't vote for the Greens.
You obviously have some sort of anti-environmental phobia ....or something....