WOOD You Please Stop That

My father built houses with my grandfather. Maybe that's where I get my fascination with all facets of construction. That exercise between father and son was over 50 years ago. When we look back though, the housing industry hasn't really changed all that much. Power tools, computers and communication platforms have changed the industry but the basic materials we build with haven't changed other than moderate evolutions, with a few exceptions. One of the newer products, although more than 2 decades old now, is what you might know as building wrap, or WRB (weather resistant barriers). The WRB is crucial to the water resistant ability of the building envelope and is also considered part of a proper water management system.

What is the building envelope? The building envelope is best defined as the exterior shell of your house. The roof systems, the exterior walls, the windows and doors all make up the envelope and each of those systems must be integrated to prevent water intrusion, in all its forms, from penetrating the shell.

Why is the envelope important? Innovations such as OSB and I-joists have been welcomed with open arms but both have served to move away from more historically preferred members such as 3-ply structural plywood that OSB replaces and pine or hybrid woods which the I-joists are replacing.  Both the OSB and the I-joist are engineered replacement solutions that are cheaper for the home owner. Both of these products can be affected more quickly when the outer layers of the building envelope begin to fail.

Other engineered products, such as the introduction of cementious siding products that will last longer than their wood predecessors, have helped the most outward layer of the building envelope last longer. Improvements in paint products, sealants and  windows have also aided in making the houses we live in today better, more energy-efficient and less expensive to maintain...if the building envelope has been assembled correctly and in the right sequence.

Today, more than ever, general contractors are more subcontractor brokers than builders, which causes continuing doubts over the building envelope in which you live. With lesser skilled tradesmen, smaller margins, and the need to complete the project, no matter how large or small, the correctness of the building can become less important.  Oversight is crucial. Educated and informed oversight that is not entrenched in 30 year old methods and means is even more important.

My work has proven to me that most envelopes today aren't built properly. This in part because the building envelope isn't assembled correctly or is missing some of the parts or elements that would ensure that it performs as intended. The water-proofing and water management portions of the envelope can be the most vital pieces of the puzzle. It is their failure that causes the most damage. If that damage occurs in conditions other than "named storms", your insurance company is most likely not going to pay for the damages. The failure of the building envelope is most often a construction related defect or "latent defects" and most home owner's policies exclude damage related to construction defects.

The building envelope has become more important today than it ever has been before due to one simple reason. If the building envelope fails, the engineered products being used in today's homes will begin to deteriorate faster than the more traditional materials. 

That gets me to the most important point: in these days of frequent and alarmingly destructive natural disasters coupled with the growing inability of home builders to execute the assembly of the building envelope correctly...I have to ask why we are still building houses out of wood, which is much more susceptible to the outer elements than steel?

Just before the implosion of the economy, California and Florida were the most prolific states building houses out of steel , with the highest percentage of total volume being about 8%. Contrary to popular belief, a house constructed of steel does not cost more to construct than one of wood with some governing variables.

Steel, in all it's forms, is more durable and more resistant to deterioration from water and of course can't be compromised by wood decaying fungi and/or wood eating vermin and insects. If you are about to build; do yourself, the environment, and your insurance carrier a favor - consider steel in both heavy and light framing.

ARISTON, LLC is a proud member of the Building Envelope Science Institute.