Brick, Stone, Wood, or a Mix?
Tuesday, June 17th, 2014
Since the beginning of time, builders have struggled with the decision of what
building materials to use in constructing a home. In early times, the options were fairly limited.
Today is a different story.
Wood and stone are still popular for their abundance, as they were in previous eras. But in our modern days, materials such as brick, concrete, stucco, steel, and even straw bales are used to build homes, and the question has become deciding which materials to use.
Below is a list of the benefits along with the disadvantages of using wood, stone, and brick for interior or exterior, the most common traditional building materials.
Wood
Here are some advantages of building with wood, interior and exterior:
Abundance: It is found in most habitable places on earth, and has proved to be a sound building material for thousands of years.
Price: It is relatively inexpensive, unless you import a rare species for a specially designed home.
Ease of construction: Wood is easy to build with, and doesn’t require much in the way of heavy machinery or tools. It can be worked into just about any shape that a builder may require.
Some disadvantages of wood exteriors include:
Durability: Being flammable and susceptible to rot and decay, wood is one of the least durable building materials for exteriors. Insects such as termites and carpenter bees can also cause great damage.
Maintenance: Homes with wood exteriors need to be painted or sealed on a fairly regular basis.
Stone
The advantages of building with stone include:
Durability: Stone is able to withstand fire, water damage, and most natural disasters with very little destruction. This is the reason stone monuments of many ancient civilizations still survive today. Stone is also very strong, and for this reason is often used to create the foundations of buildings.
Abundance: Like wood, stone can be found in most places on earth.
Price: Stone can often be procured at a fairly low price, though building with it may be another matter.
The following are disadvantages of building with stone:
Price: Building with stone can also be expensive, since the material is heavy and more difficult to work with.
Non-malleable: Where wood could be shaped to suit most situations, stone is more difficult to work with. It can be cut and shaped, but the tools and time required are extensive.
Heavy: Working with large pieces of stone usually requires heavy machinery.
Brick
Consider these advantages of building with brick:
Durability: Like stone, brick is very resistant to fire and other natural damage, and will last for a long time. Brick was the first man-made building material, and is used by many civilizations across the globe.
Ease of construction: Because bricks are formed into small, uniformly sized units, they can be easily put together to create buildings of great variation in size, pattern, and shape.
Some disadvantages of brick include:
Price: Brick is more expensive than wood, and can be more or less expensive than stone, depending on the builder.
Non-natural: It is not a naturally occurring material, and therefore must be produced; however, most bricks are made from naturally occurring materials, such as clay.
No matter your building material preference,
McCamy Construction will be your partner in designing your new, custom home.
Contact our experienced professionals today for your consultation.
Since the beginning of time, builders have struggled with the decision of what building materials to use in constructing a home. In early times, the options were fairly limited.
Today is a different story.
Wood and stone are still popular for their abundance, as they were in previous eras. But in our modern days, materials such as brick, concrete, stucco, steel, and even straw bales are used to build homes, and the question has become deciding which materials to use.
Below is a list of the benefits along with the disadvantages of using wood, stone, and brick for interior or exterior, the most common traditional building materials.
The advantages of building with stone include:
Durability: Stone is able to withstand fire, water damage, and most natural disasters with very little destruction. This is the reason stone monuments of many ancient civilizations still survive today. Stone is also very strong, and for this reason is often used to create the foundations of buildings.
Abundance: Like wood, stone can be found in most places on earth.
Price: Stone can often be procured at a fairly low price, though building with it may be another matter.
The following are disadvantages of building with stone:
Price: Building with stone can also be expensive, since the material is heavy and more difficult to work with.
Non-malleable: Where wood could be shaped to suit most situations, stone is more difficult to work with. It can be cut and shaped, but the tools and time required are extensive.
Heavy: Working with large pieces of stone usually requires heavy machinery.
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