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March 19, 2010  |  Login
Choosing Wood Framing for Your Home
By Eric Corey Freed
 

Your walls are only about 10% to 20% of the cost of your home, but they’re the most important part. Of the 1.5 million new homes built in the United States each year, nearly all of them (90%) are constructed with wood framing.

How Many Trees Will I Need?

The average-sized home (about 2,000 square feet) uses an acre of forest (44 trees). These trees are typically clear-cut (which leaves nothing for the future). Timber mills take the wood and process it into solid sticks, called studs. The studs come in standard sizes (2 x 4 inches, 2 x 6 inches, and so on).

Wood is a big business, estimated at $11 billon per year, with an immense impact on the environment. The lumber industry is the second largest source of greenhouse gas and global warming pollution, after coal production.

To build walls, wood studs are nailed into a line of columns, spaced 16 inches apart. Called platform framing, this lightweight construction method was revolutionary when it was introduced because it saved the need for solid walls.
 
Because most houses are built with wood framing, even the most unskilled person on a construction site knows how to work with it. It’s this familiarity that makes wood framing so relatively inexpensive.

 

 
 

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