The wooden construction typical in North America is most definitely because we have a great lumber supply, but it's also a lot stronger than simply using our bricks.
I can understand that. There isn't that much wood here to go around. We also have a lot of clay in our soil, necessary to bake the bricks. So I guess it's about what type of materials you have readily available.
The brick you see on the outside of a typical home here wouldn't do very well to build the structure, they're very small and won't be very stable, plus not a lot of surface area for mortar. For structural construction you'd have to use much larger blocks, not the small bricks you typically see on the outside.
Correct. The small bricks you see on the outside of houses here also have no other function than aesthetics. They don't carry/support anything. It's the brick behind that brick that does all the carrying. This layer of bricks is always completely hidden. Eg. these
thermoblocs are probably the most used bricks for supportive structures.
If I was going custom here, I'd prefer steel i-beam and concrete (pre-poured/formed) for primary structure, along with laminated wooden beams, many of which I'd leave exposed.
Steel is good, but expensive. It's also a nightmare for the so called 'cold bridges', these are spots in your building where cold is easily transferred because two types of materials (one of which is a bad insulator, like steel) come together. Eg if aluminium windows are installed into a brick wall or when bricks are place directly onto a concrete screed. These cold bridges should be avoided at all cost because they'll drain the energy/heat from your house and drive up your heating costs considerably.
Previous Topic
Index
