ColdAsIce

Hello,
I was in Toronto back in 2001, if I remember correctly and I hope someone can correct me if I am wrong,

But if I remember correctly SOME or a lot of the houses were made out of WOOD! This was in the Spadina area, are a lot of houses made out of wood in Canada? If so WHY? It is ridiculous when concrete houses have far more greater appeal.

WOODEN houses look very cheap!!! And require much re-working, wood just deteriorates quickly!

I live in Brisbane, Australia. Today a typical winter day is in it 20s, to be exact 23 degrees, at night it drops down to about 10 degrees and it is freezing! However winters here if you can call them winters only last for 3 months and we then have 9 months of 25-40 degrees weather. Wooden for a reason, to let the cold air in!

However I don’t see why you would have that in Toronto? 3 months of summer over 9 months of hard cold winters?

I have only ever lived in a wooden house once and never again will I do that, cheap as chips they are! Like comparing a Ferrari over a Lada! Just doesn’t make sense!

Thanks,
ColdAsIce

Steve_P

Troll alert.

Jingsamichty

You sophisticated Australians may think that wooden houses are terrible, but here in Canada we think they are a huge improvement on our old ones which used to be made out of blocks of snow and ice.

Cassie 10000

Is it something to do with the time of year?

Danny B

Wooden houses are generally found in the hills and in the cooler climates. Tropical or rainy climate is not suitable for the construction of wooden houses. In cold and dry weather countries wooden houses are more common than in tropical countries where wooden houses will be a mere waste of money. Wooden houses are built with planks of wood joined together. Their plan and layout is technically different from that of the brick houses. Their floorings and walls are also done up of wood.

The cost of maintenance of wooden houses is much higher than the maintenance of brick houses. Wooden houses do not need to be painted. Brick houses, on the other hand, incur a cost of white-washing every 12 to 14 months.


Wooden houses are generally built in the area which are prone to earth quakes and land slides. That is because wooden houses cause less damage to life and property if a natural calamity strikes than the concrete houses. Therefore one is more likely to find wooden houses in the earth quake belts of the world. Brick houses are likely to be destructed in earthquakes and other calamities.

In the cold countries we are more likely to find wooden houses. The climate of such countries is suitable for building wooden houses. The dry and cold climate does not weather wood much and thus the longitivity of the house is maintained. Wooden houses are also warmer compared to the brick houses. Thus in cold climates it keeps people warmer as wood does not easily become cold and heat is trapped in the house.

Wooden houses are very expensive and have become a possession of the rich and famous who build wooden castles for them selves. People buy expensive wooden houses and farm houses which become the symbol of their aristocracy.

Lord Vader

You have to understand that Canada is just coming out of the last ice age and shelter is still primitive. We have to import all of our wood from Saudi Arabia and we learned wood home construction and winter survival techniques from our Ethiopian friends. Sadly, the wooden walls are still easily penetrated by determined predators such as bears, sasquatch, lobsters, swamp donkeys and the giant saber toothed woolly kangaroo. Lightning strikes, snow tsunamis and starvation kill countless thousands per year. Frost bite takes an additional toll on the population as they die in their sleep in the poorly insulated slum shacks.

The year 2007 will go down in the history books as the "year of death" in Canada with over 2 million citizens succumbing to the elements and animal predation, although the exact figure will never be known as we are estimating based on the number of mass graves that dot the landscape. I just heard on the news that the Emperor of Canada is paying a special visit to Australia to give thanks for bulldozers and heavy equipment needed to dig the graves and the emergency food rations along with drinking water. Also we need to give thanks to the Aussie young people who came up over to keep the ski hills running for the Yanks and Euro's. God bless you Australia

ESarge

Cold as Ice: Mate, learn to be flexible if you want to be a successful immigrant. It's rather rude to criticise a construction method before you've even gotten to the country.

Wood framed houses can be perfectly warm if properly insulated - and Canadian houses are.

If you don't want to live in a wood framed house then don't.

ColdAsIce

Thank you for your response. I have learned a bit apart from the comment above that has left me confused.

I have a fascination why anyone who would consider making a house of wood that’s all, but I guess this is just something that I am not used to.
In Ireland / UK and anywhere in Europe it is rare to hear of anyone or even see wooden houses.

I know in Sydney a lot of the houses are made out of brick, but in Brisbane a lot are made out of wood, I just don’t understand it when the climates are of the same, except Brisbane being a little warmer.

More importantly in particular in hot climate countrys eg South of France, Spain, Italy, Germany etc all the houses are brick, why would Europeans not consider the wood option?

I like Brick houses! Nice thick walls, not like a wooden house when you can hear the person in the next 3 rooms to yours going to the toilet!

MarkG

Isn't that just because the wooden new-build houses in the UK have a layer of fake bricks on the outside?

Anyway, to answer the question, wood is more flexible and has a thermal resistance several times higher than brick; so it survives annual 80C temperature changes much better than brick does, and insulates far better against 60C temperature gradients.

Plus, unlike Australia and Britain, Canada has huge forests which provide vast supplies of wood. Which is why most immigrants end up working as lumberjacks.

Alan2005

Except the ones that end up as moose farmers or seal clubbers.

MarkG

I wanted to be a seal-clubber but I didn't have the O-levels.

Atlantic Xpat

I tried to get into a Seal Club once. Apparently my name was not on the list so they wouldn't let me in.

dbd33

Souvenir suggested "The Seal Club" as the name for what is now lamely called The Maple Leaf. I thought his idea miles better.

viewerdiscretionisadvised

Me too!
How does one get the powers that run this chat thingy to change it? Or is that a lost dream?

dbd33

I suspect the moment has passed. A witty name with a bite to it was probably thought inappropriate for the Canada folder.