08-23-2008, 01:52 PM
One of the main problems with the nonstop maintenance and attention wood structures require is that people get old. They reach a point in their lives where they too often lack the energy and the money to keep the place up and the house starts to run down. Add a leaky roof and before long all you own is a mess. So they build or buy their home, pay their mortgage, pay their taxes and just about as the house is paid off.... it is ready to tear down.
Here in the islands I think that the commitment to American wood frame is one of the reasons there is a lot of local poverty. Families are not able to pass fully appreciated properties on to the next generation. They pass on fully depreciated properties. Termite riddled and rotted houses. It's a shame. The banks win. Honsador and HPM win. When I showed our new materials to Honsador on Oahu years ago I was literally told "If we sold that stuff no one would come back and buy more".
Jay is rather right on about mainland contractors. The workmanship isn't there anymore. It may be that the contractors are lazy or it may be that the public is to cheap to pay for good work. Why should they? The average family moves every 4.3 years or some such period of time. There's always another sucker. Home building is no longer home building. It is investment philosophy. Buy low, sell high. Build cheap, run away.
But the real simple reason wooden structures are such a poor investment is that they are organic. From the moment the tree is cut down it is on a path to become dirt again. All that maintenance over the decades is intended to merely slow down the inevitable.
Here in the U.S. if a home makes it to 100 years old someone wants to put a brass plaque on it. In Europe a 100 year old home is considered "new". One of my arguments for concrete building are that they can last hundreds and sometimes thousands of years with minimal maintenance. There are numerous Roman works still in use.
If you build a wood structure using x acres of lumber and that house, in Hawaii, lasts an average of 33 years and compare that to a home lasting 200 years and 80% recycled content then the factor of performance of material is 6x+. What is missing from most people's awareness here is that the costs of building with higher grade materials has come way down to compete with wood. People still build with wood mostly because they don't want to think about it.
Anyone really want to own a wooden boat? They're trying to give a big one away in Honolulu harbor right now. The maintenance and repair costs are too high.
Jay, you are pretty good with facts... what percentage of boat owners actually own wooden boats?
Here in the islands I think that the commitment to American wood frame is one of the reasons there is a lot of local poverty. Families are not able to pass fully appreciated properties on to the next generation. They pass on fully depreciated properties. Termite riddled and rotted houses. It's a shame. The banks win. Honsador and HPM win. When I showed our new materials to Honsador on Oahu years ago I was literally told "If we sold that stuff no one would come back and buy more".
Jay is rather right on about mainland contractors. The workmanship isn't there anymore. It may be that the contractors are lazy or it may be that the public is to cheap to pay for good work. Why should they? The average family moves every 4.3 years or some such period of time. There's always another sucker. Home building is no longer home building. It is investment philosophy. Buy low, sell high. Build cheap, run away.
But the real simple reason wooden structures are such a poor investment is that they are organic. From the moment the tree is cut down it is on a path to become dirt again. All that maintenance over the decades is intended to merely slow down the inevitable.
Here in the U.S. if a home makes it to 100 years old someone wants to put a brass plaque on it. In Europe a 100 year old home is considered "new". One of my arguments for concrete building are that they can last hundreds and sometimes thousands of years with minimal maintenance. There are numerous Roman works still in use.
If you build a wood structure using x acres of lumber and that house, in Hawaii, lasts an average of 33 years and compare that to a home lasting 200 years and 80% recycled content then the factor of performance of material is 6x+. What is missing from most people's awareness here is that the costs of building with higher grade materials has come way down to compete with wood. People still build with wood mostly because they don't want to think about it.
Anyone really want to own a wooden boat? They're trying to give a big one away in Honolulu harbor right now. The maintenance and repair costs are too high.
Jay, you are pretty good with facts... what percentage of boat owners actually own wooden boats?
Assume the best and ask questions.
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