Building Stone Houses: Its Advantages over Wooden Houses
Building your dream home requires tough decision making. For example, choosing the right construction material is crucial because it can significantly affect your house in the long run. While there are many popular construction materials, stone and wood remain to be two of the most common options available. While both are ideal for your home, each also has its inherent advantages and disadvantages. To help you decide whether you’re building a stone house or a wooden house, this article will give you a comparison of both construction materials.
Listed below are several benefits of building stone houses as compared to wooden houses:
Stone is basically indestructible – there is no construction material as durable as stone! It does not decay, does not get affected by moisture or water, does not catch fire, and does not succumb to pest infestations. This is the very reason why stone structures can withstand the test of time, lasting for centuries. Wood, on the other hand, needs to be treated for it to be pest resistant or moisture resistant. Let’s not even touch on the topic of catching fire.
Stone is maintenance free – because there is hardly anything that can damage stone, it does not require any maintenance at all. While wood requires many treatments prior to construction and after your house is built, a stone house maintains the same quality year in and year out.
There is nothing more sustainable than stone – stone is the best construction material for a green and smart living. Proponents of sustainability should turn to stone. From resources, time, and money, all these you can save in the long term when building stone houses. It is produced naturally, it is indestructible, and it is maintenance free. As compared to working with wood materials, while it may be cheaper, the bulk of your expenses will be on the regular maintenance over its entire life span. Still, a wooden house wouldn’t even last as long as a stone house.
Stone is an effective insulator – there is no need to weatherproof stone houses. Stone itself is a great insulator – acting as a heat buffer during the day and keeping the house warm during the night. Stone absorbs heat, and releases it at night to cool down. It is even a good noise insulator.
Stone is energy efficient – when you’ve got a maintenance-free house that has effective insulation, energy efficiency is maximized. A stone house does not take up so much energy, allowing you to save on electric bills for the long haul.
Stone increases the value of your home – a stone house over time appreciates because it withstands the test of time. With its combined durability, sustainability, and aesthetics appeal, you stand a chance of earning a good return on this investment.
Stone houses do have disadvantages, but it is far outweighed by its advantages. A stone house is just as beautiful as wooden houses. During construction, the latter might come in more affordable, but through time, stone is absolutely much more viable.
Read more about the advantages of stone houses at the Swedish architectural firm Unika Stenhus (www.unikastenhus.se)
If you want to build a home that will last many lifetimes, then going for stone construction material is the best decision you’ll ever make. Stone houses have long been in existence for thousands of years.
