engineered lumber used in framing

I had a conversation with our local Fire Dep't chief last year about just this subject. His experiences showed that the the worst structure (fastest to fail) is steel studs (melts and collapses), then manufactured wood framing (joists and rafters that are filled with highly combustible glues) and that plain old milled wood lasts the longest because after the outside is scorched it takes a long time to burn through. I'm paraphrasing what he said and have simplified it a bit, but the essence was that old fashioned milled wood framing is the safest, especially when covered with drywall inside and brick, stucco (on wire mesh, NOT foam) or steel outside. Care to guess how MY house will be built in a couple of years?

cheers eh?
 
here`s a link plagerized from a thread over at the jlc forum;
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face200624.html
i`ve always wondered about using flakeboard for structural members....they fail the fire test.....wonder about "small stuff" like a plumbing leak?:eek:
something to think about if any of ya`ll are looking at newer construction.

No need to wonder Tod...they fail miserably.

As you know I just replaced the old log siding on my house with cedar shingles. In a way it was a good thing I shingled the old and new sections of the house. In the old section water got behind the log siding around the windows. It was not bad on the gable ends of the house, but on when all the rain ran down the walls from off the roof, it rotted the OSB sheathing right out. I was luckily as it was just starting to get to the studs. A few more years and I would have had to replace studs too. In my case I just ran a skillsaw down the whole length of the house and replaced the bottom 4 feet of sheathing.

The sad part is, the log siding was only 10 years old. It does not take long to kill OSB with water thats for sure.
 
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