The20
psychic stalker
Yes. That's typical housing construction, before exterior facing and interior sheeting are applied.
We don't use chipboard (we call it particleboard) in this part of construction. OSB (oriented-strand-board) and plywood is more typical for exterior facing (and often flooring) that goes underneath roofing materials and siding, but it's never nearly as thick as 1" in typical residential construction. 1/2" is more typical, and occasionally you'll see 3/4". I've never seen 1" on a construction project.
The number was just a wild guess (i wanted something simple).
Anyways, all of that burns pretty well, no? Now i know that most people don't actively try to burn down their house, but what is done to prevent all this from becoming a big bonfire?
Interior walls and ceilings are, as I said, usually covered in drywall. It's a thin (1/4 to 1/2"
) sheet of plaster, chalk, or cement (or anything else that doesn't burn). It's nailed to the frame, plaster and spackle is applied to cover the nails and joints, and then it's painted or wallpapered.
Before the drywall is installed, fiberglass insulation is usually put in the frame. It has an extremely high melting temperature and does not burn, so it keeps the other side of the wall from reaching the ignition point.
The exterior of walls is generally covered in OSB, then wrapped in a non-flammable water barrier (Tyvek is what I see everyone using these days), and then siding is installed over the top of that, which is usually either pressure-treated lumber (which requires a lot of energy to burn) or fiberglass or plastic.
It's not meant to keep the house from burning down, but it does keep the house from allowing fires to
spread. Fires can be relatively easily confined to a single room unless they grow out of control.
Commercial construction is generally steel-frame construction with cement and other high-test materials.
What's odd, though, is that wood-frame housing tends to last longer than steel-frame construction.
smile