Wood Foundations- Misconceptions -

Recently, I listed a home in South Calgary that was built with a Wood Foundation. This struck many buyers & Realtors as a flawed home. The lack of knowledge and miss-information has made a "wood" vs "concrete" foundations sound not "AS" good. I wanted to clear a few things up, and provide you with some enlightening information.


A permanent wood foundation (PWF) is a strong durable and contemporary building foundation that has a number of unique advantages over other foundation systems both for the builder and homeowner. Thousands of PWF homeowners across Canada are delighted with the comfort and livability of their homes, as well as with the economics realised by this energy efficient system of building.


-Energy costs can be significantly reduced-


Permanent Wood Foundations are Warm, dry comfortable and easy to heat. That all too familiar damp, musty basement feeling is gone forever, replaced by a totally livable perfectly comfortable area that is just like the rest of the house because it is fully insulated and built with the same construction techniques and materials.


-Wood has natural thermal qualities - far higher than concrete -


PWF's are quickly built in any weather. Time saved is money and saved in the construction business and almost any delay can be both inconvenient and costly. A PWF is a definite time saver over other foundation types because it goes in fast in all weather and does not require special crews. Wet, muddy or frozen ground has little effect on the installation process, which means that builders using PWF's enjoy a longer building season without scheduling problems or weather shutdowns. And owners get to enjoy their new homes sooner.


PWF homes   'SHOULD'   have buyer appeal. Because PWF basements are warm, dry and pleasantly comfortable.


PWF's are environmentally sound and accepted by building codes. Wood treated with preservatives is environmentally safe when used in the proper applications like PWF. The preservatives used in the PWF lumber and plywood are fixed in the wood and resistant to leaching even by extreme conditions of moisture.


It is a huge misconception that wood foundations don't perform in wet areas.
There is no question about the engineering of PWF's, only about the longevity. WATER DOES NOT ROT WOOD!! I'll repeat WATER DOES NOT ROT WOOD!! A fungus that thrives in wet wood causes rot. However, if every wood cell is masked with copper cells, from the pressure treating process, the fungus wont think twice about eating it.


If built properly, wood foundations will last 100's of years. They are warmer, LESS likely to leak then any concrete or block foundation, ready to be finished, and a breeze to remodel, and in the RARE instance that a poorly built PWF Fails, very easy to repair compared to CONCRETE.


Full Article of Information: http://www.canply.org/pdf/main/pwf.pdf