Advantages
Good tensile strength (also compressive along grain, eg end loaded)
Short lead in time
Familiar material to workforce
Flexible in construction
Disadvantages
Limit to sizes available
Not stable
Beetle, decay and fire?
Vulnerable to poor workmanship
Too easy to adapt
Maintenance cost
Strongest woods (hardwoods) also slowest to grow
Advantages
Good compressive strength
Familiar material to workforce
Ethnic – of the locality
Disadvantages
Poor tensile strength
Some stones decay
Need for skilled workforce
Maintenance cost – discolouration/cleaning
Sedimentary stone is not formed under pressure but in layers and can split off if vertically loaded. This can, however, be useful – eg slate
Some stone, such as marble, is too expensive for construction although may [...]
