The wood-frame technology has been a
dominating construction technology in the North America since
1980. About 1.5-2 millons of wood-frame houses are built annually
in USA and Canada satisfying a growing demand. It's interesting
that the National House Building Council of Great Britain has
informed recently that in compliance with its Guarantee Plan
repaid for defects of 20.000 structures which have been built
since 1965 and only 24 of them were wood-frame constructions.
The stability of wood-frame construction
is widely tested in the infinite number of climatic conditions
in North America and Japon. The wood-frame house is a stable
and solid residence because of a more flexible wood structure
which is able to support a vertical load as well as a lateral
load of wind and a seismic load.