Over 70 years ago, Dr. Karl Wolman invented the process of infusing preservative deeply into wood products. Today, a giant industry has grown up around his quest to invent a wood that doesn’t rot, is insect resistant and can last a lifetime. Treated wood is used for decks, mailbox and light posts, telephone utility poles, swing sets, picnic tables, landscape ties, underwater dock pilings, oceanside boardwalks, basements, and residential building foundations. A durable structure can be built from either metal or wood. In almost all cases metal construction means steel construction and has significant cost disadvantages. You can build a wood-framed house for 25% less than a steel-framed house. You can also build a wood-frame house with ordinary labor, less need for heavy equipment, fewer code requirements, fewer building department inspections, and without having to hire on-site deputy inspectors to overlook on-site welding.
This is a really great example of changing the meaning of wood! By changing the material nature of wood from something that needs periodic replacement to something that can last a lifetime, wood has been changed from something natural to something unnatural.
ReplyDeleteAs you noted, this shift is a boon for housing construction. I wonder what the implications are in other contexts. For some people, there is a certain appeal to seeing things made out of wood. There is a connection to the past, for example. I wonder how they interpret things made out of treated wood.