23 AUGUST 1913, Page 19

WOODEN HOUSES.

pro THE EDITOR CP THE "ErscTITos."1 SIR,—In your issue of August 9th Mr. Hillson James writes of framed houses standing two hundred and thirty-seven years. As oak was no doubt the timber used, the age quoted is a mere detail. The price of modern oak is, of course, prohibitive for framing nowadays. Perhaps some expert will tell us the sequence of durability in the following building materials—stone, brick, oak, steel and concrete, and, lastly, the softer woods. One can, I think, place "steel aud, concrete" after the oak.—I am, Sir, 8cc., Homo.