I found an old, yellowed article I tore out of the newspaper several years ago.
It’s as interesting today as it was then (circa 2001 – when we lived in Pensacola – which is the newspaper it came from – as determined by a car dealer ad on the back).
The article gives you an idea of the sheer volume of building materials that are used when building a “traditional” single-family home.
- 13,127 board-feet of framing lumber
- 6,212 square feet of sheathing
- 13.97 tons of concrete
- 2,325 square feet of exterior siding material
- 3,100 square feet of roofing material
- 3,061 square feet of insulation
- 6,144 square feet of interior wall material
- 120 linear feet of ducting
- 15 windows
- 13 kitchen cabinets; 2 other cabinets
- 1 kitchen sink
- 12 interior doors
- 7 closet doors
- 2 exterior doors
- 1 patio door
- 2 garage doors
- 1 fireplace
- 3 toilets; 2 bathtubs; 1 shower stall
- 3 bathroom sinks
- 2,085 square feet of flooring material such as carpeting, resilient sheet,
resilient tile, ceramic tile or wood plank
- 1 range; 1 refrigerator; 1 dishwasher; 1 garbage disposer; 1 range hood
- 1 washer; 1 dryer
And on a related note…
According to the Chicago Sun Times, “the average 2,000-square-foot-home in the United States uses about 1 acre of forest, or 44 trees.”
