I have lived in Florida for twenty seven years and the reason I live in a concrete construction house is simple: Termites! Although you now see more wood framed houses in central Florida in and around The Villages, you will not see as many framed buildings south toward Tampa. You go south of Tampa and a newly constructed wood framed building is a rarity. The Villages has mostly Subterranean Termites. Further south of the Villages they have a different species of Termites which aggressively attacks buildings from the surface rather from subterranean entrance. Termites can destroy a wood house if undetected and untreated. I work at Cracker Country which is a living history museum at the Florida State Fair grounds in Tampa. We have over twenty-five historical wood buildings relocated from all over Florida. Despite professional termite service the damage done by Termites is sometimes overwhelming. Most of the buildings built by Florida Crackers back in the mid 19th century were built out of cedar or lightered pine because of the resistance of this wood to Termites. This type of wood is not used today for wood construction here in Florida.
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Ray
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