Lumber

[Firestorm_one]

Trying to progress to tier 2 materials but seems the only way to do it is to go the brick/glass route? As wanted to go the lumber route but the Anvil only works in a Tier 2 structure which is needed to make a sawmill, so going to have to make a brick structure first for the Anvil?

[Ater Roseum]

Correct. That or make glass to place around. Keep in mind you typically only need 32 of a T2 block for the stuff to work. So when it came time I put random temporary pillars made of brick in my house totaling to 32 blocks and presto all worked. I then used the bricks for crafting on anvil and researching.

[Firestorm_one]

Ahh neat, bet that looks arty with the half bricks half something else :P
Cheers for the info :)

[Ater Roseum]

http://steamcommunity.com/id/Ater_Roseum/screenshot/936057154117738669
Yea this is pretty much how I build once I truly enter Tier 2. Stone Foundation, Lumber walls, Hewn Log floors and roofing. Ignore all the stockpiles, in the middle of creating a basement under the buildings for them lol.

Essentially I spam random brick(or glass) in a building when I have no way to produce Lumber, then I slowly get rid of it as I can replace my Hewn Logs walls with Lumber. I typically use Mortared Stone as a sort of visual foundation. But this game is pretty good with variations on how you can build if you start trying to combine things.