why do Americans. ..

gallag

Build flimsy wooden houses? We build better quality houses and dont live in a area that gets regular hurricanes & tornadoes. If I was building a house in hurricane valley I would use a double skin of blocks tied together just like we use here, why dont they?

Irishcrx

Cheaper to build wooden houses and make them look more expensive than they are...American dream and all that..

MurdyWurdy

Isn't it safer to have a house made of wood coming in on top of you or flying around then lots of bricks? Same way as most houses in NZ are made of flimsier materials in case of earthquakes.

fryup

blame this lot, they started the trend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejxE3B4Wy0w

I Heart Internet

The one thing is - when a light wooden building falls on you, there's a decent chance you'd live (and it's cheaper to rebuild). But if a brick/concrete house falls on you....you're not going to come off as well.

You saw what hapenned to the better built school in Oklahoma?

gallag

MurdyWurdy wrote: »

Isn't it safer to have a house made of wood coming in on top of you or flying around then lots of bricks? Same was as most houses in NZ are not made of flimsier materials in case of earthquakes.

Its safer not to have any walls fall on you, they would still have the second floor and its contents falling, it would make sense for earthquakes because they would flex and bend better.

sbsquarepants

If a mile wide tornado hits your house it's coming down on top of you whether its made of wood or titanium. Might as well make it out of the cheaper stuff.

gallag

I Heart Internet wrote: »

The one thing is - when a light wooden building falls on you, there's a decent chance you'd live (and it's cheaper to rebuild). But if a brick/concrete house falls on you....you're not going to come off as well.

You saw what hapenned to the better built school in Oklahoma?

I dont know, was the school better built? Looked like it was made of toothpicks also, I would rather build it well and not have any building collapse on me.

FearDark

You should see the houses in New Zealand in an earthquake zone, timber, tin roofs, single glazing, no insulation and their foundations are LITERALLY usa biscuit tins filled with concrete and the house sits on them... and they continue to build them like that.

hoodwinked

i asked this,


and it turns out they are built like that due to cheaper rebuild costs, not having concrete landing on you, and cause no brick house would be able to withstand those winds...


Have i got them all?

MurdyWurdy

gallag wrote: »

Its safer not to have any walls fall on you, they would still have the second floor and its contents falling, it would make sense for earthquakes because they would flex and bend better.

But if you live in an area where walls are likely to fall in on you, no matter what they are made of it surely makes sense not to use heave materials. If the winds are getting up to 300 mph your house is likely coming down!

LeinsterDub

Wood is actually stronger in twisting and stretching forces than bricks . Twisting and stretching forces are what you get in hurricanes and earthquakes

syklops

gallag wrote: »

Build flimsy wooden houses? We build better quality houses and dont live in a area that gets regular hurricanes & tornadoes.

Proof please?

gallag wrote: »

If I was building a house in hurricane valley I would use a double skin of blocks tied together just like we use here, why dont they?

You mean tornado alley. If you built a house of blocks in tornado alley, you would be pummelled to death by the blocks and your neighbours would be pummelled to death when your house turns into a claymore mine.

Circa 30 deaths after the worst tornado to hit America in history. Thats high fives all round.

hoodwinked

actually i have a follow up,


why are houses in non tornado prone places (aka the ones in NY during that last hurricane) built out of wood? surely concrete houses would have been better in a hurricane?

El Guapo!

The fact is, if a tornado lifts up a pick-up truck and throws it at your house at 200mph, no amount of cavity blocks are saving you.
You may aswell build it out of wood so it's cheaper to rebuild. Your goal should be to have a reliable underground storm shelter, not a sturdy house.

syklops

hoodwinked wrote: »

actually i have a follow up,


why are houses in non hurricane prone places (aka the ones in NY during that last hurricane) built out of wood? surely concrete houses would have been better in a hurricane?

DAFUQ?

seamus

As mentioned above, safety aside, build and rebuild costs are more expensive for brick. You can earthquake-harden a structure, but it adds significant cost to the build.

If a minor earthquake hits and the outside wall of your house cracks, it's a relatively tricky and expensive process to pull that wall down and rebuild it. Far simpler with a wooden structure.

There are also historical/traditional aspects to it. Basically wood was everywhere in the US, millions of acres of woodland everywhere. Cheap to chop down, relatively cheap to process into something you need, relatively easy to transport. Brick by comparison is harder to make and harder to transport.

As a result practically everything in colonial America was made out of wood, and by the end of the 19th century the Lumber industry was enormously powerful. Any and all possible alternative materials were subject to massive negative publicity campaigns and in many cases politicians were pressured/bribed/encouraged to create policies which destroyed the competition.

It's generally accepted that the only reason marijuana is illegal is because the US timber industry was terrified of hemp - it grew quicker, more cheaply and was more robust as a material than trees. So they not only launched publicity campaigns about the evils of smoking hemp, but also bribed and pressurised politicians in passing laws making hemp and hemp growing illegal.

After Coke turning Santa red, the villianisation of hemp is probably the most successful PR campaign of all time.

yeppydeppy

...because some of them are pretty hot and I could use a good ride!

jinxremoving

Because it is a lot more expensive and a lot of poor people live in tornado alley. Its cheaper to rebuild if there is damage from a tornado,which is not as likely as you think than it would be to build them all from more expensive materials.

hoodwinked

syklops wrote: »

DAFUQ?

i meant tornado!

my head was moving slower than my hands

but in my experience houses in NY state are mostly wooden, why? why not concrete? surely that would be better in those hurricane prone areas areas?

marketty

Maybe the question should be why do we build overly engineered double leaf concrete block homes with strong foundations in a country that gets neither earthquakes nor tornadoes?

MurdyWurdy

marketty wrote: »

Maybe the question should be why do we build overly engineered double leaf concrete block homes with strong foundations in a country that gets neither earthquakes nor tornadoes?

Having lived in NZ for years in houses made of cardboard I'm very appreciative of living in a solid house again, it makes a big difference!

El Guapo!

marketty wrote: »

Maybe the question should be why do we build overly engineered double leaf concrete block homes with strong foundations in a country that gets neither earthquakes nor tornadoes?

'Cause it's poxy freezin.

Lighter pre-fab houses are easier and cheaper to construct and reubuild. The typical low roof and wide spread is designed to let wind (not the actual tornado) spread over it instead of hammering on one side.

A house made of bricks and mortar is just going to be some heavy missiles if a tornado gets hold of it anyway so why go for the more expensive and time consuming alternative?

The area at the centre of tornado alley is quite poor, many live in mobile homes and simply can't afford any alternative.

syklops

marketty wrote: »

Maybe the question should be why do we build overly engineered double leaf concrete block homes with strong foundations in a country that gets neither earthquakes nor tornadoes?

That is the more pertinent question. Irish houses are literally bullet proof, but not insulated very well, and often built on flood plains, despite the only extreme weather we get is sub zero temperatures, where insulation would come in handy, and flooding.

Jimminy Mc Fukhead

Its so that at night american kids can step out their bedroom window on to a lower level roof and then climb down a big tree and then walk a couple of blocks across and meet nancy and maddison.

cardwizzard

hoodwinked wrote: »

actually i have a follow up,


why are houses in non tornado prone places (aka the ones in NY during that last hurricane) built out of wood? surely concrete houses would have been better in a hurricane?

It has to do with the extremes in the temperatures they get. Up to -40f in the winter months and 100+ in the summertime. Brick will contract and expand in this environment and that is a no no for obvious reasons.

hoodwinked

cardwizzard wrote: »

It has to do with the extremes in the temperatures they get. Up to -40f in the winter months and 100+ in the summertime. Brick will contract and expand in this environment and that is a no no for obvious reasons.

thank you!


makes sense....

darced

This post has been deleted.

syklops

Candie wrote: »

The area at the centre of tornado alley is quite poor, many live in mobile homes and simply can't afford any alternative.

Unlike Ireland where a lot of people can't afford their mortgage.

marketty

syklops wrote: »

That is the more pertinent question. Irish houses are literally bullet proof, but not insulated very well, and often built on flood plains, despite the only extreme weather we get is sub zero temperatures, where insulation would come in handy, and flooding.

In fairness there has been a shift in the past decade or so more towards timber frame with a block/brick finish, and a lot more insulation, at least on self builds. The standard of insulation required under building regs (ie the bare minimum that a developer will do, if even) was crap though, unless it has changed recently

BrensBenz

I thought the main reason for the popularity of wooden homes in the USA and elsewhere had little to do with safety and all to do with the cost of heating / cooling. Where you have extremes of climate, e.g. in the Americas, wooden houses can be heated and cooled much more easily than concrete.

Perhaps the timber-frame model now popular in Ireland could be a safer alternative in known danger-zones but just look at how long it took for that model to gain acceptance in Ireland! It would take just as long for US builders to reconsider their materials!

The_Gatsby

gallag wrote: »

Build flimsy wooden houses? We build better quality houses and dont live in a area that gets regular hurricanes & tornadoes. If I was building a house in hurricane valley I would use a double skin of blocks tied together just like we use here, why dont they?

Fiar play to them. I think houses in Ireland look disgusting. Massive estates of house that all look the same. At least in America there's a bit of variation. When I was there I found that their neighbourhoods were generally a lot nicer than over here.

rossie1977

El Guapo! wrote: »

'Cause it's poxy freezin.

stayed in a log cabin a few years ago in finland, night time temperatures got as low as -15c and it was so warm inside the cabin with the stove we had to open the windows, the reaction when the heat met the cold air was something

af_thefragile

El Guapo! wrote: »

'Cause it's poxy freezin.

I live in a fairly new concrete and brick house and its so much more warmer than any of the older houses, if fact it gets fairly hot in summer, like these days we need to constantly have all the windows open and the temperature still touches close to 28c indoors...

Mr. CooL ICE

If a load of bricks from your house fell on you in a tornado, being sucked out of your timber house doesn't seem much better. They're both gonna be wrecked.

The best solution would be to have a rubber, inflatable house. Not only would it meet the same fate as a brick and timber house, but you'd get to live in a freakin bouncy castle!

Seachmall

LordChessington wrote: »

but you'd get to live in a freakin bouncy castle!

How would you eat soup?

Tazio

I'm not buying any of the reasons above...


As a kid I read the story of the pigs and the big bad wolf.... who's house remained standing? I rest my case.

endacl

Seachmall wrote: »

How would you eat soup?

Carefully.

Ush1

Why don't Irish people build basements?

While building regulations have improved here they still aren't really enforced that I can tell.

af_thefragile

LordChessington wrote: »

If a load of bricks from your house fell on you in a tornado, being sucked out of your timber house doesn't seem much better. They're both gonna be wrecked.

The best solution would be to have a rubber, inflatable house. Not only would it meet the same fate as a brick and timber house, but you'd get to live in a freakin bouncy castle!

Wouldn't flying timber be lethal as well?

Rubber house sounds good but that would smell a bit wouldn't it? Especially in the summer....

Rented Mule

cardwizzard wrote: »

It has to do with the extremes in the temperatures they get. Up to -40f in the winter months and 100+ in the summertime. Brick will contract and expand in this environment and that is a no no for obvious reasons.

I live in Chicago and own a brick home. We regularly see that sort of weather whereas they don't in Oklahoma.

smcgiff

Seachmall wrote: »

How would you eat soup?

You move the spoon away from you while in the bowl.

Andrew_Doran

marketty wrote: »

Maybe the question should be why do we build overly engineered double leaf concrete block homes with strong foundations in a country that gets neither earthquakes nor tornadoes?

There are lots of minor earthquakes in Ireland and Britain every year. The last big one was in 1984 and was 5.4 magnitude. It shook the sh1t out of the east coast, don't know about elsewhere. Plenty of timber frame houses in California and they get lots of big earthquakes.

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

FearDark wrote: »

You should see the houses in New Zealand in an earthquake zone, timber, tin roofs, single glazing, no insulation and their foundations are LITERALLY usa biscuit tins filled with concrete and the house sits on them... and they continue to build them like that.

jamie redknapp??

gobnaitolunacy

Ush1 wrote: »

Why don't Irish people build basements?

While building regulations have improved here they still aren't really enforced that I can tell.

Cos, they'd be as damp as fcuk.

Everything smells of damp and mowld here.

sbsquarepants

cardwizzard wrote: »

It has to do with the extremes in the temperatures they get. Up to -40f in the winter months and 100+ in the summertime. Brick will contract and expand in this environment and that is a no no for obvious reasons.

hoodwinked wrote: »

thank you!


makes sense....

Doesn't really. Brick would be perfectly suited to those conditions, more so than timber i would imagine.

It's nothing more than tradition really - some nations tend to build from timber while others use concrete/brick. Probably has more to do with transport of raw materials back in the day than it has anything else. Wasn't too easy to get thousands of tons of brick to the middle of oklahoma 200 years ago, much easier to use timber and the method just stuck.

Stovepipe

American wooden houses follow the tradition of Swedish/Norwegian/Danish/Finnish and German housing. You can visit these countries and see identical housing, which is familiar to Irish audiences from television. In America, wood is a cheaper building material than bricks. American housing also tends to have basements that we don't.

regards
Stovepipe

southsiderosie

The_Gatsby wrote: »

Fiar play to them. I think houses in Ireland look disgusting. Massive estates of house that all look the same. At least in America there's a bit of variation. When I was there I found that their neighbourhoods were generally a lot nicer than over here.

Did you actually go to the suburbs? Because 'massive estates of housing that all look the same' describes 95% of suburban housing estates built in the last 20-30 years.

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Doesn't really. Brick would be perfectly suited to those conditions, more so than timber i would imagine.

It's nothing more than tradition really - some nations tend to build from timber while others use concrete/brick. Probably has more to do with transport of raw materials back in the day than it has anything else. Wasn't too easy to get thousands of tons of brick to the middle of oklahoma 200 years ago, much easier to use timber and the method just stuck.

There is no 'national' pattern of building - it varies by time period and location. In 19th century Chicago, most buildings were made of wood; after the city burned down in 1871, it was rebuilt with brick. Most older cities on the East Coast have a core of brick or limestone townhomes, and then an outer ring of frame homes. It's a mix, and hard to generalize.

CruelCoin

gallag wrote: »

Build flimsy wooden houses? We build better quality houses and dont live in a area that gets regular hurricanes & tornadoes. If I was building a house in hurricane valley I would use a double skin of blocks tied together just like we use here, why dont they?

You'll find crappy build quality is a regular theme in American manufacturing/construction.

Just a different mindset i suppose. Quantity over quality.

ScumLord

I'm pretty sure you could build a tornado proof house if you sunk it in the ground and shaped it in such a way to redirect the wind. It's going to be expensive though which is the problem.