RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (Full Version)

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anarchyintheuk -> RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (9/22/2005 7:11:56 PM)

Depends on where they live. Some neighborhoods/states are more expensive than others.



Lord_Calidor -> RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (9/23/2005 12:39:42 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: dereck
Though regardless of what they're made of a Category 5 hurricane or F5 tornado will destroy them.


Don't bet on it. Old Mediterranean stone houses withstood centuries of rough treatment by Bura (Bora) winds of up to 250-300 km/h with just an occasional roof tile blown off.
Last winter Croatia had one of the strongest wind storms ever recorded. Traffic was paralyzed, trailers & boats found a few miles away from original position, sattelite dishes never found again, trees were torn out completely with roots, yet damage to houses was limited to a few roof tiles and shattered windows. There was never any evacuation order or peril to inhabitants, except danger from mentioned roof tiles falling on someone's head.



Oliver Heindorf -> RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (9/23/2005 12:57:48 PM)

dont forget guys that even in Biloxi MS were lots of houses made of concrete. Katrina simply blew them away.

I think an important thing is that we europeans simply cant imagine the winds the USA face every year. compared to their cat 3,4,5 storms even our strongest storms over the north sea are laughable compared to hurricanes. at a certain degree flooding and water storms simply will remove complete houses ( happend in germany in 2002 in the former east germany when the river elbe went riot ) the water simple removed entire houses made of concrete/stones.

A house made of brick/concrete would help but only to a certain degree - same goes for power lines as well ( we have them in the earth )




Mynok -> RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (9/23/2005 6:34:01 PM)

Yep, it is the water, not the wind, that destroys houses. Hurricanes like Katrina bring 18-20 feet (close to 6 meters) of ocean with them. Yes, that is how much the sea level rises temporarily. It is very much like a tsunami *in addition* to the constant wind hammering, lightning and tornados. I can assure you from personal, on site, eyewitness experience that when that 6 meters of water returns to the ocean, it leaves nothing but debris behind. Rock, stone, wood, you name it, it is rubble.

Houses that are well above the water levels generally survive even the worst hurricanes to some extent. Those that are not, do not, no matter what they are built out of.



doktor1957 -> RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (9/23/2005 6:42:30 PM)

I went through the Northridge quake back in '94. I lived in Burbank and woke up in the middle of the night. I actually heard the quake coming, not a low rumbling, but more like a really bad train wreck that just kept going on and on, stuff crashing, exploding. Then it hit, and the whole apartment complex felt like it was being drug over a washboard. I immeadiately went to bathroom. Then I got out of bed...



captskillet -> RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (9/23/2005 7:07:07 PM)

It (storm surge, around 30/35 ft) took one of the barges that one of the casino boats is built on (supposedly sec. moored) and moved it close to a mile inland!



captskillet -> RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (9/23/2005 7:12:39 PM)

quote:

If such house is hit by hurricane or by flood it would suffer (roof would probably go and windows would shatter) but house itself would stand and not be destroyed


A Cat 5 would take em' out also Leo........ if the wind dont get em' the storm surge will.......a 30 or 35 ft wall of water being pushed by a 150+ mph wind is pretty nasty!!

And just to show you how big this thing is they are getting storm surge flooding from Mobile Bay to Souht Padre Island.....thats 600 miles!!!! In fact they are getting water back into parts of New Orleans and thats 250 miles away!!!!!



RevRick -> RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (9/23/2005 7:43:44 PM)

And contrary to popular opinion, a wood house properly constructed will resist the wind as well as any CBS structure. The caveat hers is "properly constructed." With proper hurricane braces, rafter ties, sole ties, etc. (all metal strapping) the average wood house could stand up to a cat 3 or 4 storm, and even possibly a cat 5 inland. Nothing can stand up to storm surge which can be affordable and house a single family at this time. The biggest problem with houses away from the coast is wind lift on the roof. It tries to tear the roof off, and usually succeeds, unless there is proper structural bracing in the rafters and top plates.



Apollo11 -> RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (9/23/2005 9:08:08 PM)

Hi all,

quote:

ORIGINAL: captskillet

A Cat 5 would take em' out also Leo........ if the wind dont get em' the storm surge will.......a 30 or 35 ft wall of water being pushed by a 150+ mph wind is pretty nasty!!


I remember seeing many hurricane/tornado devastation photos from USA (that were taken over past decades) that all have sad "Hiroshima like" look of neighborhoods shattered to pieces... [:(]

If you look closely those were all 100% wooden buildings.

Even with latest "Katrina" hurricane I don't recall seeing any destroyed concrete/brick/stone building (like hotel for example and there were many of those in affected areas).

What we saw were shattered windows and lost roofs but concrete construction withheld wind, rain and even storm surge (i.e. water incoming to land in "tsunami like effect).

Are there any pictures of leveled hotels build from concrete?

Please note that what I called "European" like house made of concrete / brick / stone (and with deep foundations - usually 2+ meters deep also made of concrete) is similar only to bigger constructions in USA (like hospitals, hotels and similar).


BTW, in tsunami that hit Asia last December hotels withstand but, slums where poor people lived (shacks made of wood, paper and cardboard) didn't... [:(]


Leo "Apollo11"



Titanwarrior89 -> RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (9/24/2005 12:42:23 AM)

Good luck Pry. Hang in there.[:(]



medicff -> RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (9/24/2005 3:42:48 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Apollo11

Hi all,

quote:

ORIGINAL: captskillet

A Cat 5 would take em' out also Leo........ if the wind dont get em' the storm surge will.......a 30 or 35 ft wall of water being pushed by a 150+ mph wind is pretty nasty!!


I remember seeing many hurricane/tornado devastation photos from USA (that were taken over past decades) that all have sad "Hiroshima like" look of neighborhoods shattered to pieces... [:(]

If you look closely those were all 100% wooden buildings.

Even with latest "Katrina" hurricane I don't recall seeing any destroyed concrete/brick/stone building (like hotel for example and there were many of those in affected areas).

What we saw were shattered windows and lost roofs but concrete construction withheld wind, rain and even storm surge (i.e. water incoming to land in "tsunami like effect).

Are there any pictures of leveled hotels build from concrete?

Please note that what I called "European" like house made of concrete / brick / stone (and with deep foundations - usually 2+ meters deep also made of concrete) is similar only to bigger constructions in USA (like hospitals, hotels and similar).


BTW, in tsunami that hit Asia last December hotels withstand but, slums where poor people lived (shacks made of wood, paper and cardboard) didn't... [:(]


Leo "Apollo11"



Most US homes even if made with concrete block walls will still have wooden trusses and roofing systems. These give way and then some of the concrete may give way but most will stand. See Andrew across South Florida if you all remember the pictures. Many were wooden but some were concrete that lost their roof. Once you lose the roof, everything inside is pretty much gone so not much different then the wooden structures with many metal tie down straps as code is now (newer buildings). I helped build a clinic in Kosova several years ago and was amazed at the concrete block and floor construction, definately made to last many, many years.



captskillet -> RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (9/24/2005 3:41:00 PM)

quote:

Even with latest "Katrina" hurricane I don't recall seeing any destroyed concrete/brick/stone building (like hotel for example and there were many of those in affected areas).


There was a new building one of the casinos was just going to open in Biloxi with a Hard Cafe, etc (built to Hurricane codes) that the strom surge took EVERYTHING except the steel girders for a height of 2 stories, Leo.........moving water is extremely strong, I have seen video of rocks as big as cars being washed down the Colorado River/Grand Canyon.

quote:

in tsunami that hit Asia last December hotels withstand but,


The kicker is Leo those waves, While very strong in their own right, weren't being helped by 125 + winds..............



Lord_Calidor -> RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (9/24/2005 8:24:59 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: medicff
Most US homes even if made with concrete block walls will still have wooden trusses and roofing systems. These give way and then some of the concrete may give way but most will stand. See Andrew across South Florida if you all remember the pictures. Many were wooden but some were concrete that lost their roof. Once you lose the roof, everything inside is pretty much gone so not much different then the wooden structures with many metal tie down straps as code is now (newer buildings). I helped build a clinic in Kosova several years ago and was amazed at the concrete block and floor construction, definately made to last many, many years.


In European style houses roof is just a cosmetic, a device to steer water down the house (and as I write this, I recently moved to a loft apartment [;)] ), and it's the only thing with wooden construction skeleton. Underneath it is another steel reinforced concrete layer (loft floor). So even if the complete roof is blown off (which is extremely rarely, anyway) what would be left is essentially a self-supporting brick/concrete box.
They are built to withstand not just adverse weather, but also strong earthquakes.

Most of you have probably seen images from war in Balkan region. 105mm direct shell hit on these houses would leave a hole about a meter in diameter, blast would be considerably weakened, and fragments would be contained in the room directly hit. I've seen troop positions in such houses, which were commonly used as bunkers, completely intact with direct HE shell hit from a tank just a room away.
Guys would be shellshocked for a while, but otherwise uninjured.



pry -> RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (10/1/2005 5:10:31 PM)

Well that was a whole lot of fun [;)]... my place just lost a few roof shingles and power for a few days. My daughters on the other hand where I went to ride out the storm took a beating and still has no power 7 days later and the estimate is up to another 2-3 weeks before it comes back... one of the joys of living way out in the sticks...

Came back in today to bring the 18 month old grandson to his grandma's (My Ex) just too hot and nasty for him up there, heading back up north in a few hours with another generator and all the gas I can carry to power up more essentials.

I heard they showed the great traffic jams on the news, it was worse than they can ever picture it took me 21 hours to go 190 miles going up and 2.5 hours to come back this morning... You can blame the talking head weather guys for scaring everyone with their worse case doom's day predictions, 2/3rds of the 2.5 million folks who bugged out of the greater Houston area did not need to and they hindered us who actually needed to get out from doing so...

Rouguesmc, you make out OK?




String -> RE: Why are the private houses in USA made of wood? (10/1/2005 5:32:22 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: captskillet

quote:

Even with latest "Katrina" hurricane I don't recall seeing any destroyed concrete/brick/stone building (like hotel for example and there were many of those in affected areas).


There was a new building one of the casinos was just going to open in Biloxi with a Hard Cafe, etc (built to Hurricane codes) that the strom surge took EVERYTHING except the steel girders for a height of 2 stories, Leo.........moving water is extremely strong, I have seen video of rocks as big as cars being washed down the Colorado River/Grand Canyon.

quote:

in tsunami that hit Asia last December hotels withstand but,


The kicker is Leo those waves, While very strong in their own right, weren't being helped by 125 + winds..............


hmm.. from the sound of it, i'd assume that it was house with the usual steel frame construction. You know.. steel girders with cardboard/plywood/stuff inbetween. I'm still a second year architecture student, but one thing I do know is that reinforced concrete is one tough building material. Flat roofs are easily built out of it and even cat 5 winds can't lift concrete block roofs. Atleast not if the house is sound constructionally.

The thing is, concrete block buildings usually look rather ugly, and if not supported by a huge industry, rather expensive. This changes though if you can streamline the production of the concrete blocks and produce them en masse.




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