Should we let Americans into a little secret?

[denomis]

They must have special reinforcing of some sort.

 

When a quake strikes they tell you never to run outdoors, especially if you're in a building with brick walls. In a house you stand under the door frame or in a place such as an office, get under a desk

 

In any case if a monster quake of around 8.0 on the Richter Scale were to hit southern California with an epicenter in the LA area a lot of stuff would come down no matter how quake proofed or retrofitted against quakes it was.

 

There was a lot of damage done in the big quake in Kobe, Japan several years ago. Big quakes are just plain terribly destructive

 

 

Watch this video

http://www.businessinsider.com/earthquake-proof-buildings-japan-2011-3

I dont have any idea how modern houses in the UK are constructed. I know they now have central heating which must be a blessing

 

Yeah they have insulation and everything, we are nearly out of the dark ages.

[Harleyman]

Watch this video

http://www.businessinsider.com/earthquake-proof-buildings-japan-2011-3

 

 

Yeah they have insulation and everything, we are nearly out of the dark ages.

 

We live with quakes. I've seen enough videos of high rises swaying in a shaker. Nothing new to me

My wife was working on the 30th floor in a high rise in downtown LA when a 5.5 hit. Lots of swaying for about ten seconds and that was all.

 

Well I'm chuffed to hear that you're "out of the dark ages" but I never said you were in the dark ages in the first place so dont get your bowels in an uproar for nothing.

 

I left the UK a long time ago.

[denomis]

We live with quakes. I've seen enough videos of high rises swaying in a shaker. Nothing new to me

My wife was working on the 30th floor in a high rise in downtown LA when a 5.5 hit. Lots of swaying for about ten seconds and that was all.

 

Well I'm chuffed to hear that you're "out of the dark ages" but I never said you were in the dark ages in the first place so dont get your bowels in an uproar for nothing.

 

I left the UK a long time ago.

 

I don't care

[Harleyman]

I don't care

 

Jeezuz K-Wrist ! Some of you people are touchy !

 

I was only adding a comment on why some houses are constructed of different materials for different reasons in different geographical areas of the world

The title of the thread seemed to suggest that bricks hadnt yet been thought of in the New World.

[Aleksandr]

I dont have any idea how modern houses in the UK are constructed. I know they now have central heating which must be a blessing

How old are you? We've always had central heating, and I'm nearly 50 years old!

[gnvqsos]

How old are you? We've always had central heating, and I'm nearly 50 years old!

 

Well you must come from a posh background.

[janie48]

How old are you? We've always had central heating, and I'm nearly 50 years old!

 

Can you afford to put it on,i can't.

[poppins]

All new constructions are built better now In most countries anyhow as building codes change for the better, materials last longer, although old replacement parts are not easy to get as they've all changed but for the better I suppose, no one would make any money if things stayed the same .

[buck]

So based on your opininion, actually I wasn't far wrong in that brick would fare better? (disregarding cost and availability).

 

Actually, I wouldn't mind living in a wooden built house in the UK, as you say, it's a lot warmer (in winter) and nice and fresh in summer...And of course we're not subject to wild storms (although we do get the odd one (1987 hurricane).

 

What are to cost implications in the US, as opposed to the UK for timber? I remember when I was in Oklahoma, I passed a company which manufactured 'homes to go'. But I've no idea what they cost. Is it prohibitively expensive in the UK?

Something we haven't touched on is the matter of basements I don't remember many houses in UK having them, other than the 'coal hole'. Why do we have them? The main reason is to have a place you can escape into during a tornado or earthquake or even a hurricane as long a you're not in danger of flooding. That they get converted into private pubs or spare bedrooms is beside the point. They usually have a storm hatch so you can get out once the house has finished collapsing. Once again there is an advantage in using wood because it is lighter than stone or brick. I own a ' home to go', otherwise known as a manufactured home, somewhat similar to a two wide mobile home, but without the wheels and larger. Price of homes vary wildly between States and within them. My town is a middle class country town of about 25000 inhabitants . My neighborhood has 62 homes similar to mine housing mostly retired people who have downsized from larger family homes after their children have grown up and left. The houses are all single level and were manufactured in a plant then delivered in two halves. Production quality is first rate, much better than the 11 room Colonial I lived in for 23 years. I paid $110,000 for it. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, deck, Natural gas heating, and central air conditioning. I don't own the land it sits on and pay a modest site rent. As is common in America, the houses are not identical to each other in color or style.

[Harleyman]

How old are you? We've always had central heating, and I'm nearly 50 years old!

 

I'm 73 and I left the UK for Canada in 1965. No council house that I ever lived in up to that time had central heating. My cousin lives in a house built in the 1950s and has had central heating put in. It was a radiator mounted to the wall and heated by hot water if I remember.

 

In Canada they used oil to heat houses. In California it's by natural gas piped into a furnace in the attic or garage and blown through ducts into outlets at the top of the walls of each room. Some of the really old houses have gas wall heaters but they're not much good as they only heat the rooms they are in and not the whole area of the house