Should we let Americans into a little secret?

[Harleyman]

It was always rumored that the reason San Francisco burned so badly during the '06 quake was because no one had earthquake insurance...but almost everyone had fire insurance.

 

When my mother and I toured the White House and Capitol Hill, I was impressed with the gorgeous granite floors, and was told they were hewn from the Potomac. I do love brick buildings but I wouldn't want to be in one during an earthquake.

 

Have you ever seen or been inside Pasadena City hall Sierra? It's a beautiful bit of architecture in the Italian Renaissance style and was built in 1920 or thereabouts. The City spent about 100 million dollars in upgrading it against quakes about 6 years ago. They actually placed a system of rollers under the foundations which would enable the building to move with the motion of a quake.

 

I think the money spent was well worth it. It's often used as a location by movie companies. I saw them filming "A walk in the clouds" in the courtyard years ago.

[Mick51]

Is there a State which doesn't have hurricanes, twisters, tornados, earthquakes whatever and has a temperate climate?

 

New mexico , Santa Fe, my wife and l keep thinking of that area, NON of the above problems.

[SevenRivers]

Bricks are still recyclable at least, if not from a renewable source. If a brick house collapses, you can reuse the bricks.

[Bubble3082]

Isn't the flexibility of wood an advantage though? I'm not good at science at all but I would have thought wood would absorb a lot more of the energy from high winds as its able to bend more that more solid materials such as brick?

[alternageek]

It's always occured to me when a hurricane strikes in America, it wipes out whole communities, and it's very very distressing.

 

But,.... shouldn't someone tell them, wood probably isn't the best choice of building materials where there is a likelyhood of hurricanes and other adverse weather conditions?

 

Yep, I know bricks cost more, and roofs get blown off brick buildings..etc...But surely wood isn't a good choice, when you can feasibly lose everything!

 

Just a thought

Florida, after Hurricane Andrew in 1991 (1992?) new homes are meant to be made from bricks and you are not allowed to have a central gas line (only electric heat/cookers/etc) either

 

Where I grew up on Long Island, its mainly all wood - though newer homes are made with steel structures (but newer homes are hard to find, well at least where I lived)

[buck]

I've never seen any terraced houses in the US, you mean those that are linked together like in the UK, we have many two family houses but owned by one person, also a few semi detached also owned by one person. I wouldn't want to live with someone attached to my house now, did for many years in Southey Green though, thought nothing of it then as everyone I knew lived on the estates.

They are quite common in PA. I used to do contract work in York PA, and there were streets full of long terraces. The ones in Philly make up part of the ghetto.You've lived in Fairfield County too long, Poppins, among all those mansions.

[PeteMorris]

There is an old saying in England which says 'an Englishmans home is his castle'...I can only presume that's a universal notion....even for our friends across the pond!

 

There has been a lot of talk about timber being readily available, and being a cheap material with which to build...and I accept those arguments. But it makes no sense to me, even though that's the case over the pond (and I refer specifically to hurricane prone areas, as opposed to earthquake prone areas) I find it a bit strange that there seems to be a sense of resignation and almost inevitability, that if it's built of timber, and it's flattened by a hurricane it will be cheap to rebuild in timber, and a sense of 'so what?'

 

The plain fact being that a brick built structure will withstand far more adverse weather than a timber structure. It's fairly obvious to me. (no doubt someone will say, I'm not a structural engineer so how would I know!) Has nobody ever told the story of the three little pigs?

 

Yes I know it's far more expensive to build, but I'm guessing that it would be far less expensive to insure than a wooden structure in a 'danger' area. I'm perfectly willing to be proved wrong about that notion, from someone who 'knows'.

 

Going on the premise that availability of materials and ease of rebuilding and cost, surely it would be better if we all lived in mud huts?..Of course that's a nonsense, but I hope you see my point!

 

As I've said previously, it's not even so much the house which gets flattened, it's all those treasured possesions, which we all keep and can't be replaced by insurance or money.

 

I see pictures and news reports of areas that have literally been wiped off the map, and completely flattened by these violent storms that happen. I really feel for people who own, and or lived in these places. But I do feel that the materials used is part of the problem!

 

Now I'll just await the 'you're thick'...'you don't understand'...and 'You're just arrogant' comments.

[Bypassblade]

I have never been; but a lot of places in America seem nice to live in, I just could not cope with the weather they have. They get hit with, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, but I will agree on one thing their spirit is indomitable.

 

They seem to bounce back from what ever mother nature throws at them, that's the ONLY woman you don't argue with.

[Riannon]

Americans can afford to buy houses. We can't. So maybe they are doing it right?

 

Of course they are doing it right.

 

I spent a lot of time in Key West. There are lots of wooden conche houses that have stood there for over 100 years in the face of hundreds of hurricanes. They built out of wood because that's what they had and wooden buildings are lighter than brick and don't need deep foundations on land that can't support the weight of brick or stone.

 

It never ceases to amaze me how we have so many experts on Sheffield Forum who with no qualifications seem to know far more about American housing than the architects over there.

 

Manhattan is built on stone so it can support skyscrapers made out of concrete. Much of the east coast is sand and coral that can't.

[poppins]

If the wood in the State I live in wasn't used for building you wouldn't be able to see 3 feet in front of you for trees, other States have very clayey soil so brick houses are cheaper to build.