A Few Questions About The Homes (Minneapolis, Hibbing: apartment, power lines, townhouse)

[blakeb99]

ok, so most of the material I was seeing on the homes up their was wood? I was thinking it was like some type of vinyl paneling, but that was looking at them from the road. I'm not referring to the older homes. I could easily tell they were wood, but the newer homes didn't look quite like wood.

[MoMark]

Originally Posted by golfgal

True, brick does absorb heat but it doesn't TRANSFER the heat, or cold for that matter. It also maintains the heat or cold longer so as it cools in the evening it hangs on to that cool for a longer time then a wood house so it doesn't get as hot.

Brick is more affordable in the south because there are a lot of brick manufactures there, thus transportation costs are lower. They also tend to have rich clay soil to make the brick so the supplies are easily accessible, much like the timber frame houses in the north, the supply of timber is more easily accessible.

Also, add the factor that they have termites in the south so a wood frame house isn't desirable because of the upkeep. Since we don't have to worry about termites, we can use wood.

Trust me on this, besides that, I am never wrong, ask my hubby!

I'm not from Minnesota or living in it...but I can speak for brick in a climate that gets very cold and very hot! My house is all brick..not veneer either, but the real McCoy. In the summer it stays cooler much longer before heating up and in the winter...I haven't really decided yet if it causes the house to get colder or not. I only have drapes on my front window for the dining room (I live on a private 4.3 acres, so I keep my windows bare) and I've been told that I'll lose heat that way, but I'm not really sure if the house gets colder faster due to its being brick. I am sure it stays more comfortable longer without A/C in the summer before heating up.
Here about half of the homes are built of all brick and I'm told its more expensive as a construction material, but...you get a bit of a discount with your home insurer for fire and storm damage and it holds up much better against wind and other phenomena during violent summer thunderstorms with hail. No damage. I've seen what hail can do to a house with siding or painted wood...
Swamped in snow Dec. 1, 2006, but snug as a bug in an electric rug inside!
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r199/MoMark/Dec1snowHouse.jpg (broken link)
No snow, summertime. Cool inside the house.


I like the first pic Robert shows of the craftsman style house, but in general, I prefer all-brick homes. I just feel safer in them.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by blakeb99

ok, so most of the material I was seeing on the homes up their was wood? I was thinking it was like some type of vinyl paneling, but that was looking at them from the road. I'm not referring to the older homes. I could easily tell they were wood, but the newer homes didn't look quite like wood.

The houses are a wood frame and the siding varies from wood, vinyl, steel, slate, stucco, whatever. MOST of the newer construction is going to have either vinyl or steel siding. THe higher end houses will have more expensive siding.

[chilaili]

Originally Posted by golfgal

True, brick does absorb heat but it doesn't TRANSFER the heat, or cold for that matter. It also maintains the heat or cold longer so as it cools in the evening it hangs on to that cool for a longer time then a wood house so it doesn't get as hot.

I am perplexed. I spent 5 years living in what I guess would be called a brownstone in the NE, but in St Paul was a 1920's apartment complex built entirely of brick (and covered in ivy - very lovely). In the Winter it was lovely and cosy and hotter than hell in the Summer! Being that old, there was no A/C installed so we all had to get our own units, but then they had to work double shifts.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by chilaili

I am perplexed. I spent 5 years living in what I guess would be called a brownstone in the NE, but in St Paul was a 1920's apartment complex built entirely of brick (and covered in ivy - very lovely). In the Winter it was lovely and cosy and hotter than hell in the Summer! Being that old, there was no A/C installed so we all had to get our own units, but then they had to work double shifts.

Easy, it doesn't cool off enough in the evenings to make a difference during the day. If it is 90 during the day and gets down to 80 at night it is still HOT.

[LOLZ]

Originally Posted by yellowsnow

The homes everyone else is calling townhomes are also called twinhomes.

Twinhomes usually only have 2 connected to each other with a single shared wall in the middle. Townhomes usually have more connected in a row, many sharing 2 walls except the end units.

[MomsTn]

Originally Posted by LOLZ

Twinhomes usually only have 2 connected to each other with a single shared wall in the middle. Townhomes usually have more connected in a row, many sharing 2 walls except the end units.

Let's not forget the "detached townhomes."

[warmweather!]

You'll notice the very large mansions here are brick. I think of brick as a material only rich people can afford on their houses. About the townhomes, everyone else is right on the money. Don't they have townhouses in the south? Most houses are NOT wood. They are fake wood. It is called siding. Most houses are vinyl siding in the Twin Cities. What are old houses in the south like? Also, in contrast to the south, almost every house up here has a basement.

[naynay]

Its simple- build cheap, sell cheap and it lasts about that long...Some of the homes they are building nowadays are just a pile of toothpicks. I live in a home that is 30 years old with beautiful exterior brick work as well as a full stone fire place. You just dont see that anymore. Its all cookie cutter....The only decent amount of brick you are going to find are on very pricey homes.

Its funny that you mention this, because I had family come from Italy to the USA for the first time and that too, is what they noticed. They called them shacks and even went to ask if that is where poorer people lived because if you were wealthy, you had a stone/brick/stucco home!

[blakeb99]

We have townhouses, but nothing like he amount I noticed in the TC area. We only have very few of them. I actually only know of one and it's a very small complex that basically looks like an apartment, but they call it a townhouse. Most older homes in the south are made out of wood. Newer homes are made out vinyl siding or brick, but the majority are brick. No one has basements over here because we are already close to sea level and hurricanes come all the time. We also have many trailer parks down here for the poor people, and there are rundown areas all over the place. The problem with Louisiana is hurricanes pass all the time and destroy the city, and then stuff never gets fixed, so we have delopadated shacks and trashy areas all over the place...a lot of riffraff and low class people too. I would never advice anyone to build a home on the coast. Overall the homes are a lot nicer in MN. The architect is very different. We have more rectangular houses, whereas MN homes I noticed are very tall and square shaped (the older homes).