If your house was "hurricane proof" would it reduce stress? (day, storm)

[tallrick]

And as a bonus the whole roof is a patio! In addition to building a home I was also doing demolition many years back and I learned a lot about structures. It's easy to knock over any building with a wood roof, using a track loader. But add a poured concrete roof and the job becomes 4 times harder. With larger buildings you can knock out columns and let gravity do the work, but concrete and steel really hold up. I am a big fan of reinfoced concrete and no matter where I move I will build the same way.

Look around Florida, all the schools from the 50's were concrete, especially in Miami. The ones not demolished still remain in very good shape. Not one of them was destroyed by hurricane Andrew. Same goes for old Southern Bell central offices.

[Suncoaster]

I would love to have a hurricane-proof house. But I'm not so sure we could just kiss off the insurance companies since, sad to say, those aren't the only threats.

There's the problem of lightning strike, and that can do a number even on well-built CBS homes unless the roof is concrete. Even then.... ? That's 2 million volts smacking into the house and possibly traveling right through the electric wires, causing a massive meltdown.

And tornados. Whereas even a cat5 would rarely have sustained winds of 200+ mph, a tornado can exceed 300 (although quite unlikely in FL). And even if your home could withstand an air-assault like that......

There's the ever-popular sinkhole collapse. That's not so uncommon here; in fact, Pasco County's insurance problem is made worse by the sinkholes that are so common there. And they'll get worse, I'll bet. The more strain we put on the water systems, the more gets pumped out of the aquifer, weakening the limestone that the state rests on.

Sheesh, I wish we could build in such a way that we could eliminate need for insurance. And think of the problems solved by having hurricane-proof communities.

[jbravo]

Originally Posted by tallrick

And as a bonus the whole roof is a patio! In addition to building a home I was also doing demolition many years back and I learned a lot about structures. It's easy to knock over any building with a wood roof, using a track loader. But add a poured concrete roof and the job becomes 4 times harder. With larger buildings you can knock out columns and let gravity do the work, but concrete and steel really hold up. I am a big fan of reinfoced concrete and no matter where I move I will build the same way.

Look around Florida, all the schools from the 50's were concrete, especially in Miami. The ones not demolished still remain in very good shape. Not one of them was destroyed by hurricane Andrew. Same goes for old Southern Bell central offices.

Originally Posted by macguy

Go to any building site and look at any mid floor poured slab, pretend that's the roof. I poured hundreds of them using forms. Most all condos I ever worked on we poured concrete slab roofs. Just build a house the way you build a parking garage and you have a strong house that isn't going anywhere.

Thanks guys!
I will go and look macguy.
Great help both of you!

[triton1]

florida is by no means alone when it comes to hurricanes! hurricanes have hit new york, new jersey, connecticut, texas, louisiana, mississippi, alabama, hawaii, the carolinas; as far as i recall, one even brushed our nation's capital! also, from what i have seen, many homes in south florida are made of concrete block, a sturdy material that performed exceptionally well in hurricane andrew. (I highly suggest you read the book; "the scariest place on earth" by david fisher.)

[Lisa_from_Debary]

I would love that...the other thing is I want a REALLY big generator like about the size of a car...directly wired into the breaker box so when (not if) the power goes out, I will have that for backup...then of course I would want my own well and septic system...its not just what happens during the hurricane that is a problem, its also what happens afterward while they are trying to repair civilization.

[oceandreams94]

YES! I want a hurricane proof house too!

[jbravo]

Originally Posted by triton1

florida is by no means alone when it comes to hurricanes! hurricanes have hit new york, new jersey, connecticut, texas, louisiana, mississippi, alabama, hawaii, the carolinas; as far as i recall, one even brushed our nation's capital! also, from what i have seen, many homes in south florida are made of concrete block, a sturdy material that performed exceptionally well in hurricane andrew. (I highly suggest you read the book; "the scariest place on earth" by david fisher.)

I drove to Homestead with the first caravans of Florida Power and Light at 4:30 AM the morning that the expressways were opened after Andrew (2 days after.)
I rode a motorcycle the day after Andrew. I was the only vehicle on the road in all the time I rode (90 minutes.) Trees and branches stopped the cars from moving. The down power lines stopped everyone else who was sane.

I saw things you would not beleive. Trust me on this one.



p.s.
Remember, Andrew was a miss (a near miss) as far as Miami is concerned
(20 miles South of Miami.)
If a cat5 like Andrew hit the any of the cities above at full strength dead center, casulties would be into the thousands (Includes New Orleans, another near miss.)

[macguy]

Originally Posted by oceandreams94

YES! I want a hurricane proof house too!

It's not a fantasy google concrete homes or ICF homes. The cost is not really any more the a stick built home.

[tallrick]

And if you have a generator, DO NOT rely on gasoline. Use a free fuel instead like tires or debris. If I stay in Florida and fix my parent's Team Metro hassles you can come look at my place which will be hurricane ready, and if I go upstate drop by for a few games on my lanes!

[triton1]

[quote=jbravo;717462] I saw things you would not beleive. Trust me on this one. QUOTE]

I can imagine, especially hearing that Andrew even tore the radar off the roof of the National Hurricane Center!