Why do so many Americans are living in plywood huts? Why not live out of town in stone and concrete houses? (legal, regular)
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My country house made of thick concrete, the wall thickness of the house forty centimeters, and the ground floor windows are high above the earth, that would not have climbed thieves and robbers.
My house is like a small castle.
And in the yard run two dogs.
Why Americans are careless to their own safety, I see even the rich Americans live in wooden houses.
In Russia there are only wooden houses in the villages, as well as Russian, usually builds a house of stone.
In the United States expensive housing? Therefore, many Americans live in plywood houses?
wood is inexpensive, and easy to build with. for the record though, look around in some towns and cities, and you will find houses made of brick and block construction. to make concrete walls you need to set up forms, mix concrete, and use a pump and vibrator to remove the air from poured concrete to prevent weak areas. and when the concrete sets up properly then the forms need to be stripped off. and dont forget the rebar in the concrete as well. that adds to the expense of building a concrete wall. there are other issues as well using concrete as a building material.
America is a relatively safe country. We talk about high crime rates but most crime is in relatively confined areas of our major cities heavily dominated by ethnic minorities who largely commit crimes against their own people and then complain about how the police are prejudiced against them when they get caught. Once you get away from ratholes like that there is no need to live in a fortress. Most criminals are stupid and lazy and stand out like sore thumbs when they venture into the better parts of town. The police devote most of their resources to areas with high crime but routinely patrol all streets and when they see a car or person that looks out-of-place they slow down to take a better look. This is usually enough to scare a crook out of there. He has a perfect legal right to be there but is sure the cops can read his mind and know the crime he was planning so he takes off. Most crime in such a neighborhood is commited by local teen-agers who are mostly bored and make a lot of novice mistakes so that they are quickly caught. This scares them back into being good citizens. We build our homes for comfort, not for protection, and if we use brick or stone it's because they're pretty to look at. Most Americans are middle class and simply want the best house they can get at the cheapest price. For that you can't beat walls made of 2 x 4 studs with plywood and siding on the outside, fiberglas insulation between the studs, and sheetrock on the inside. And it's possible to build such walls in a factory making them cheaper still. They're just as sturdy as site-built walls and can be shipped to the building site and errected in a few hours. Or the entire house can be built in a factory. It's nothing unusual to be driving along and see a truck with half a house on it and elsewhere on the road is another truck with the other half of the house. You can't do that sort of thing with walls made of brick or stone.
wood is inexpensive, and easy to build with. for the record though, look around in some towns and cities, and you will find houses made of brick and block construction. to make concrete walls you need to set up forms, mix concrete, and use a pump and vibrator to remove the air from poured concrete to prevent weak areas. and when the concrete sets up properly then the forms need to be stripped off. and dont forget the rebar in the concrete as well. that adds to the expense of building a concrete wall. there are other issues as well using concrete as a building material.
Thanks, I just read in the news that is happening in America.
Lived a rich American beautiful woman, she lived in the wooden simple house, which easily penetrate the robbers. She had to think about security.
In Russia put iron doors that would not have penetrated the thieves, and on the first floor can be put iron bars.
Still, Wooden house can burn, it is dangerous to life.
Although wooden house retains heat well, if a wooden house built of thick logs, in Siberia there are wooden houses built of thick logs.
But if the house is built of thin plywood, in Russia in these homes will freeze from the cold.
Therefore, if the Russian build houses out of wood is made of thick logs.
A regular suburban summer house in Russia, can be made of plywood.
as in the United States.
But in America in the southern states of the heat, so you can live in such homes.
Moreover, such plywood house, afraid of storms, after the tornado, such houses can be destroyed. Americans insure their homes? Insurance mandatory?
Banks pay insurance to the people affected by the hurricane?
Thanks, I just read in the news that is happening in America.
Lived a rich American beautiful woman, she lived in the wooden simple house, which easily penetrate the robbers. She had to think about security.
In Russia put iron doors that would not have penetrated the thieves, and on the first floor can be put iron bars.
I choose to live in a safe area. Robbers are not an issue. Security is cheap. Our communities are gated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Overoceanx
Still, Wooden house can burn, it is dangerous to life.
The wood is treated so it does not burn easily. Also, we have automatic sprinkler systems that go off in case of fire.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Overoceanx
Although wooden house retains heat well, if a wooden house built of thick logs, in Siberia there are wooden houses built of thick logs.
But if the house is built of thin plywood, in Russia in these homes will freeze from the cold.
Therefore, if the Russian build houses out of wood is made of thick logs.
A regular suburban summer house in Russia, can be made of plywood.
as in the United States.
It isn't nearly as cold here. Our heating systems and insulation are sufficient to keep the homes warm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Overoceanx
But in America in the southern states of the heat, so you can live in such homes.
Moreover, such plywood house, afraid of storms, after the tornado, such houses can be destroyed. Americans insure their homes? Insurance mandatory?
Banks pay insurance to the people affected by the hurricane?
Our homes are insured. We also modify our homes often. We build more rooms, make our kitchen bigger, and do all sorts of things to our homes that are easier to do with wood than concrete.
My country house made of thick concrete, the wall thickness of the house forty centimeters (16 inches), and the ground floor windows are high above the earth, that would not have climbed thieves and robbers.
My house is like a small castle.
And in the yard run two dogs.
Why Americans are careless to their own safety, I see even the rich Americans live in wooden houses.
In Russia there are only wooden houses in the villages, as well as Russian, usually builds a house of stone.
In the United States expensive housing? Therefore, many Americans live in plywood houses?
American home building is constrained by multiple forces that prevent high quality, resilient, disaster resistant, and frugal shelter.
1. Finance - mortgage lenders enforce mediocrity and conformity by only lending to builders of ephemeral, resource devouring structures... that "look good." (And will endlessly argue against innovation or novelty because it "won't sell.")
2. Construction industry - very loathe to incorporate modern technology, such as factory built modules, superinsulation, or concrete sandwich wall construction (scip).
3. Government - zoning and building codes enforce conformity and impede change. "Builder's Grade" hardware is a bad joke. "Code approved" buildings are built to the lowest standards that pass the approval process. And windows are usually designated emergency fire exits, so they have to be low on the wall, and easily breached.
4. Marketing - American housing is built to impress "the little woman" with most of the effort devoted to appearance and not functionality. Even expensive "custom" homes are poorly built, and overpriced for what they provide.
After Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf coast, with storm surge, flooding, and wind damage, the rebuilders had an ideal opportunity to correct problems and finally build housing that made sense.
Did they?
NO.
In an area plagued by water and termites, they generally rebuilt homes using the same old wood frame and wood sheathing system.
In short, they recreated vulnerability to fire, wind, flood, termites, mold, etc, and insured that the owners would have to keep expending time and resources to maintain and preserve the houses from falling apart.
Which is "good" for business, but "bad" for the homeowners.
I'm planning to build a home in the next few years and it will be concrete. The cost is only about 5% more than stick building however concrete homes are much more energy efficient, resistant to high winds and much more quiet inside.
I have noticed my fellow Americans getting louder and louder over the years with their "attention *****" motorcycles and loud car audio systems. People seem to want to make as much noise as possible these days and I find it disruptive to peaceful enjoyment of my own home.
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