3 ms·

Minnesota routinely sees 90 days in summer and -20 days winter. Water plus 110 degree temperature swings destroys a lot of things quickly. Plus vegetation, mold

• pengaru 5y ago
  I never said nowhere else is harsh, I just strongly object to arguing the desert is not a harsh environment. My parents are in the midwest which is where I lived into my 20s, and my dad did a lot of DIY maintenance on their house which I helped with. There was no comparison in terms of how quickly things deteriorated there vs. here in the Mojave where I have property. The "15-year" Behr brand exterior paint I put on a refinished shed ~2 years ago is already cracking and peeling off, simply because the substrate undergoes such extreme thermal expansion and contraction daily between the day-night cycle, with the UV quickly embrittling the skin. The main problem we had back in IL was ice-heaving of roads and patios/sidewalks. But asphalt-shingled roofs easily lasted over a decade, barring some exceptional tornado-style event ripping them apart. Asphalt shingles quickly become embrittled in the desert, and the frequent gale-force winds break them off. It's why you find Terracotta/slate/metal roofs so common in the desert; the environment is too harsh for the cheaper asphalt shingle stuff you find across the country. And it's not like deserts don't get freezing temps or snowfall. My last camping trip in Joshua Tree National Park concluded with my tent collapsing on me under a snow load.