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some of the arguments about unified regulation here don’t seem to account for the many peculiar problems American homes need to solve… From hurricane resistanc

some of the arguments about unified regulation here don’t seem to account for the many peculiar problems American homes need to solve… From hurricane resistance in Florida (tying the roof to the building) to lightning rods up a little north. Midwestern basements for tornado protection to east coast stilts for avoiding floods. To northeastern fireplaces and furnaces for keeping warm to insulation and good ductwork for keeping cool in Arizona. To earthquake resistance in California to keeping the house dry in Washington. And roofs to hold the load of snow in Montana. It’s incredible we have a common resource (timber) to solve the large number of needs our collective housing market requires. And even with those unique needs, houses will feel quite similar and consistent throughout the country. Prefabrication would be a different market for every need, not a massive win in market efficiency (trailer homes for example were an attempt to accomplish this but didn’t provide a format better than a stationary house) I wish they used heavier lumber to build homes and treated it for flame resistance better. I lived in a concrete apartment in Asia for a few years. The walls were hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and there were so many crevices in the wall for bugs to colonize. I very very quickly appreciated the wood homes I grew up in - even the kitchen floor being wooden and not concrete is such a nice comfort for my feet and knees

DigiDigiorno 3y ago
"From hurricane resistance in Florida (tying the roof to the building) to lightning rods up a little north." Why are lightning rods needed up north, or at least moreso, compared to Florida? The area between Orlando and Tampa in FL is the lightning capital of the US. As in, it gets the most strikes per square mile in the US.
- kylehotchkiss 3y ago
  Unique to my own experience with them as a kid, when I realized how common they were on homes in Virginia Beach
KirillPanov 3y ago
> I wish they used heavier lumber Softwood lumber, especially Douglas Fir, grows so fast that we farm it here. It's a crop! Thirty or forty year cycle. This is what Europeans never understand, because they have no native Douglas Fir over there. The mutation that lets them grow so fast isn't found in any of Europe's native species (which are mostly hardwoods anyways): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5592940 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5592940 > and treated it for flame resistance better. I don't. Almost all wood treatments off-gas toxic chemicals. The floor of my wellhouse is treated lumber and I don't care to spend much time in there. It's great for making decks though. Downside is that the treatments corrode screws and nails, so you have to use epoxy-coated fasteners but even those don't last more than a decade or two. Flame resistance is what sheetrock is for.
ClumsyPilot 3y ago
My friend lives in an brick-built aparment built by the Austro-hungarian empire. The walls are nearly a meter thick, cool in the summer, warm in the winter.
- onlyrealcuzzo 3y ago
  Brick is not very good for insulation - typically an R-value of .2 per inch. At 3 feet (~1 meter), you're only at an R-value of ~7.2 - which you can get with 2 inches of fiberglass. I don't doubt the building is cool in the summer and warm in the winter, but I suspect the reason is different than the brick walls.
  - ClumsyPilot 3y ago
    Might be huge thermal mass? It does need heating in winter like any normal house, but does not het hot in summer days
- frumper 3y ago
  Sounds like a fun place to be in an earthquake.
bandyaboot 3y ago
Basements are actually far from ubiquitous in the tornado alley states. Where they are ubiquitous is in the colder regions where you need your foundation mostly below the frost line.

DigiDigiorno 3y ago

"From hurricane resistance in Florida (tying the roof to the building) to lightning rods up a little north." Why are lightning rods needed up north, or at least moreso, compared to Florida? The area between Orlando and Tampa in FL is the lightning capital of the US. As in, it gets the most strikes per square mile in the US.

kylehotchkiss 3y ago
Unique to my own experience with them as a kid, when I realized how common they were on homes in Virginia Beach

KirillPanov 3y ago

> I wish they used heavier lumber Softwood lumber, especially Douglas Fir, grows so fast that we farm it here. It's a crop! Thirty or forty year cycle. This is what Europeans never understand, because they have no native Douglas Fir over there. The mutation that lets them grow so fast isn't found in any of Europe's native species (which are mostly hardwoods anyways): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5592940 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5592940 > and treated it for flame resistance better. I don't. Almost all wood treatments off-gas toxic chemicals. The floor of my wellhouse is treated lumber and I don't care to spend much time in there. It's great for making decks though. Downside is that the treatments corrode screws and nails, so you have to use epoxy-coated fasteners but even those don't last more than a decade or two. Flame resistance is what sheetrock is for.

ClumsyPilot 3y ago

My friend lives in an brick-built aparment built by the Austro-hungarian empire. The walls are nearly a meter thick, cool in the summer, warm in the winter.

onlyrealcuzzo 3y ago
Brick is not very good for insulation - typically an R-value of .2 per inch. At 3 feet (~1 meter), you're only at an R-value of ~7.2 - which you can get with 2 inches of fiberglass. I don't doubt the building is cool in the summer and warm in the winter, but I suspect the reason is different than the brick walls.
- ClumsyPilot 3y ago
  Might be huge thermal mass? It does need heating in winter like any normal house, but does not het hot in summer days
frumper 3y ago
Sounds like a fun place to be in an earthquake.

bandyaboot 3y ago

Basements are actually far from ubiquitous in the tornado alley states. Where they are ubiquitous is in the colder regions where you need your foundation mostly below the frost line.