3 ms·
Honestly, I think American residential construction gets a lot of undeserved flak for the materials used. For the expected lifespan and the location, the mater
by shiroiuma 3y ago
Honestly, I think American residential construction gets a lot of undeserved flak for the materials used. For the expected lifespan and the location, the materials really aren't bad; the problems I see are with workmanship quality, and the whole old-fashioned stick-building practice instead of doing more work in a factory to ensure better quality.
- kragen 3y agodepends on which part of america you're in; especially outside the usa, things vary enormously. most places in america, the kind of wood and paper construction that's common in the usa is only found in illegal shantytowns. legal houses are built out of brick, reinforced concrete, or occasionally adobe. so are all but the poorest houses in the shantytowns, actually
- shiroiuma 3y agoWe're talking about the USA here, not outside the USA. In many places outside the US, you're right: brick and masonry are very common. Then an earthquake happens and tens of thousands of people die when all the buildings collapse. This happened in Turkey recently. So I wouldn't point to those places as having quality construction at all. Here in Japan, houses are all made of wood, not that different than American houses (but probably with much better joinery), and they handle earthquakes extremely well. Taller buildings are made of steel-reinforced concrete, but standalone houses are not.
- ponector 3y agoIf you rule out mold and termites issues - used materials aren't bad.