What is wrong with north american housing?

[freeagent]

Oh no. She is a good old fashioned country girl. Asses would be kicked.

[YellowJersey]

2 hours ago, Middcore said:

 

Those are for peasants, my house is a gas. 

*looks down upon you plebs from his plasma-ivory tower*

[RGProductions]

It's been said to death, but they're for the most part fine. Wood is actually really strong when you orient it in the right direction, and longevity isn't horrible either, probably in the range of 150 years or so (if properly maintained) before it's no longer economical to repair, and at that point building design will probably have changed enough that a new building will be more attractive anyway.

[whm1974]

1 hour ago, freeagent said:

Oh no. She is a good old fashioned country girl. Asses would be kicked.

Buy your something nice and take her to dinner at somewhere fancy...

[Donut417]

18 hours ago, Plermpel said:

like in the US but still way different they use about twice as much struts and much thicker ones.

It comes down the the National Building code and local requirements. One thing to keep in mind is that the US is a big place. How we build house varies state to state due to climate conditions. Thats why when Texas suffered that frost they paid for it dearly because their plumbing and houses are not built for those temperatures. 

 

Also another thing to consider is a lot of houses in the US are old. Like I said previously part of the house I live in was built in the 1930's. Up till recently wood was fairly cheap in the US, which is why most houses are build out of wood. We do use cement as houses generally use a cement foundation. 

 

Ill be honest. Many houses are just thrown up. As long as they meet minimum building code they are built fast and sold fast. While older homes are not built to today's standards. Older homes are probably built better just due to people caring a bit more. One of the biggest issues facing the US is the shortage of people going in to skilled trades. So we dont have as many contractors, plumbers, or electricians as we need. 

 

We are in the process of getting our garage rebuilt due to the fire. Which we are going to be paying a lot more for it due to lumber. But basically the contractor we went with is building a housing development a few miles from us. He's basically going to send is guys over when they are down waiting on the city to inspect their work. He was telling my folks that he has a metric shit ton of work but no employees. Add the fact lumber costs a fuck ton, and could go up another 200%, it kinda just sucks all around. 

[whm1974]

1 hour ago, Donut417 said:

It comes down the the National Building code and local requirements. One thing to keep in mind is that the US is a big place. How we build house varies state to state due to climate conditions. Thats why when Texas suffered that frost they paid for it dearly because their plumbing and houses are not built for those temperatures. 

 

Also another thing to consider is a lot of houses in the US are old. Like I said previously part of the house I live in was built in the 1930's. Up till recently wood was fairly cheap in the US, which is why most houses are build out of wood. We do use cement as houses generally use a cement foundation. 

 

Ill be honest. Many houses are just thrown up. As long as they meet minimum building code they are built fast and sold fast. While older homes are not built to today's standards. Older homes are probably built better just due to people caring a bit more. One of the biggest issues facing the US is the shortage of people going in to skilled trades. So we dont have as many contractors, plumbers, or electricians as we need. 

 

We are in the process of getting our garage rebuilt due to the fire. Which we are going to be paying a lot more for it due to lumber. But basically the contractor we went with is building a housing development a few miles from us. He's basically going to send is guys over when they are down waiting on the city to inspect their work. He was telling my folks that he has a metric shit ton of work but no employees. Add the fact lumber costs a fuck ton, and could go up another 200%, it kinda just sucks all around. 

Geez I wonder if it would cheaper to use Bricks? If they can source them locally of course.

[Donut417]

2 minutes ago, whm1974 said:

Geez I wonder if it would cheaper to use Bricks? If they can source them locally of course.

The issue is you need to find a mason. Like I said, Skilled trades are hard to find. Plus it has to be built in a way our city likes. The original garage was built using cinder block. But my folks decided they wanted just a standard wood frame. 

 

It really sucks because we were thinking up upgrading to a two car garage this way my dad has more room to do projects and maybe be able to park his car. 

[whm1974]

4 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

The issue is you need to find a mason. Like I said, Skilled trades are hard to find. Plus it has to be built in a way our city likes. The original garage was built using cinder block. But my folks decided they wanted just a standard wood frame. 

 

It really sucks because we were thinking up upgrading to a two car garage this way my dad has more room to do projects and maybe be able to park his car. 

Too someone somewhere didn't come up with Fireproof Housing Tech...

[Bombastinator]

22 hours ago, Plermpel said:

Hey guys,

 

I often see pictures or videos of houses in north america and it always gives me the creeps!

 

I wouln't even be allowed to build a shed like that in europe.

 

Why is that so?

 

Are their any solid buildings in USA/canada?

Back in the 80’s I spent an incredibly boring summer in a German ski resort town in the summer.  I suspect it’s a lot better when skiing is actually done.  Anyway the “foster father” was an architect and explained this one to me.   Europe has building rules that require a building last a hundred years. In North America it’s more like 40.  European law requires post and beam construction for one thing.  2”x4”s aren’t even used as structural members.  Structural beams are more like 12x12s. Even thicker than rail road ties. Cost was something like 400% in the 80’s.  Probably more now. it’s just the way they do it. 
 

 The problem with heavy construction like that is buildings are more difficult to move, alter, or tear down.  It’s just less fluid. Long ago Thomas Edison decided to build houses out of concrete.  He had a bunch of materials to make it because of his not-so-successful ventures in iron mining. Anyway he built the better part of a neighborhood that way.  Full on concrete houses.  They’re still ther and probably will be in a hundred years.  You’d think they’d be worth more money because of that right?  Nope.  It’s considered a weakness.  The problem is the buildings are incredibly difficult to alter.  New baby?  Need a nursery?  Might as well move. You can’t change the building. 

[Virus__]

22 hours ago, atxcyclist said:

Brick is expensive to transport, and North America has a gigantic land area. Austria is about 80,000 square Kilometers, the United States alone is nearly 10 million square Kilometers. Older houses were made from brick, but those materials get more difficult to source and have fallen out of favor for other reasons as well. I say this as someone that's worked in commercial architecture for nearly two decades, there's no reason to flex about having a 17 ton snow load or overbuild the structure of a building beyond a reasonable engineering margin. It's a waste of money and valuable resources, and a structure also needs to meet insulation requirements and other building codes and municipal ordinances, and brick may not be the best way to do that.

Once upon a time bricks used for housing (at least in Australia) were made locally to where the house was being built because of this. Also because of this it was very hard to match brick colour later on for renovations, repairs or extensions.

 

Also I believe the USA certain materials are preferred in certain parts of the country due to the localised events like tornadoes, hurricanes or earthquakes.

[CerealExperimentsLain]

22 hours ago, atxcyclist said:

Austria is about 80,000 square Kilometers, the United States alone is nearly 10 million square Kilometers.

Australia is about 7.6 million square kilometers.. 80 000 square kilometers would make a square of only 283km on each side... o.O

[atxcyclist]

4 minutes ago, Virus__ said:

Once upon a time bricks used for housing (at least in Australia) were made locally to where the house was being built because of this. Also because of this it was very hard to match brick colour later on for renovations, repairs or extensions.

 

Also I believe the USA certain materials are preferred in certain parts of the country due to the localised events like tornadoes, hurricanes or earthquakes.

 

The situation is similar here, though they are freighted all over the place, it has a lot more to do with falling out of favor for different climate zones and building requirements. It is also much cheaper to us something like cement-fiber siding which is painted and has decent durability most places without high wind.

 

I cannot speak all too comfortably about home construction codes as that's not something the firm I work at does much of, but composite sheathing/insulation products are becoming the norm here for commercial. Newer codes have very high insulation requirements for walls and very tight tolerances for windows.

[CerealExperimentsLain]

1 minute ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

He's talking about Austria, not Australia. Yes, there are small countries. ._.

Ah ha ha, I totally read that as Australia, so dumb, my bad.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

For a second I thought you meant our housing crisis. I'm disappointed. 

[Spindel]

In defence of americans I can say, as a swede, that going to other european countries the quality of a lot of the residential houses in (western) europe is horrible. 

 

Poor insulation, poor windows, lack of ventilation (doesn't even have to be mechanical ventilation), poor air tightness (might be contradictionary when I'm complaining about the ventilation but it's not) etc.

 

I rather have one of our wooden houses than a brick or concrete house in Belgium, Great Britain, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Greece or France, Germany (at least if it's older than 15 years). 

[Triggeravus]

As an American I wish I lived in an f'ing stone castle.  My house has water damage and it's only made of wood because it's a relatively cheap material and contractors can still charge top dollar regardless of the actual cost.  American homes are made to be cheaply built and built fast because capitalism and we don't know any better. 

[Donut417]

6 hours ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

For a second I thought you meant our housing crisis. I'm disappointed. 

Canada having a housing crisis too? 

 

I mean things have gotten dumb in the last few years in the US. Its like $700-$900 a month for a ONE bedroom apartment. Need a two bedroom? Slit your wrists. Here in Michigan you need to make about $50,000 a year to buy a house, probably more right now because there are too many people looking to buy and the price just keeps shooting up. I keep looking around at options because I live with my folk and kinda wouldn't mind going out on my own. But no way I can afford that. 

[Sauron]

On 5/13/2021 at 5:00 AM, Middcore said:

hurricanes and earthquakes, which you don't have to worry about in Europe

We do get earthquakes in Europe...

[Bombastinator]

13 hours ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

Yup. It is crazy how can there be a ton of stuff to be done, but materials are insanely priced, labor is expensive for people paying but at the same time isn't enough for the people working. Things went haywire in the last few decades.

I’m not so sure about “expensive for people paying” It’s cheaper than many other places.  Minimum wage effectively goes down after it is set because of inflation.  Hasn’t been a living wage for a long time now.  The largest employers in a lot of poorer states pay employees so poorly they wind up with below poverty level wages and the company encourages them to apply for public assistance.  If you live in a state with 20%of people below the poverty level it’s pretty hard to say wages are “expensive”.

[FakeATF]

On 5/13/2021 at 6:42 AM, freeagent said:

That's like this one time we went to Grand Forks ND, I live in Winnipeg Canada, so about a 3 hour drive or so.. anyways, stopped for gas.. started chatting up the the girl behind the till and I told her I liked her accent. She asked where I was from and told her.. now we are 3 hours away.. and she asked if I lived in an igloo.

 

Are you fucking kidding me?? Do you see my car? My clothes? DO I look like I live in an igloo??

 

Of course I didn't say that, but I sure was thinking it. She was a hottie and I wanted some

 

Never saw her again after that. Thanks for the memories!

Eh, not surprised.

 

There a lot of imbeciles out there. 

It's honestly astounding how some people function in day to day life.

[trag1c]

On 5/12/2021 at 11:58 PM, YellowJersey said:

I also think the sheer size of Canada and the US has led us to fundamentally treat homes and cities differently than in Europe. In Europe, every square meter counts, so space needs to be used efficiently and I think longer lasting homes made from more durable materials is a part of that. In Canada, especially in my city, there's so much land that there's no apparent need to use space efficiently.... until you have cities like Calgary that are geographically enormous and low density, which causes all sorts of other problems.

Ya Calgary is kind of ridiculous in that regard. 8xx km² for 1.3 million people. Look at somewhere like the Gaza strip where they have like twice the population living in half the space.

[whm1974]

6 hours ago, Donut417 said:

Canada having a housing crisis too? 

 

I mean things have gotten dumb in the last few years in the US. Its like $700-$900 a month for a ONE bedroom apartment. Need a two bedroom? Slit your wrists. Here in Michigan you need to make about $50,000 a year to buy a house, probably more right now because there are too many people looking to buy and the price just keeps shooting up. I keep looking around at options because I live with my folk and kinda wouldn't mind going out on my own. But no way I can afford that. 

That much for a One Room Apartment? Here I thought Michigan was cheaper...

[Bombastinator]

1 hour ago, whm1974 said:

That much for a One Room Apartment? Here I thought Michigan was cheaper...

rental rates vary not even by state or by city but by neighborhood.  They can be averaged to vary by the other two, but living space pricing by single examples can’t necessarily effectively quantify a nation let alone a state. Rental rates are by the square foot when actually measured.  In my city (ignoring even county state, or nation) they vary from a bit under $1/Sqf to over $5.  Mostly by location.

[whm1974]

1 hour ago, Bombastinator said:

rental rates vary not even by state or by city but by neighborhood.  They can be averaged to vary by the other two, but living space pricing by single examples can’t necessarily effectively quantify a nation let alone a state. Rental rates are by the square foot when actually measured.  In my city (ignoring even county state, or nation) they vary from a bit under $1/Sqf to over $5.  Mostly by location.

True.

[spartaman64]

idk ive never had any problems with my house and its like 30 years old. if ww3 starts and we are being bombed then i might wish i had a concrete house but right now its fine.