Why are US Homes Made of Wood and Bricks Instead of Concrete?

[Lisa558]

Really?

I was looking at some in California. Tiny!

Basically, it’s a tear-down being sold for the location. It‘s a 5-minute straight shot Georgetown.

Housing is ridiculous if you insist on being 10 minutes out of DC. For those willing to have a 40-minute commute instead, this is what $1 million will get you instead of a bungalow:

12533 Ridgegate Dr, Herndon, VA 20170 | Zillow

12533 Ridgegate Dr, Herndon VA, is a Single Family home that contains 4727 sq ft and was built in 1997.It contains 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.This home last sold for $981,000 in February 2024. The Zestimate for this Single Family is $1,008,300, which has increased by $14,600 in the last 30...

www.zillow.com

 

[ShahdagMountains]

Basically, it’s a tear-down being sold for the location. It‘s a 5-minute straight shot Georgetown.

Housing is ridiculous if you insist on being 10 minutes out of DC. For those willing to have a 40-minute commute instead, this is what $1 million will get you instead of a bungalow:

12533 Ridgegate Dr, Herndon, VA 20170 | Zillow

12533 Ridgegate Dr, Herndon VA, is a Single Family home that contains 4727 sq ft and was built in 1997.It contains 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.This home last sold for $981,000 in February 2024. The Zestimate for this Single Family is $1,008,300, which has increased by $14,600 in the last 30...

www.zillow.com

Some part of Herndon are too near the airport.

 

[Lisa558]

Some part of Herndon are too near the airport.

That’s true….but it could be considered a convenience for frequent travelers. Other parts of Herndon are several miles away.

 

[Zincwarrior]

I'd love a Spanish style house with concrete instead of stucco.

 

[Lisa558]

I'd love a Spanish style house with concrete instead of stucco.

Depends where you live. They’re very popular in L.A.

 

[eagle1462010]

Boring. I’m sure glad I bought my very interesting and unique-style townhouse 20 years ago.

But as far as cost, a new block of them are going up a mile from me. Cost for a three-bedroom, Soviet-style concrete block? In excess of $1 million. And not even within walking distance of the Metro.

Rebar and concrete are more expensive. Some companies use ICF forms to build which are very well insulated. But those require rebar and lots concrete.

Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF Blocks) - Fox Blocks

 

[ShahdagMountains]

That’s true….but it could be considered a convenience for frequent travelers. Other parts of Herndon are several miles away.

I know. I used to go there often.There was a good second hand bookshop there.

 

[Harry Dresden]

The San Andreas fault is 800 miles long from N.Cal to the South. The probability of a quake is the same for any area of the fault. Actual quakes happen almost daily in geothermal Lake County in N.Cal.
A concrete built home can actually be safer than any other. Many have been built in the Santa Rosa area.

were i lived in OC concrete foundations cracked after a 5 pointer....

 

[Harry Dresden]

While in tornado country, wood ones are blown away, while the residents huddle in the basement. (Made of concrete).

thats tornado country.....

 

[Dekster]

Someone told me those brick facades are stuck on.

Some of those houses, with small back gardens, in the D.C. suburbs, are selling for about a million. $ .

There are brick facades that are just slices of brick stuck on like tile but even the whole brick ones themselves are largely cosmetic and not structural . It is possible for the brick exterior to collapse in most homes and the structure to remain intact. It is mostly mortar and gravity holding them in place. That is why the code requires wider foundations for brick houses---to make sure the bricks sit on the foundation too. We had a two story house in the historic area locally have the brick walls peel away from the house on one side and across part of the front. It was kind of cool to see. They just took the affected sections down and rebricked them. Didn't do a thing to the structure of the house.
Having lived in the DC burbs, I can say that it is the price of the land that is the real value. Companies have bought up swaths of neighborhoods at premium prices and bulldozed them just to have the land to build high-density housing on.

 

[ShahdagMountains]

That’s true….but it could be considered a convenience for frequent travelers. Other parts of Herndon are several miles away.

I know. I used to go there often.There was a good second hand bookshop there.

Having lived in the DC burbs, I can say that it is the price of the land that is the real value. Companies have bought up swaths of neighborhoods at premium prices and bulldozed them just to have the land to build high-density housing on.

I found it rather depressing. It’s never ending. Houses, as far as the eye can see.

 

[Dekster]

I found it rather depressing. It’s never ending. Houses, as far as the eye can see.

It is especially around the Springfield area that used to largely be wooded neighborhoods with big lots and single family homes now turned into apartments, condos, and high-dollar townhouses.

 

[okfine]

were i lived in OC concrete foundations cracked after a 5 pointer....

I don't doubt that.
The ICF block homes are proving themselves and cost per square foot is only 10% more than a stick house. For California they make sense.

 

[task0778]

Global warming. Might wanna buy or build an aluminum houseboat with lightweight composite materials. Or maybe outfit a minivan or something.

 

[petro]

Rebar and concrete are more expensive. Some companies use ICF forms to build which are very well insulated. But those require rebar and lots concrete.

Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF Blocks) - Fox Blocks

I see a few of those going up by me.
They look like a pain in the ass to build and it looks like a slow process to set and brace the foam wall forms before the concrete is poured.
One was being built across the street from one we were framing with wood. We were way ahead of them.
The roof and inside framing is wood on those houses through.

 

[ShahdagMountains]

I see a few of those going up by me.
They look like a pain in the ass to build and it looks like a slow process to set and brace the foam wall forms before the concrete is poured.
One was being built across the street from one we were framing with wood. We were way ahead of them.
The roof and inside framing is wood on those houses through.

I’ve watched those wood houses going up, with cardboard walls. (Sorry )

And l’ve wondered how they were strong enough to support hardwood floors, staircases, bathrooms with all the fittings.

 

[eagle1462010]

I see a few of those going up by me.
They look like a pain in the ass to build and it looks like a slow process to set and brace the foam wall forms before the concrete is poured.
One was being built across the street from one we were framing with wood. We were way ahead of them.
The roof and inside framing is wood on those houses through.

They have to shore the hell out of it before the pour. Better have your sht together going out before lol. If not core drill diamond bit.

 

[Harry Dresden]

I don't doubt that.
The ICF block homes are proving themselves and cost per square foot is only 10% more than a stick house. For California they make sense.

i lived there ok....was a landlord ...seen the damage for myself....also seen lots of structural damage after the quake in landers in 92 on my route....yea its all bullshit....

 

[Bob Blaylock]

in S.Cal concrete or brick houses wont work....one decent quake and you will have foundation cracks.....

Commercial buildings, for the most part, are made, even here in California, of concrete, cinder blocks, and steel. If properly built, they are more durable than wood-framed buildings.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Commercial buildings, for the most part, are made, even here in California, of concrete, cinder blocks, and steel. If properly built, they are more durable than wood-framed buildings.

so were in cal are you?.....