[MUSICTEACHER]

Bogie- CBS is the way to go! Also, try to make sure you have hurricane shutters or hurricane resistant glass if you want the best protection. Plus, having a generator doesn't hurt! Look for hidden water damage/mold/leaky windows when buying a home. Don't trust everything to a home inspector. We learned this the hard way. Look carefully yourself, and ask pointed questions! Once the inspector has your $250-$500, you won't hear from him again if you find something else, most likely! Ask for a complete record of all repairs done on the house, and pay attention to: termites & other wood-destroying organisms (especially if not CBS), mold, & what flood & evacuation zones you are in. Also, ask if you will be covered by local, or county utilities/police? Hope you can benefit from the wisdom I've earned from my mistakes!

[foxhilldreams]

I live in a wood frame house and it has gone through 3 hurricanes without any problems. Matter of fact, my homeowners insurance has just gone down because of the quality of the structure. Mold is usually not a problem for wood frame homes, unlike the CBS. If you have a good foundation, at least three inches off the ground and a termite sentry system, ...you are in good shape. This is all nonsense!!!!

[tallrick]

How about the tornado challenge? No wood frame structure can survive an F2 tornado or better. And being off the ground will not stop drwood termites, I have a wood chair on my patio they ate! Oh yes and don't forget about fire, nothing burns like wood!

[pslOldTimer]

Based on all that, there should not be a wood frame house still standing anywhere in Florida!

Yet, there are -- just as many as any other type of conventional construction (mobile homes excepted).

I have said previously that my current house is CBS, and it is -- for the most part. It is actually two sections of CBS connected front and back with wood frame -- sort of like this (the blue sections are CBS, the red is wood frame):

[---------------------]
[ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .]
[ . . . . . /------| . . . .]
[______/ . . . . .|_____]

The owner wanted the character of wood at the front and back porches.

It was constructed in 1978 and even though it is a hybrid it has survived everything that has been thrown at it in almost 30 years, including direct hits from Jeanne and Frances. My most severe damage has been lost shingles because the roof was 15 years old. Insurance covered most of it. Whoop -- big deal.

I don't begrudge you your pill box bunker, apparently it satisfies your paranoia. But, I am getting very tired of hearing you say that nothing else will survive. The facts are agi'n you.

[foxhilldreams]

Bravo! pslOldTimer
I dont know who started all this nonsense about wood frame houses. I lived in California in the early 70's. My house was eight miles from the epicenter. Absolutely nothing happened, you should have seen the concrete houses with their major cracks. I have a wood frame house in Florida with a termite sentry protection...oh by the way, I had a CBS house that had termites..can you imagine that!!!!

[tallrick]

I don't like wood frame because I like a "modern" home with a flat roof, and integrated into the landscape. To me wood=cheap and the only wood I want in my home is for accents and the bowling lanes. If I HAD to I would build an exposed beam, tongue and groove flat roof with thick timbers. Wood frame, baloon construction is cheap, ugly and flimsy. My home has concrete block partitions and a poured concrete roof, it's totally quiet in a thunderstorm or hurricane! Wood frame and CBS are both too low quality for me. If there's any weak structural wood, I won't live in it. We don't have earthquakes in Florida.

[foxhilldreams]

Seems to me that you want to keep everything out...I still find wood nature's way...quess I more trusting of mother nature, your method seems way to closed iin for me, and flat roofs...no way...

[tallrick]

I prefer to leave nature outside, where it belongs. A tree is a lot more beautiful to me before it is cut down and cut into boards. And I feel better without artificial materials like plywood, chip board, drywall, plastics, etc. I use concrete, steel, coral rocks, bricks, alumminum and glass. If I ever build my new place the center of the home will be a courtyard with floor to ceiling windows, while the outside walls have strips of windows and a long, low profile roof. Wood homes have to be isolated from nature as nature reclaims its own. With all concrete you can put your home in nature without it being eaten up or burning down.

Central Florida Modern - Project (Florida mid-century modern architecture and design)

Central Florida Modern - Project (Florida mid-century modern architecture and design)

It's a style that I like but few other seem to. Most "modern" homes were built with wood, but a few all concrete homes exist. You really feel like your a part of nature when inside, without the hassles of it.

[BahamaBreeze]

Originally Posted by tallrick

I prefer to leave nature outside, where it belongs. A tree is a lot more beautiful to me before it is cut down and cut into boards. And I feel better without artificial materials like plywood, chip board, drywall, plastics, etc. Concrete, steel, coral rocks, alumminum and glass. If I ever build my new place the center of the home will be a courtyard with floor to ceiling windows, while the outside walls have strips of windows and a long, low profile roof. Wood homes have to be isolated from nature as nature reclaims its own. With all concrete you can put your home in nature without it being eaten up or burning down.

Would the interior courtyard be a weak point for hurricanes?

[tallrick]

Actually it depends on design. If your home is streamlined and the courtyard not too big the windows need no protection. I would be installing hurricane panels anyway and instead of large glass areas, make windows of panes in steel frames with plastic film on the inside of the glass. A pleasant garden with a water feature makes getting fresh spices and salad easy. My idea of a horrible house would be this wood frame monstrosity:



To me roofs are not to be seen, but do their job keeping the weather out.