Will Concrete Houses Ever Come To The U.S.? (roof, townhouses, insulated)
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Having traveled widely thru Mexico/Central & South America, enjoying walking thru their residential neighborhoods, observing houses built there, I haven't found a house down there yet built of wood.
How I envy them! Concrete floors, concrete roofs (providing for those enviable tiled rooftop decks), concrete balconies, they can go to sleep at night not worrying about the house burning down or the termites muching on it! Or a brush fire sweeping their neighborhood and destroying their whole neighborhood!
Americans are a mystery to me, as they're always thinking in terms of safety, but when it comes to their houses, they throw all caution to the wind, and reside in wooden houses, ready to burn down any minute or get blown away, or eaten away with termites!
Not for one minute do I believe the propaganda that it's too expensive to build with concrete, as the lobbying lumber companies wouldn't have it any other way.
They smile ear to ear when brush fires consume acres of homes in Southern CA, occasionally, as it's more money in their pockets, and they know the majority, if not all, will foolishly rebuild all over again with wood, and pray every night it doesn't happen again!
What do you think? Will I ever live long enough to see large-scale housing projects built out of concrete?
And buy a home with a treasured tiled rooftop deck so I can spy on my neighbors everyday? And why do you think American aren't more demanding in having safer, higher quality houses?
Building materials are subject to the area. You see a lot of Adobe houses in the SW, the concrete houses you see in Mexico are there for a reason--1. bugs, 2. weather, 3. readily available building materials. Go to Chicago and you see a lot of brick houses--why, brick was/is made in Chicago and it was the most cost effective material to use.
I agree, the US bashing is getting old. If you like Mexico better, move there....
Having traveled widely thru Mexico/Central & South America, enjoying walking thru their residential neighborhoods, observing houses built there, I haven't found a house down there yet built of wood.
How I envy them! Concrete floors, concrete roofs (providing for those enviable tiled rooftop decks), concrete balconies, they can go to sleep at night not worrying about the house burning down or the termites muching on it! Or a brush fire sweeping their neighborhood and destroying their whole neighborhood!
Americans are a mystery to me, as they're always thinking in terms of safety, but when it comes to their houses, they throw all caution to the wind, and reside in wooden houses, ready to burn down any minute or get blown away, or eaten away with termites!
Not for one minute do I believe the propaganda that it's too expensive to build with concrete, as the lobbying lumber companies wouldn't have it any other way.
They smile ear to ear when brush fires consume acres of homes in Southern CA, occasionally, as it's more money in their pockets, and they know the majority, if not all, will foolishly rebuild all over again with wood, and pray every night it doesn't happen again!
What do you think? Will I ever live long enough to see large-scale housing projects built out of concrete?
And buy a home with a treasured tiled rooftop deck so I can spy on my neighbors everyday? And why do you think American aren't more demanding in having safer, higher quality houses?
So you're saying you'd rather live in Mexico than in the US? I'm living where I want to live. If I didn't want to live here, I'd move.
That said, I've seen plenty of concrete houses in the United States. Also, if you knew construction as I do, you'd know there are MANY reasons that houses are built as they are, in any given geographic location. Availability of materials, and climate conditions, dictate far more than you know.
But more than that, let me give you two pictures. The first is a concrete house, the second is my house. You're welcome to live in your concrete house. I'll continue to live in mine, thank you very much...
I'm puzzled, where in my post did I say I loved Mexico/Central & South America, wished to live there?
All I said is I envy their style of houses, mainly for those rooftop decks!
No, that's really not all you said.
I have a question for you: Are you involved in the construction trade?
The reason for my asking that question is very straightforward. If you are NOT involved in the construction trade, you're probably unaware of why most houses are built as they are - particularly in relation to geography.
For instance, these rooftop patios you pine for? You never see them in Northern climates, and for obvious reasons. Nor do you see flat roofs in areas where it rains a lot. Also, the houses in Mexico that you love (they are NOT concrete, by the way) are not insulated - something that's mandatory anywhere outside tropical areas.
I've been involved in construction/rebuilding down in Haiti/Dominican Republic. There's no way in all god's green earth I'd live in those homes! Most of them are little more than concrete blocks stacked atop each other (with very little mortar and absolutely no support), and a thin layer of adobe slathered over the top, and a tin roof tossed on for good measure.
I'm not involved in the construction trades. I did buy some land in Baja in 2005, had Arquimex draw me up some house plans for steep hillside site in Rosarito. The house was to be pill-shaped, earthquake proof, all concrete construction, with curved walls on both sides of the house, with a full-length-of-the-house, tiled, rooftop deck. I put a kabosh on the project after they lied to me about costs. Figuring I was a stupid Gringo, they thought they could get away with it, not when I found out a similar house constructed in the neighborhood was built for the half the costs!
Since then, I've wondered why we can't have that style of construction up here in the U.S.!
A developer here in Las Vegas, with a feature in the Housing section, decided to go ahead an build some scattered site concrete townhouses here with the rooftop decks I'm referring to, and he claimed the cost to build these was $3k more, per unit, than building with wood!
It's the bashers in this country who have helped to make this country a better place to live!
The first tourists/bashers from Europe to NYC: "I'm going back to London/Paris on the next boat! No paved or cobbled streets, lousy sidwalks and I'm tired of stepping over horse manure, and seeing garbage floating in the rivers!"
I'm not involved in the construction trades. I did buy some land in Baja in 2005, had Arquimex draw me up some house plans for steep hillside site in Rosarito. The house was to be pill-shaped, earthquake proof, all concrete construction, with curved walls on both sides of the house, with a full-length-of-the-house, tiled, rooftop deck. I put a kabosh on the project after they lied to me about costs. Figuring I was a stupid Gringo, they thought they could get away with it, not when I found out a similar house constructed in the neighborhood was built for the half the costs!
Since then, I've wondered why we can't have that style of construction up here in the U.S.!
A developer here in Las Vegas, with a feature in the Housing section, decided to go ahead an build some scattered site concrete townhouses here with the rooftop decks I'm referring to, and he claimed the cost to build these was $3k more, per unit, than building with wood!
It's the bashers in this country who have helped to make this country a better place to live!
The first tourists/bashers from Europe to NYC: "I'm going back to London/Paris on the next boat! No paved or cobbled streets, lousy sidwalks and I'm tired of stepping over horse manure, and seeing garbage floating in the rivers!"
First of all, the house you were going to build in Mexico is not at all representative of the houses you SEE in Mexico. Yours would have been multiplied times better - which is one of the reasons you ended up pulling the plug on the deal.
Second, people CAN build concrete homes in the United States, and they DO. But there are a lot of reasons why there are not very many concrete homes here. Again, they have to do with economics, material availability, climate, etc. And some of the factors are merely taste-related.
If you want to build a concrete home there in Vegas, by all means do! If I was living in an arid Southern climate, I too would consider a concrete home.
Cost is the number one reason concrete is not used here. Build time will be longer too which makes interim financing costly. Concrete like you see in Mexico and south are used because it wicks moisture from the ground and keeps the house cool. Imagine what a nighmare that would be in the north with freezing temps? It's all about the environment that the home is built in, readily available materials, and by what trades. Here we have a lot of carpenters. There they have a lot of masons but few carpenters.
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And why do you think American aren't more demanding in having safer, higher quality houses?
