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How are these McModern looking things hold up against tough weather? The biggest differences I see in them are the fancy looking garage doors, front entrance doors and tall glass windows. Looking like a low budget wanna be penthouse.
How are these McModern looking things hold up against tough weather? The biggest differences I see in them are the fancy looking garage doors, front entrance doors and tall glass windows. Looking like a low budget wanna be penthouse.
Depending on what kind of weather. Hurricanes, they do poorly, especially houses that have a two story "great room" or entry. Balloon framed houses hold up better to high winds as long at they are pinned. Brace framed houses do even better.
IN a fire, balloon framed houses allow fire to travel quickly between floors unless they have fire-stops or fire resistant insulation added. Modern homes avoid that problem, but if they have trusses instead of rafters or I-Joists between floors, they collapse very quickly.
Earthquakes - Newer houses with shear wall will generally do better if they are actually built right (many to most are not). Balloon framing will generally do better unless it is not pinned. Brace framing - well there is a reason you do not find many surviving brace framed houses in earthquake territory.
Snow loads - it really depends on the construction. Every type of house can hold up or have problems. Flat roofs are uniformly disastrous in snow country.
Non-flood water issues - new houses win hands down. Draining systems are way better than they were. Basements are build better too. However if an older house is retrofitted with good draining, then it becomes pretty equal.
Floods: Stick framing is going to buckle and collapse. Balloon framing might hold together and just float away. Brace framing -I do not know. It might just sit there and be fine once dried out.
Lightening - new houses win. Technology wins out here.
Depending on what kind of weather. Hurricanes, they do poorly, especially houses that have a two story "great room" or entry. Balloon framed houses hold up better to high winds as long at they are pinned. Brace framed houses do even better.
IN a fire, balloon framed houses allow fire to travel quickly between floors unless they have fire-stops or fire resistant insulation added. Modern homes avoid that problem, but if they have trusses instead of rafters or I-Joists between floors, they collapse very quickly.
Earthquakes - Newer houses with shear wall will generally do better if they are actually built right (many to most are not). Balloon framing will generally do better unless it is not pinned. Brace framing - well there is a reason you do not find many surviving brace framed houses in earthquake territory.
Snow loads - it really depends on the construction. Every type of house can hold up or have problems. Flat roofs are uniformly disastrous in snow country.
Non-flood water issues - new houses win hands down. Draining systems are way better than they were. Basements are build better too. However if an older house is retrofitted with good draining, then it becomes pretty equal.
Floods: Stick framing is going to buckle and collapse. Balloon framing might hold together and just float away. Brace framing -I do not know. It might just sit there and be fine once dried out.
Lightening - new houses win. Technology wins out here.
Depending on what kind of weather. Hurricanes, they do poorly, especially houses that have a two story "great room" or entry. Balloon framed houses hold up better to high winds as long at they are pinned. Brace framed houses do even better.
IN a fire, balloon framed houses allow fire to travel quickly between floors unless they have fire-stops or fire resistant insulation added. Modern homes avoid that problem, but if they have trusses instead of rafters or I-Joists between floors, they collapse very quickly.
Earthquakes - Newer houses with shear wall will generally do better if they are actually built right (many to most are not). Balloon framing will generally do better unless it is not pinned. Brace framing - well there is a reason you do not find many surviving brace framed houses in earthquake territory.
Snow loads - it really depends on the construction. Every type of house can hold up or have problems. Flat roofs are uniformly disastrous in snow country.
Non-flood water issues - new houses win hands down. Draining systems are way better than they were. Basements are build better too. However if an older house is retrofitted with good draining, then it becomes pretty equal.
Floods: Stick framing is going to buckle and collapse. Balloon framing might hold together and just float away. Brace framing -I do not know. It might just sit there and be fine once dried out.
Lightening - new houses win. Technology wins out here.
New construction of Modern McMansions appear popular in the Houston area. Not sure who’s buying them, but the city has many transplants. Some appear poorly constructed of cheap materials, while others are well constructed but disproportionately large for their lot.
Some may be aesthetically pleasing, but I did not enjoy living in one. It felt hard, cold, cavernous, and devoid of character. I prefer older houses with multiple rooms, such as Victorians, Colonials, Plantations or Craftsman style houses.
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One of the things that impact new houses during hurricanes (and they should be built to the updated code in places like the Southeast and Gulf) and/or tornadoes is that they're so airtight they come apart, if you will, from the exterior low pressure.
When a tornado went through Waldorf, MD about 15 years ago older houses pretty much survived with very little damage except shingles and random debris caused while new houses broke apart.
We have tons of those blocky style apartments going up in our area. What fascinates me there are some sliding glass doors on the 2nd or 3rd story level with a guard railing right outside to prevent you from falling out, and to"suggest" a balcony where there isn't one (these are flat walled buildings remember, no dimension or little overhangs anywhere). I thought about it for awhile and decided that there must be a huge stock of sliding glass doors to be had on the cheap so this was a cost cutting measure of some kind. I refuse to believe it's a "design choice". But what do I know. They can get dozens of them up within a couple weeks though.
We have tons of those blocky style apartments going up in our area. What fascinates me there are some sliding glass doors on the 2nd or 3rd story level with a guard railing right outside to prevent you from falling out, and to"suggest" a balcony where there isn't one (these are flat walled buildings remember, no dimension or little overhangs anywhere). I thought about it for awhile and decided that there must be a huge stock of sliding glass doors to be had on the cheap so this was a cost cutting measure of some kind. I refuse to believe it's a "design choice". But what do I know. They can get dozens of them up within a couple weeks though.
What is with this constant obsession with calling everything a “cookie cutter” home?! In the market we are moving, which is a cheap West Coast city, custom home design STARTS at $2 million. One day, I’ll do that. But like 99.9% of people, I’ll be living in a house designed by an architect for a building company. That’s literally how the world works. EVERYONE uses an iPhone or Android or whatever right?! They don’t custom design their own freaking phones. Houses are no different!
More to the point here, yes most buyers don’t want anything that isn’t modern, no it’s NOT true that the “building materials are cheap.” No, they’re not. Most modern homes are build better than their cheaper, “contemporary” counterparts, at least 2x6 construction, more use of wood and tile rather than carpet, metal for stair rails, etc. The quality of most modern homes is way better and that’s why they’re more expensive. In most markets now, nobody wants old, dated architecture if they can avoid it. I wouldn’t buy a home that wasn’t modern. I don’t want a pitched roof, I don’t want crown moulding, I want clean lines and nice architecture that looks great not dated.
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