Brick Homes? (Seattle: house, construction, earthquakes)

[jennsnoopy]

Does anyone know the reason why it doesn't seem like there are a lot of brick homes in western Washington? It seems like everything is made with just wood and I was wondering about mold. It seems brick or stone would be better. I was just curious as to the reason. Is it just too expensive? Or are there problems w/ brick/stone as well.
Thanks.

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by jennsnoopy

Does anyone know the reason why it doesn't seem like there are a lot of brick homes in western Washington? It seems like everything is made with just wood and I was wondering about mold. It seems brick or stone would be better. I was just curious as to the reason. Is it just too expensive? Or are there problems w/ brick/stone as well.
Thanks.

Offhand, and with no background in construction, I'd suppose that a lot of moisture tends to affect the mortar. Also, cold stone might tend to gather condensation, of which there is plenty to be had in western WA. Also not sure if there's a lot of regional brick industry, whereas there has long been significant timber to work with.

[cdelena]

There is extensive use of brick in parts of the country that have abundant clay and cheap labor. The PNW lacks the latter.

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by cdelena

There is extensive use of brick in parts of the country that have abundant clay and cheap labor. The PNW lacks the latter.

It lacks both actually. We haven't too much clay either.

But we have had and continue to have plenty of timber..

[jennsnoopy]

Thanks for your responses. I appreciate them.
So the wood siding isn't a problem with all the moisture (mold)?

[skygravel]

Brick structures are not known for holding up well in earthquakes, which we are prone to.

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by jennsnoopy

Thanks for your responses. I appreciate them.
So the wood siding isn't a problem with all the moisture (mold)?

Mold and mildew are reasonable worries in Seattle, and depending on how a house is situated you may often have to go up and put down Ridmoss on your roof. If you have wood siding, you may have to make sure you keep a good coat of paint on it. Another thing to look at closely is yard drainage; ask yourself, if they got a sustained cloudburst that partly flooded the streets, would there be any rivers flowing into your house.

[Ira500]

Mold and mildew are reasonable worries in Seattle, and depending on how a house is situated you may often have to go up and put down Ridmoss on your roof

Roofers often use strips of copper to discourage moss. We redid our roof last year and the roofing supply place was completely out of copper strips, so we used pennies. I had a ton of them lying around, I'd read that it could be used for moss repelling, and it seems to be working.

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Mold and mildew are reasonable worries in Seattle, and depending on how a house is situated you may often have to go up and put down Ridmoss on your roof

Roofers often use strips of copper to discourage moss. We redid our roof last year and the roofing supply place was completely out of copper strips, so we used pennies. I had a ton of them lying around, I'd read that it could be used for moss repelling, and it seems to be working.

You'll want the ones before 1982, of course. While the copper plating on post-82 Lincs may still work, it's so thin that I'd think it has to lose effectiveness. Of course, if zinc has the same effect, then you don't care anyway. But in the meantime, that's an outstanding idea. How do you get the pennies not to slide down the roof?

[cdelena]

Originally Posted by jennsnoopy

Thanks for your responses. I appreciate them.
So the wood siding isn't a problem with all the moisture (mold)?

It seems the majority of homes built in the last ten years use Hardi siding or equivilent which is a concrete plank that looks like wood. It does not have problems with moisture.