They need to make building WOOD FRAME buildings illegal ...

[MarkOBX]

I live on a barrier island, in a wood frame house that has survived 26 hurricane seasons with minimal damage. I live on a high dune (about 25 feet above sea level) 400 yards from the beach so rising water and wave damage are not a major concern. There are several historic ocean front cottages across the street from me that have survived on the coast for over 100 years. Properly engineered / properly built wood frame structures can and should be built on the coast. The problem isn't wood, the problem is that alot of coastal homes were built at a time when beach property wasn't very expensive and coastal towns didn't have the resources or incentive to enact and enforce building codes. A properly built wood frame home built on pilings with hurricane shutters, roof straps, and proper cross bracing will stand up to storms as well as most residential concrete homes.

Sorry for such a wordy 1st post, but I have been watching this thread for 2 days waiting for someone to point this out. Now I have to go prepare the beer and peanuts for a 12:00 kick-off!

Mark

[cape_escape]

I want to tell all of you something. My parents have a gulf view home that has made it through many storms down in Pensacola! They do not even know if it survived yet. We have a member here who lost everything she owned down there!! I just find it amazing how some of you can judge people after losing their homes to Mother Natures fury. People in glass houses should not cast stones. Because I ASSURE you that no one is safe from Mother Nature no matter where you live.

It amazes me how some of you have no compassion for anyone or anything!!

Lindaloo, I'm glad to see you back and safe! I hope all is ok!

[karenfromheaven]

I've heard that many old wooden homes in the Florida Keys have survived numerous storms and flooding because they were build by old shipwrights. The shipwrights understood how the forces of wind and water would impinge upon a structure and built solidly against them. They look somewhat like a wooden ship hull turned upside down. Karen

[clueless newbie]

I live on a barrier island, in a wood frame house that has survived 26 hurricane seasons with minimal damage. I live on a high dune (about 25 feet above sea level) 400 yards from the beach so rising water and wave damage are not a major concern. There are several historic ocean front cottages across the street from me that have survived on the coast for over 100 years. Properly engineered / properly built wood frame structures can and should be built on the coast. The problem isn't wood, the problem is that alot of coastal homes were built at a time when beach property wasn't very expensive and coastal towns didn't have the resources or incentive to enact and enforce building codes. A properly built wood frame home built on pilings with hurricane shutters, roof straps, and proper cross bracing will stand up to storms as well as most residential concrete homes.

Sorry for such a wordy 1st post, but I have been watching this thread for 2 days waiting for someone to point this out. Now I have to go prepare the beer and peanuts for a 12:00 kick-off!

Mark

Well, it has been indirectly mentioned several times that it is not that important WHAT is the house built from, but HOW it is built.

Now, if you are in a storm surge area, properly built reinforced poured concrete is better then wood frame, but it still might not be enough (see the desctroyed bridge).

Stefan

P.S. I thought stone/concrete buildings have higher thermal inertia and keep cooler. A distinct advantage when the power is out.

[KeyLargoDave]

Mark makes good points.

Andrew caused major damage to concrete-block buildings, commercial and residential. I saw large block buildings, fast-food stores, and department stores that were blown apart. I also saw many concrete homes fail because the roofs became sails and lifted the tie beams off the walls, or the frame gable ends collapsed, breaking the connection between walls and roof.

Certainly, wood-frame isn't the problem, except in the most simplistic sense. Proper engineering of components and structural integrity can ensure that wood-frame homes have a good chance of surviving.

In the south, termites are a real reason wood-frame construction is avoided. This might make some think CBS (concrete-block structure) is "stronger" overall. But site, shape, construction method and shutters matter a lot more than simple CBS vs. Wood.

Thanks for all the insightful comments in this thread.

[KeyLargoDave]

On that "thermal inertia" point -- the sun comes out after the hurricane. You have no AC. Wait until that concrete block bakes a few days and overcomes its inertia. It's like living in a stone pizza oven.

I have no built-in heating of any kind. When we get a winter cold front, the house is warm for a day and a half. Once the block cools, it stays COLD. Luckily, we usually need to use space heaters for only a night or two before we're back to balmy weather.

[Lindaloo]

Thanks cape escape. No damage here in MS. We were blessed.

You are exactly correct Mark. My parents remodeled their gulf view home after Opal, although there was no damage to it then not even a single shingle was blown off.

[MBryant]

The reason more houses are not well built is that some people have to work hard for the little money they make. They want the most bang for the buck so more space for less money drives the market.

Some people are fortunate enough to have enough money to hire architects, landscapers, designers and decorators and...yes time to complain about how their insurance rates are affected by those who can barely make the payments on the matchboxes.

[MBryant]

Lest anybody have false illusions of Insurance Companies, they are in business to COLLECT premiums through either free market avenues or by coersion if possible. (ie: Mandated coverage)

They are NOT, as frequently thought, in business to PAY CLAIMS if there is any way of avoiding them. Exclusions and automatic denials of claims and a full time staff of lawyers to fight payment of claims are indicators of this.

They are very good at making sure you feel like you are protected while excluding or limiting coverage on the things most frequently damaged.

[clueless newbie]

The reason more houses are not well built is that some people have to work hard for the little money they make. They want the most bang for the buck so more space for less money drives the market.

This short term thinking is a general problem, not limited to housing. See junk food, junk cars, ..., pay less now, but your costs are higher in the long term.

That essentially means that the problem is not the lack of money(at the end, it has never been easier to take a credit), but proper education to make the right choices (exceptions apply, of course, no flaming here, please). In some areas the government tries to protect the people from their own stupidity/lack of information/misinforming greedy wendors (see building codes), but in general that is something Americans frown upon.

[MBryant]

It's the "Antoinette - let them eat cake - syndrome".
If you can't afford "proper" housing, then put it on credit like all of us righteous and educated folks.

Hey! If you're able to save a little, your employer must be paying you too much and MUST look overseas for more competitive wage scales.

Darned..it's hard to be a cynic and conservative at the same time...but I try.

[BirdyCin]

Interesting article on traditional wood-frame buildings:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/9694889.htm?1c

[MarkOBX]

Mark makes good points.

because the roofs became sails and lifted the tie beams off the walls, or the frame gable ends collapsed, breaking the connection between walls and roof.

Good points KLDave, and I appologize in advance for quoting you out of context but the above phrase says alot. Absent wave action and flood waters - roof tie-downs and hurricane shutters will save most structures during anything less than a catostrophic storm. All of the individual components of a building are designed to complement one another to provide structural integrity. The roof, foundation, exterior walls, and interior walls work together to support the structure. When a weakness is exploited (such as a window or door opening), and one of these components fails (improper foundation/exterior wall or roof) as a result of this weakness, the entire structure is susceptible.

Mark