Comparing Strength Of Modern Building Materials To Older

[billt460]

 

[JavierH19]

Thing is that the bricks back then were pretty much the only thing a buildings walls were comprised of whereas modern bricks are more decorative as there must be a structure like wood beams to support it if it's to meet X regulation.

In Mexico they still make the walls and roods purely out of cinderblocks cemented together. No frame or anything and it works well enough.

 

[K.Aoi]

Thing is that the bricks back then were pretty much the only thing a buildings walls were comprised of whereas modern bricks are more decorative as there must be a structure like wood beams to support it if it's to meet X regulation.

In Mexico they still make the walls and roods purely out of cinderblocks cemented together. No frame or anything and it works well enough.

Only in the US/Canada really. In Europe preformed concrete blocks are the dominant construction material. Much more durable, longer-lasting, better insulating, more fire resistant, better soundproofing... Stick-frame construction is only used because wood is cheap. My European friends think it's really dumb we still build houses out of wood in 2022.

 

[AZjeff]

The old brick has had 132 years to cure. And yes bricks today aren't structural like they were then. Still interesting.

 

[nthach]

I work for an civil engineering company - these days it’s not so much material but how it’s engineered to meet seismic and structural codes for where the building is going up.

Yes, there have been a few blunders like Millennium Tower. Engineering firms will spend thousands of dollars on specialized CAD/CAE programs to do everything from foundation design, structural analysis(the programs SAP2000/CSIBridge are good examples of this), and even the design and analysis of pre-stressed concrete. AutoCAD and Microstation are used primarily for the drafting phase. Engineers can find out quickly if a building will hold up in an earthquake - you engineer a building to strategically fail(shock absorbers, structural fuses) but fortify critical elements to protect lives.

Residential construction of single-family and condos hasn’t caught up with the advances made in commercial construction nor are the builders of such are going to invest in advanced CAD/CAE software/training unless it’s mandated by code.

 

[PimTac]

Imagine being 1000 or 1500 feet up and in a magnitude 9 earthquake? I’ll take modern materials over old.

 

[JavierH19]

Only in the US/Canada really. In Europe preformed concrete blocks are the dominant construction material. Much more durable, longer-lasting, better insulating, more fire resistant, better soundproofing... Stick-frame construction is only used because wood is cheap. My European friends think it's really dumb we still build houses out of wood in 2022.

Yeah it's cheaper that way and it's just fine honestly. People say it's bad quality like a plastic intake manifold but I've got over 320k on one and it's just fine. The old house I rent out built in the early 80's is brick and wood and it's all original aside from a small renovation to charge more for rent. But I was expecting some damage to the wood but no it was just fine. The brick was also fine just a pressure washing.

 

[Nick1994]

I'm glad houses don't have hydraulic presses pushing down on them.