My first house was built in 1953 and the lumber was old dense hardwood - the floors felt like they were poured concrete. My current house was built in 1987 and there is a hollowness and bounce to all the floors. Inspections of the floor joists in the basement shows they used new growth lumber and while it may be the correct size, it feels much lighter, less dense, and more flimsy than the lumber in the 1953 house.
U.S. vs European home material and build quality
- Thread starter skyactiv
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2024
- Messages
- 777
Europe as a continent or Cairo as a city?
Here is extreme USA for you
Yikes. Should have had some sheathing on that before getting so tall!
As with my earlier post (re USA building materials being described as 'garbage' by a woman who was hired because she spoke Spanish), I'm really sorry I didn't get any details.
So now take a look at post #22. It's puzzling that anyone would want to build out of "2 by" lumber. There are metal stud and joist options which are much stronger.
5 and 6 story stick-built apartment buildings go up. The best part is seeing the essentially non-skilled workers being shown how to install window units on a dummy frame on the ground.
I realize building methods and materials have a momentum, but learning how to screw metal isn't the same as going to medical school.
Maybe metal framing is extremely expensive.
So now take a look at post #22. It's puzzling that anyone would want to build out of "2 by" lumber. There are metal stud and joist options which are much stronger.
5 and 6 story stick-built apartment buildings go up. The best part is seeing the essentially non-skilled workers being shown how to install window units on a dummy frame on the ground.
I realize building methods and materials have a momentum, but learning how to screw metal isn't the same as going to medical school.
Maybe metal framing is extremely expensive.
Europe is waaay older. They have castles older than the usa.
Here is extreme USA for you
That's scary. I'm surprised the builder didn't have their permit pulled.
Seriously. I would think builder liable not owner, and here at least insurance required.
There is a reason for sheathing, and horizontal sheathing at that. BEFORE even second floor. Three stories? Laughable.
really?
this is a good point, try going elsewhere and find a 3500 sq ft house with 5 bathrooms
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2024
- Messages
- 777
No shear walls.....Sheathing on the first floor would have stopped that.
Wood is scarce in Europe so it's block and stone. Thick walls also provide thermal mass which is important in the winter. Remember most of Europe sits at a higher latitude than the US. For example Spain and Italy are around the same latitude as Virginia. Energy is also more expensive in Europe. Search Passivhaus to get an idea of how some homes are built.
A lot of newer homes in Germany are built with some amount of rigid foam in the walls. Triple glazed windows are not uncommon.
US as a whole is more temperament and wood is plentiful because the climate allows for fast growing softwoods. Energy is cheaper so historically there has been less of an incentive to build energy efficient homes. For example we still place HVAC systems in hot vented attics which is just dumb.
Here is extreme USA for you
That's supposed to happen because the framers hadn't yet installed the code required sheathing/bracing.
deleted
Similar threads
