Beards and Hurricanes

[CocaCola]

Question which noone has yet been able to answer to my satisfaction: why do they keep building flimsy wooden houses?

$$$ But on that note there are many new construction techniques that can make a traditional wood house much stronger, the problem is that 99% of the houses in these areas were built before the new codes and/or people don't invest the extra money to strengthen them...

One of the biggest things used now is rightfully named 'hurricane ties' they are even code in my area (Illinois)... They keep the roof on the house unlike many of the hurricane and tornado videos you see where the roofs peel off...

Also the use of real plywood sheeting vs foam or particle board makes a world of difference but foam and particle are significantly cheaper... In most areas particle is universal for plywood even if it's not as strong overall, and foam can generally be used for the run of a wall if wood is used on the corners... Most of these older houses have vintage lap board sheeting not plywood, and again this makes a world of difference in sheer forces...

 

[Raven Luni]

Ah - that is interesting and more surprising than I thought

 

[CocaCola]

Ah - that is interesting and more surprising than I thought

It's all the little things that is behind the scenes that the homeowners never really are kept in the loop about... As witnessed in many of these areas after the storm blows through, the people toss up a HUGE hissy fit when they are told they need to bring the building up to current codes and not simply replace it with what they had so the impact is less next time...

On that note there are also places where if you build a house you have to expect it to get damaged and this was a perfect example... Don't build houses on the beach, and expect them to survive a store, same with building on barrier islands... I feel 100% less sorrow for these people, they have to accept the fact they built in a high risk area...

This coming from someone that on his recent trip to Clearwater, FL was actually browsing some island lots, so I know the appeal but understand the risk...