How much is charm worth?

Quote: RedNeckerson

I don't think wood is required anywhere though. But I don't know for sure.

Wood strikes me as a dangerous material. It can rot, it can be infested by insects, and in a fire it burns fiercely. It doesn't react well to water, either, or even moisture.

Quote: Face

In my parts, you can easily identify flat roofed buildings. Every bare spot on the side of the road? That's where a flat roofed structure used to be. They all caved in due to last year's 7'+ of snow.

Yes, but consider this: the total snowfall in Mexico City for the past 50 years amounts to exactly 0.00 cm (I think that may equal 0.00 inches, but given the inherently irrational Imperial system, it may as well be infinity squared divided by pi taken to e power). Now, I'm sure the total snowfall in, say, Vegas is much higher, but still not enough to have so many sloped roofs in the effing desert..

Quote: Nareed

Those aren't water heaters, they're water tanks.

I forgot that the primary reason is pressure and cutoffs. But keeping the water in black plastic also has to keep the water temperature high, so it doesn't take much energy to heat the water up for showers.

I think you said most people use natural gas to heat water.

What are your electric rates? Using 16.8675 pesos per dollar I pay MXN$238.34 base fee plus MXN$2.0359 per kwh. So for 1000 kwh I would pay
MXN$2035.90 + MXN$238.34=MXN$2274.24

Quote: Nareed

Wood strikes me as a dangerous material. It can rot, it can be infested by insects, and in a fire it burns fiercely. It doesn't react well to water, either, or even moisture.

Depends on what you consider dangerous Nareed. Wood is much safer in an earthquake than rigid types of construction. Hollow wooden wall are also much easier to insulate which is required by the building code to save energy. Solid concrete walls above grade have little insulation value. A major concern in cold areas.

Quote: kenarman

Depends on what you consider dangerous Nareed. Wood is much safer in an earthquake than rigid types of construction.

I'm not so sure about that. In the 85 quake in mex City, by far houses came through it with little damage. What fell were buildings, but those couldn't be made of wood anyway.

Quote:

Hollow wooden wall are also much easier to insulate which is required by the building code to save energy. Solid concrete walls above grade have little insulation value. A major concern in cold areas.

Again, in cold areas. How does that apply to Florida, Southern California, Southern Nevada, etc.?

BTW, whenever hurricanes pass through Florida, a distressingly common occurrence, there is much talk of shingles on the sloped roofs being blown off and causing additional damage. In a place where hurricanes are common but snow is as likely as an asteroid strike, why do they keep building sloped roofs with shingles?

Quote: Nareed

I'm not so sure about that. In the 85 quake in mex City, by far houses came through it with little damage. What fell were buildings, but those couldn't be made of wood anyway.

That wooden structures are safer in an earthquake is an accepted fact Nareed.



Again, in cold areas. How does that apply to Florida, Southern California, Southern Nevada, etc.?

BTW, whenever hurricanes pass through Florida, a distressingly common occurrence, there is much talk of shingles on the sloped roofs being blown off and causing additional damage. In a place where hurricanes are common but snow is as likely as an asteroid strike, why do they keep building sloped roofs with shingles?

In the warm areas the insulation in the wood walls is required for the air conditioning to be economical enough.

Quote: kenarman

In the warm areas the insulation in the wood walls is required for the air conditioning to be economical enough.

Maybe.

IMO, there is a cultural fetish to make houses look alike. It's just something I find incredibly odd.

It is more a cultural fetish to save money by using standardization.

Quote: kenarman

It is more a cultural fetish to save money by using standardization.

You can standardize by region, too. This would be even more efficient, as in doing away with shingled roofs in Florida. It would be even cheaper if houses were prefabricated from standard parts. I know some are, but I don't think that's the norm.

There is much I like about US housing styles, such as a front lawn, low fences and a back yard. The houses are open to the air on all sides. In Mexico there may be front lawns and back yards sometimes, but not always. And houses are built shoulder to shoulder, which strikes me as claustrophilic. Fences are tall, commonly taller than the first story, which require front doors. The back "fence" is really a brick wall. But at least they differ in style from each other.

Quote: kenarman

It is more a cultural fetish to save money by using standardization.

Also, the architects often have a style, and they do many, many houses in a particular area. I know much if not most of my town was erected by one guy, so many cues are similar no matter what house in town you go into. It's even worse nowadays. Have you seen some of these new developments? There's only two types of houses in them, alternating one after the other.