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michpoch a day ago

> You can build out of concrete and use fire resistant materials like metal or tile for the roof and your house is nearly fireproof

Just like exactly the rest of the world? We, the non-USA folks, are looking yearly at either fires or hurricanes destroying these wooden houses there and people keep rebuilding them. Insanity.

rafram a day ago | parent | next [-]

The US has a practically limitless amount of wood. Europe doesn’t. Wood also holds up well to earthquakes and can be treated to hold up to fire. And if there’s a catastrophic failure, it hurts a lot less than concrete does when it falls on your head. It’s a great material that the US is right to use.

throw0101a a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> We, the non-USA folks, are looking yearly at either fires or hurricanes destroying these wooden houses there and people keep rebuilding them.

You can build wood framed (2x4, 2x6) buildings that are resistant to fire:

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZe-TlYxm9g

A stucco, brick, or fibre cement siding, have 2m/6' clear around the base of your house, tempered windows, and either a metal roof or shingles with a Class A fire rating.

marcosdumay 13 hours ago | parent [-]

Place a piece of wood inside the hot environment of a fire and it will burn down releasing more heat than it absorbs, adding to the fire. It doesn't matter what stuff you add to it.

You can make wood not burn on the kind of environment where it would be the only or main object releasing heat. That is still a completely different category from non-flammable materials.

Enginerrrd a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Earthquakes make this a much more expensive option. To give you some idea, the design seismic acceleration for my house is like 3g. That's more sideways than down. The forces involved are the weight of the structure times this value. Concrete ways a LOT more. It absolutely can be done, but it's not clearly a superior material compared to wood.

carlosjobim 15 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The rest of the world has mudslides, floods, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, etc. Or they have no natural disasters, just like so many parts of the US.

> We, the non-USA folks

Isn't that a sad way to look at yourself?