Posted on 02/10/2019 10:54:32 AM PST by Jonty30
I'm just wondering, in principle, why we don't use this technique for places like tornado alley, or along the hurricane coast, or earthquake prone places?
It seems easy enough to use. Put two blocks together and a cement key to hold them together. The blocks could be built easily enough, I think, to account for wiring and insulation and other housing realities.
So, why isn't this more common in the building industry?
Because they’re poor insulators of heat. Such a design won’t fly well up here in Northern WI where it’s single-digit temperatures and snowing.
Rammed earth houses are supposed to be good insulated houses.
So, I’m not sure if that’s a good reason. You can fill the inside of the blocks with insulating material or the inside side of the blocks.
I’m just curious, that’s all. I’m not that environmentally friendly. :)
Ever been in an adobe building in Arizona in the summertime?
The old masons were meticulous. That trade is going by the wayside. Things change over time....I always learned that if we didn't have those Italian Masons, we wouldn't have front stoops.
… because there were no computers in the 9th century …Human brains are computers in and of themselves, still capable of processing more information than those that built them; and even DNA can code non-biological information at a far more efficient rate than computers. The patriarch Job, according to tradition, was the architect of Egyptian pyramids.
Because Mexican carpenters only know how to slam particle board onto toothpicks.
This sounds similar to Rastra blocks. They’re made (in part) of recycled material, are relatively lightweight, fireproof, with channels for wiring, and they stay cool in summer and hold the heat in winter.
“...or along the hurricane coast”
They do require that in Florida now. Thankfully not Texas, not sure of the other states.
We pour full walls with rebars in our area.....not all the time.....but we can truck the stuff in.
The ancient Greeks locked the huge stones of their city walls together with iron sort of “I” shaped bars fitted into matching slots in the blocks.
Probably almost as strong as rebar.
Still gonna get roofs ripped off and windows sucked out. There are afew cinder block homes in town...very few.
The roof is a good point.
“for places like tornado alley”
I’m not sure how well it would stand up to big tornadoes.
They pack an amazing wallop.
A lot of Cathedrals caved in during construction. I’ll go with the computer designs.
Machu Picchu.
I have no problem with CAD. I’m just wondering about the construction method itself, as to why it couldn’t be used in building modern houses. Roof aside, it seems to be a method that would allow a house to be around for few hundred years.
“Why don’t we build homes using interlocking cement blocks?”
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Dunno! (Ever notice so few folks rarely us that (I dunno) term anymore?)
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BUT, I ‘spect it has much to do w/$$$$$$!
And, like;y the %s are w/me?
;)
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GyG@PlanetWTF?
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Check out Monolithic Domes - Italy TX.
Made with reinforced shotcrete.
https://www.monolithic.org/homes
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