# American vs. other home building techniques



## glkirk (Nov 27, 2011)

Happy New year to everyone. I hope business picks up for us all this year.
I see there is a gentleman from UK here. How do they build homes in the UK?
When I was in Netherlands/Belguim/France, I noted that most everything is masonary. Thick brick walls, concrete floor/ceilings, masonary interior partitions. Only wood I saw was the massive beams used vertically
in the roof system.


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## darr1 (May 25, 2010)

here in ireland its mostly block or brick with slate or tiles roofs , timber frame has aslo caught on over the last few years


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## blackbear (Feb 29, 2008)

Building in the states can vary from region to region. When I use to frame(7-8 years ago) truss construction didnt exist where I was, everything was stick framed. Where as on the west coast seemed that everything was truss.

When I was in Italy everything was stone


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## Rob1954 (Jun 22, 2010)

I once knew someone who sold structural wood products in Europe. He said many of the structures would have exterior masonry walls, including the gable ends. The roof framing members ran across the slope much like purlins.


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## concretemasonry (Dec 1, 2006)

It is a common and uniform theme through out the developed world. The most common materials in the world for residential construction are the heavier materials for many obvious reasons and wood is a rarity limited the the U.S. and Canada, generally.

The reasons are tradition, life cycle cost. comfort, fire resistance and sound. They are not fooled by the pink panther and R-values because they know the fallacy of the theoretical short term basis and concept in the end.

Even the floors on single family homes are concrete or a filler block system (concrete beams, filler block and concrete topping).


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## stuart45 (Oct 7, 2009)

glkirk said:


> Happy New year to everyone. I hope business picks up for us all this year.
> I see there is a gentleman from UK here. How do they build homes in the UK?
> When I was in Netherlands/Belguim/France, I noted that most everything is masonary. Thick brick walls, concrete floor/ceilings, masonary interior partitions. Only wood I saw was the massive beams used vertically
> in the roof system.


In the UK the most common form of construction for external walls is brick/4inch cavity/4inch AAC block. The cavity would be either full or part filled with insulation. 
Ground floor partition walls normally 4 inch concrete block.
Floors usually concrete or block and beam.
Upper floors suspended timber joists.
Roofs usually trussed rafters with concrete tiles or slate.
Upper floor partitions timber studwork.


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## Fredrik.E (Mar 18, 2009)

here in Sweden we alwas built with alot of wood but also masonry houses . Now day only the more expensive houses are made by masonry. Most houses are made wood studs with an exterior with thin bricks or plaster (? dont know the correct word) on fiberglas sheets.


in the 70s there was about 4 inch / 100 mm of insulation in the walls and 6 inch/145mm in the roof 

Now there is at least 225 mm in the walls and 400 in the roof 

Here are some houses in Sweden


the first one is built in the 70s
the second precent time 
the third early 1900
the fourth 40-60s


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## glkirk (Nov 27, 2011)

stuart45 said:


> In the UK the most common form of construction for external walls is brick/4inch cavity/4inch AAC block. The cavity would be either full or part filled with insulation.
> Ground floor partition walls normally 4 inch concrete block.
> Floors usually concrete or block and beam.
> Upper floors suspended timber joists.
> ...


Ya Dick, thats pretty much what I saw. Except the roof system was of exposed beams (maybe 10x10) from gable to gable. (Maybe 28'). Then some 1x, then tiles.
I guess that 3 layers block first floor, 2 layers up. Third to hold concrete floor?
How does the "block and beam" work?


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## Dirtywhiteboy (Oct 15, 2010)

With Volvos every where:clap:


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## stuart45 (Oct 7, 2009)

glkirk said:


> How does the "block and beam" work?


Beams go across the walls, blocks fill in. 3 inch Sand/cement screed on top.
View attachment b&b.bmp


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## glkirk (Nov 27, 2011)

Thank you! A picture says a thousand words!
A lot of the Exterior doors swung outward, if I remember right. GF said: they used to open the door and sweep the dirt out.


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## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

Fredrik.E said:


> here in Sweden we alwas built with alot of wood but also masonry houses . Now day only the more expensive houses are made by masonry. Most houses are made wood studs with an exterior with thin bricks or plaster (? dont know the correct word) on fiberglas sheets.
> 
> 
> in the 70s there was about 4 inch / 100 mm of insulation in the walls and 6 inch/145mm in the roof
> ...


 Cool houses:thumbsup:


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## concretemasonry (Dec 1, 2006)

The "block and beam" system usually consists of a relatively light weight pre-stressed beams (100# or less) filled with a block (about 18-20" long) of some type set between and the beams and topped with concrete (lightweight or normal weight). Often heating is in the topping. The blocks may be hollow clay tile, concrete, AAC or even composite.

In Hungary, I saw a 4 story apartment/condo that was built from 8"concrete block and the floor filler block were concrete block shape made out of cement, sand a shredded wood. The block do not have to be high strength, but give a lot of lateral strength to the building because of the floor diaphragm strength and continuity.

In Russia, I saw 2 story homes built with 10' wall heights and the wall was an 8" block load-bearing block, 4" of expanded polystyrene and a veneer of 8" thick colored split block. The steep roof was peeled or rough sawn timbers covered by asbestoes panels. - The Russians always wondered why Americans built their homes out of "fire wood", especially the log homes. You have to go a long ways to find a fire station in Russia because their construction materials.


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## Red Adobe (Jul 26, 2008)

We build most homes in US for max profit and short ROI....just look at the roofs, lol shingles that wear and or blow off in 10 years maybe 15

My great uncle has a place on the Rhine thats 610 years old made of stone and slate they just pass it down

some might find this interesting: the oldest home in the usa is in one of the last states incorporated New Mexico.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_oldest_buildings_in_the_United_States


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## oravik (Dec 27, 2010)

Here in Orkney we used to build everything from stone even the furniture . These days mainly timber frame with concrete block outer leaf. ICF is starting to become more common and everything has concrete tile roofs. There are some traditional houses being built but not nearly enough (in my opinion)


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## oravik (Dec 27, 2010)

Here are some pictures of a traditional stone house i am working on at the moment.


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## Acres (Feb 12, 2011)

> some might find this interesting: the oldest home in the usa is in one of the last states incorporated New Mexico.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._United_States



Man they left a house of that list I drive by almost everyday

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoxie_House have to assume there's a bunch missing on that list..


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## bagtowall (Jul 11, 2011)

Traditionally British houses were built to last forever. I workonalot of restoration projects. Typically we built small, un level out of square none insulated houses. Perfect. My house was 105 years old when I bought it and generally original. The master bedroom alone had a floor 85mm (3 1/2 inch) out of level. At least 90% of houses here are brick inside and outside skins with slate or concrete tiled roofs with historically brick but more recently timber stud walls.


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## Seven-Delta-FortyOne (Mar 5, 2011)

O.K., how do you get those roof jacks out from under the slate when you're done??? :confused1:


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## stuart45 (Oct 7, 2009)

It should come out easy, but the slate needs replacing.
Anyone used this method? I havn't myself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ehqHRSGpI4


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## Gary H (Dec 10, 2008)

oravik said:


> http://www.contractortalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=62568&stc=1&d=1325944648 thhttp://www.contractortalk.com/attachment.php?attachhttp://www.contractortalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=62570&stc=1&d=1325944648mentid=62569&stc=1&d=1325944648
> Here are some pictures of a traditional stone house i am working on at the moment.


Are those roof jacks home made? And how are they secured to the roof under the slate?


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## oravik (Dec 27, 2010)

They have a spike at the top that you drive into the sarking boards , they come out with a couple of hits with a hammer. Then you wire and mortar in a slate. The bottom row slates are 30 inch to the nail holes going down to 18 inch at the top rows.


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## oravik (Dec 27, 2010)

I think they are home made they have been laying about the yard for as long as i have .


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## bob_cntrctr (Jan 30, 2008)

I spent some years living and working in Europe. When I described how houses are built out of 2x4's (now 2x6's) in North America people were shocked. They couldn't believe people live in stick frame houses that, in their opinion, were sure to fall down.

CBU construction everywhere. All cermaic tile floors. The tile business is HUGE over there because of it. Royal Mosa, one of the largest, is over a century old. I once tried to convince someone of installing hardwood floors - they'd have none of it - wood? On the floor? Are you nuts? It'll be worn out before I die!

Of course this does have an incidence on the structure of the economies.

The home building industry isn't as major an economic engine there as it is here. The lumber industry is a nobody. The other effect is that structures do last forever - people just keep renovating them once every century or so. So the reno and addition business is probably as big or bigger than the new build business. It's to the point that some countries have had tax incentives to encourage people to buy new instead of renovating old.

This refractory construction also has what I considered a major impact on the "feel" of living spaces. All those hard surfaces - they echo. They feel cold and "hard" and cavernous - not cozy and warm and welcoming like a North American home. There's something about that slight give to a joisted floor, the sound deadening of drywall, the feeling of hardwood underfoot, that is visceral.

Not to mention the stupidly impossible job of hacking out channels for wiring and plumbing any time you have to re-do anything. A North American renovator's tools are saws and screwdrivers. A European renovator has hammers and chisels and drills.


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## ESSaustin (Mar 27, 2010)

Years ago I was framing with an older guy who told me back in the 80s he went to Europe and built a few stick houses on spec. He said a lot of people came to look, but not to purchase, but rather to see this novelty of a house made of sticks.


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## bagtowall (Jul 11, 2011)

bob_cntrctr said:


> I spent some years living and working in Europe. When I described how houses are built out of 2x4's (now 2x6's) in North America people were shocked. They couldn't believe people live in stick frame houses that, in their opinion, were sure to fall down.
> 
> CBU construction everywhere. All cermaic tile floors. The tile business is HUGE over there because of it. Royal Mosa, one of the largest, is over a century old. I once tried to convince someone of installing hardwood floors - they'd have none of it - wood? On the floor? Are you nuts? It'll be worn out before I die!
> 
> ...




This so true, although hardwood floors and carpets are popular here in Britain and Scandinavia, tiling is massive on the mainland. Inside, outside floors, walls ceilings they tile everywhere. Most walls are drywall bonded to brick work now though. 
Reno business in Britain is a lot better than house building. 
Timber frame homes are currently being promoted due to there much smaller co2 footprint however, timber homes are harder to buy as many mortgage companies won't lend as much for a framed home as a brick home.


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## Fundi (Jan 5, 2009)

• 40 % of the world population lives in earthen dwellings

(Statistics from UNCHS)

• 17 % of the “world cultural heritage sites” is built with earth

Just saying.


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## TheItalian204 (Jun 1, 2011)

In Italy all the houses are built from stone,brick,tile and concrete...

Lots of stucco and plaster.

In villages and poor areas people build from limestone,just stone and clay instead of mortar...

We build to last millenia.


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