On Thu, 05 Jan 2017 04:30:02 -0000, wrote:

On Thu, 05 Jan 2017 01:38:07 -0000, "James Wilkinson Sword"
wrote:

On Thu, 05 Jan 2017 01:32:03 -0000, wrote:

On Thu, 05 Jan 2017 00:13:04 -0000, "James Wilkinson Sword"
wrote:

On Thu, 05 Jan 2017 00:05:58 -0000, wrote:

On Wed, 04 Jan 2017 22:22:05 -0000, "James Wilkinson Sword"
wrote:

On Wed, 04 Jan 2017 22:14:30 -0000, wrote:

On Wed, 04 Jan 2017 21:11:44 -0000, "James Wilkinson Sword"
wrote:

On Wed, 04 Jan 2017 21:04:15 -0000, wrote:

On Wed, 04 Jan 2017 17:58:12 -0000, "James Wilkinson Sword"
wrote:

Somebody in one of these two groups recently said that a concrete based house means you're earthed. Concrete is a bloody good insulator!

Not really true, particularly if it is damp

If your floor is damp all the way through, you have bigger problems.

Concrete floors are for garages, houses should have wood floors suspended above the ground. What century is the USA living in?

One where we have not solved the termite,

Chemicals are your friend.

Fine when they work and don't migrate to the ground water.

Not my problem.

hurricane and tornado problems?

Those tend to affect walls and roofs.

If your floor is off the ground, it will just be part of the debris
field when the wind gets up under it.

If the walls are gone, why do you care about your floor?

Under a decent building code they will all stand or blow away
together.
The roof is continuously tied through the walls to the foundation
In a concrete block building that will be continuous rebar from the
foundation to the poured tie beam on the top of the wall, then
strapped to the roof trusses. A typical 1800 sq/ft house will have
almost 100,000 pounds of uplift protection at the roof.

I see. We don't have so much wind here, so my next question is, why are modern houses in the UK starting to have concrete foundations like yours? Old ones, you go under the floor, you can crawl around on dirt and fix the pipes and wires. New ones, you can't get down, it's just solid.

Maybe they think global warming is going to bring you tropical weather
some day. Honestly most of the US does not really have an effective
wind code either but as people start wondering why a summer squall or
dust devil blows their houses to smithereens and a Cat 1 or even 2
here does minimal damage to newer houses here, they start to ponder
why. Most of the hurricane damage pictures you see from Florida is 50
year old homes or, more likely trailers.
I suppose Florida building codes may spread, if for no other reason
that the insurance companies will push them.
I know when I was building in Maryland, the main force people thought
about was gravity with little more than a passing glance at wind
pressure (maybe built to 60-70 MPH) and nothing at all about uplift.
I am in the 150 MPH zone.

I thought the general idea in America was to make them NOT wind proof, but easy and cheap to rebuild?

--
You don't appreciate a lot of stuff in school until you get older.
Little things like being spanked every day by a middle-aged woman.
Stuff you pay good money for later in life. -- Elmo Phillips