Joerg said:
Hello Michael,
I highly doubt that it was built right. They have built bunkers that way
and even a grenade fired at it is usually brushed off. Don't in when in
the army. It was impressive.
The blast from a grenade is not a blunt force with mass at over 100
miles an hour. You have to live through a hurricane or two to see what
its really like. Sure, you can use poured concrete to build a home,
then the average family can't afford to buy the home. Like all other
engineering, it involves tradeoffs. There is a class action suit against
a number of home builders for the damage caused to fairly new homes that
leaked like a sieve from the hard driven horizontal rain that poured
through stucco and block homes.
Sure, adding a plywood cushion can help but it may not be necessary.
Plus the stuff rots.
Plywood was the traditional material used under the siding, till the
cheaper tar coated fiber crap came along. Termites are a bigger problem
in Florida than the wood rotting. Some of them can burrow through the
softer spots in concrete blocks, build a tube up the wall to the roof
and eat the rafters when there is no wood within 8 feet of the ground
outside.
When it comes to building I trust the Romans more than anything, and
modern "research" can be influenced by the trade and what they prefer.
The Romans built stuff strong since they were constantly under attack
(because they attacked others all the time). A lot of their buildings
are still in good shape, more than 1500 years after the builder's
warranty ran out.
Sure, but the huge blocks of solid stone used in Roman construction
were never exposed to a hurricane, were they?
--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.
Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
