Why are American houses built from bricks?

[Dinner]

Originally posted by tinyp3nis
So, if somebody builds a house from granite it will be radioactive if the granite is taken from a place that has lots of radon? Or not even then?

From what is said on this page it seems the key factor is the presence of Uranium & Thorium in the rocks and soil and the type of rock is incidental.

The Earth's crust contains small amounts of naturally radioactive materials such as uranium and thorium. Uranium and thorium decay to other radioactive atoms, including radium which then decays to radon gas. Since it is an inert (that is, chemically stable) gas, radon moves from the soil, where it is produced, and into the air. Radon is a natural part of the earth's atmosphere. The amount of uranium and radium in soil varies greatly with geographic location and soil type. Therefore, the amount of radon gas released to the atmosphere also varies across the United States.

[monolith94]

"houses aren't universally made out of brick? that's something..."
Do you even watch any movies? Have you EVER been outside of Philly?

[Al B. Sure!]

you can't really tell from movies... i assumed the houses in movies were brick that was painted over or white-washed... i've been to NYC, DC, and Baltimore recently

[:) Smiley]

a common thing in America is fake brick- this stuff about a centimeter thick that you stick onto a wood wall. Since brick is more expensive to build with this creates illusion of a more valuable house.

[Al B. Sure!]

so the brick houses here are actually more valuable than the houses in the suburbs?

[monolith94]

Not necessarily - a house is more than just its material. Indeed there are different types of quality in wood, as well as in brick.

[Victor Galis]

Almost all houses being built in Atlanta right now are made of wood. They get built in a couple weeks or less, and then people wonder why they suffer severe damage from storms and such.

[Az]

Our houses are built from concrete.

[Vandal-1]

458 Tornadoes in 27 days and you wonder why we use Bricks?

[Az]

I am amazed that anyone builds with wood these days.

Not only this is terribly inefficient in places that get hit by storms, these babies also burn real good, and get eaten by various creatures.

[GePap]

Wood is cheap, and people find them aesthetically pleasing.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Albert Speer
so the brick houses here are actually more valuable than the houses in the suburbs?

With all things in realestate 90% of the value is in LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

[monolith94]

My wooden house has lasted 150+ years... How long has your concrete house been around for?

[axi]

Our houses are built from concrete.

Hear, hear!

We have the cheapest concrete in all the world. We make cement with volcanic ash as a substitute for one more expensive ingredient, plus high quality gravel and sand are abundant, so everything's made out of concrete nowdays, just as everything was made of stone in the old time.

The sad thing is that we who have lots of concrete suffer from earthquakes, while (most of) the USA who have lots of wood in their houses suffer from tornados. Couldn't it be the other way around?

[GePap]

Originally posted by Oerdin


With all things in realestate 90% of the value is in LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

90%? A wooden hut in Park Avenue and 70th street in manhattan would still cost 1 million dollars. I say, 95-99% is location.