What Happened to the Creamy Filling?

What Happens When the Filling Disappears?

Will Cities Become Shells?

Did you know that houses have a lifespan?

There is a lifespan for buildings. They are built to last a given number of years on average. Perhaps it is 75 years, perhaps 50, perhaps 100, but they do have a lifespan. I am not sure about the lifespan of current residential construction, but I suspect many residences built since the Second World War were built with a 75 year lifespan. I am not sure what happens when a building exceeds this lifespan.

I know that there are buildings aging with grace and good upkeep that have become heritage buildings. But I know others don't and have been torn down or rebuilt. However, since WWII there have been huge residential districts where the whole district has been built over a period of perhaps 5 years. What happens to those districts when nearly all the houses reach the end of their functional lifespan at the same time?

I don't have any solutions of course and haven't heard too much of it being a problem. Perhaps it isn't one and something that takes care of itself?

I just remember hearing how houses had a lifespan and was surprised -- thinking they were immortal for some reason. I guess it might be because of all the heritage homes I have seen. The only "falling down" sorts of houses I have seen were abandoned ones.

I do imagine if you own a house you might come upon walls with studs that need replacement because they have rotted, or plumbing that needs to be redone. You might renovate and replace whole walls already and know what is within. Foundations might need to be re-poured. I think that buildings once lasted longer and districts were not built up all at once. Neighbourhoods maybe grew a bit at a time?

We do see apartment blocks come down in groups, but that is because it is time to replace them with newer construction -- the old ones are no longer viable. That works with rental buildings, but what of the more modern idea of strata-condo buildings where each owner might have to be bought out before a building comes down?

So you have a city growing outwards and the core is gradually a cluster of uninhabitable buildings destined for destruction, and whole neighbourhoods might be ready for wrecking ball... what will replace them? I have seen some whole blocks replaced with "monster houses" -- houses that are outsized to the lots -- built to the maximum outmoded bylaws might allow -- which don't suite the character of the neighbourhood at all.

I know that cities that do plan, are working on actual bylaws that fight things like those "monster houses". At the same time they work to solve problems of increased population, transportation, and other pressures by intelligently increasing population density while keeping neighbourhood character.

I don't think that some neighbourhoods will end up like a hollow left if you squeezed the filling out of a doughnut when the houses have reached retirement ages. Land is far too valuable... still the transition will be... is interesting.

Later!
~ Darrell

109.

Grumpy Old Man - People who like hardwood floors in mutli-family dwellings...

People Who Like Hardwood Floors in Multi-Family Dwellings...
Live on the Top Floor!

Hardwood floors are excellent for people who suffer from allergies I am sure and they do look beautiful, especially if you are a lover of wood grain. But if you live in a multi-family dwelling like an apartment building and the people upstairs replace the carpeting their suite was designed with, with hardwood or cork flooring - or with tile or other hard flooring option it is not a resoundingly good choice. ...or that is the problem, it is a resounding choice.

I might have this wrong, but I believe that part of the design of many apartment and condo complex is that of floor covering and that includes acoustic design and what sort of sound carries over to the neighbouring suites. Carpeting with underlay is chosen in many situations because it deadens the sound, not just of footsteps from the tread of folk upstairs, but of sounds in general travelling through floor through the structure. In strata developments, there are most often regulations on making certain structural changes and especially in multistory ones this covers flooring. It makes a large difference in quality of life for the neighbours downstairs if hardwood floors are put in upstairs. Every sound seems then to resonate.

Even with side-by-side units it can be an issue. I know at my parent's townhouse unit, that when their next-door neighbour put in hardwood floors to replace the carpeting the noise went up multi-fold. Instead of just hearing it when they were yelling at each other at night, you would hear them clomping up and down the halls and stairs as well. That was something that went unnoticed before the hardwood went in. The "yellers" moved out, but their legacy - the hardwood floors - remained and probably increased the resale value as well.

I guess I am just getting grumpy. I got used to the muffled sound of carpeting quieting the elephantine tread of upstairs neighbours in buildings. Hardwood floors were common when I was young and are common now - and if not hardwood, then cork floors, parquet, or tile. You'd think people had become dust mite phobics fearing that dust mites might carry off their first born.

But I am just being grumpy. I probably should have a more allergen free setting myself... I really want tapestries hanging on the walls and thick carpets... but should have air filters and hardwood with hepa-filtered vacuum cleaner to keep things tidy.

Oh! I hear they bought tap shoes for the cat upstairs! Wonderful! ;)

Later!
~ Darrell

"Green" House - An Earthy Proposition

An Earthy Proposition

There are many ways to create a smaller footprint on the environment. One way is to use local natural materials. The options in the country and pastoral areas are different from those of urban and suburban centres. The crossover areas between the suburbs and open countryside can be very flexible in just what sort of building you might construct, while in the city there may be problems with the more exotic of environmentally friendly dwellings and commercial buildings.

One such dwelling is a low impact woodland home built by Simon Dale*, family, friends, and passers by in Wales. This home built slightly into a hillside and constructed of stone and mud from the digging required for the structure; spare wood from the surrounding woodland (thinnings); bales of straw in floor, walls, and roof for insulation; a mud and turf roof (with a sheet of plastic); lime plaster; and much else salvaged from rubbish piles around. They use the mass of stone and plaster surrounding the woodburner to absorb heat, retain it and slowly release it and the fridge is cooled by natural cool air coming through the foundation. I could go on, but nearly every feature of the house is equally "green".

The house used little specialized labour to build and materials were very inexpensive - labour being the most expensive part. From the pictures it looks comfortable. You can find out much about this home on their website about "A Low Impact Woodland Home".

I have seen other projects more suited to more conservative tastes using "rammed earth" construction or straw walls. The rammed earth construction takes local soil and mixes it with a very small amount of cement then rams it with packing machines until it is hard as concrete. It is rather beautiful in a rustic fashion. There is one company that is doing this sort of construction and putting Styrofoam (tm) insulation in the centre of the walls. I believe they call it "SIRE" for Styrofoam(tm) Insulated Rammed Earth construction.

The straw walls, from what I understand consist of building walls with bales of straw and placing a mesh of metal on either side and essentially sewing the mesh on either side together by passing an arrow sized "needle" back and forth through the straw with rope sized thread. they then plaster the outside with a few coats of a plaster-cement mix. The walls breath but are very insulative. The SIRE walls also are very insulative.

Buildings are also using heat pumps for heating and air conditioning using the inherant heat of the earth as the energy source for the heat pump's workings and energy sink for cooling rather than the air. Some suburban plans call for grey water treatment at the home through the yard into marshes incorporated into the suburb designs.

Older buildings are being retrofitted with the heat pumps and improved insulation as well as systems to allow for fresh air from outside to be taken in without chilling the building in winter or heating it in summer.

There are so many other things I could mention, but that woodland home, nearly making no visual impact in the woodland is inspirational.

Later

~ Darrell

* I believe the name is Simon Dale, I extrapolated that from his email address, I couldn't find mention in the web site.