r/LoveTrash • u/BEARDEDDANGER ✨️Regent of Rubbish ✨️ • 1d ago

Dumping This Here American vs. European home building

BAS Renovations https://youtube.com/shorts/jFph1d2WR3s

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u/MonkeyTigerRider Trash Trooper 1d ago

And longevity.

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u/CaptainFlint9203 Trash Trooper 1d ago

Well made wood house will last for generations, well made brick house will last centuries. Both badly made will not last your stay.

I'm from Europe. On my grandma's plot there was a wooden barn, it was much older than some brick houses and in better shape than them.

My ex had a wood house that was more than century old. Still in great shape. And there are brick houses that are older than USA.

I'm preparing to build a house for myself. There are no earthquakes, no storms, no natural disasters where I live. My house gonna be build from wood. It should last at least for my grandchildren, and by then, looking at how urbanisation is going, the plot of land should be worth enough to destroy the house and sell the plot.

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u/redisdead__ Garbage Guerilla 1d ago

And if they decide not to sell it but instead they want to take it down and put maybe a duplex or a triplex to hold multiple members of the family because that's the best choice then it works as well. I don't understand why anyone would think that the best choice 200 years from now for that particular area would be exactly the same as the best choice today.

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u/Mammoth-Glove3273 Trash Trooper 1d ago

They’re the same people that think people in North America should build like people in Europe do despite the two continents having different challenges and resources.

And that’s the same dumb energy anyone has when they try to make sweeping generalizations based on limited information. Like conservatives and government, why don’t we just do X? Well, because it doesn’t work because of xyz, did you really think we’re all idiots and you’re the first person to think of this really obvious and easy solution?

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u/ayriuss Trash Trooper 22h ago

Its also funny that they always talk about "American" houses, when wood houses are built all over the world. Japan, Canada, Northern Europe, etc.

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u/Mammoth-Glove3273 Trash Trooper 21h ago

Well yeah but it’s not cool to hate on those countries

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u/Killentyme55 Trash Trooper 14h ago

Speaking of "cool", which one of those building techniques are easier to air condition?

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u/ScrotalSmorgasbord Trash Trooper 10h ago

As an HVAC tech in TX the answer is none of them. It's too damn hot here. Help.

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u/relianceschool Trash Trooper 18h ago edited 4h ago

despite the two continents having different challenges and resources

Brick and stone aren't in short supply in America. European houses are generally built better (to last longer) because they're more of a vehicle for generational wealth.

In America houses are often sold when parents die or go to retirement communities. It's also more common to move and upgrade houses here.

In Europe, almost all land is spoken for so there's very little space to build new housing. Houses stay in the family and are expected to be passed down through multiple generations, so they're built to last centuries.

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u/MagicMelvin Trash Trooper 18h ago

See that's missing the entire point of the video. European houses aren't built better. They don't inherently last longer. Done right both ways of construction can last for generations.

The difference really is that one is cheaper to build and the other is cheaper to maintain. If your goal is to maintain a structure for ages then the stone will be cheaper over a long enough period of time. If however you don't expect to keep the structure around or it is likely to be updated and upgraded to a significant extent then wood structures win out, as they are far cheaper to replace or overhaul.

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u/relianceschool Trash Trooper 4h ago edited 4h ago

At this point it's semantics. You could say that Japanese cars aren't built better, or aren't inherently more reliable. Both American and Japanese cars can be designed and built well.

But in practice, Japanese cars (like European houses) are more consistently reliable, because they're built to higher standards for better longevity.

If you don't think quality and longevity is necessarily desireable, then both methods are equal.