House Building

OK, try not to be too shocked, but here are some pictures of stuff that is not food.

On this very housing estate, there are new buildings going up at an astonishing rate, so I decided to investigate. For me, this means asking Bonnie. Apparently, there are laws in the State of Maryland which mean it is actually illegal to build a house from bricks and mortar.

It has something to do with the electrical system needing to be fully enclosed in wood, or so I understand. So, the common, and highly prized method of building houses is to make them “stick built”. This means people get their houses very quickly, and it is relatively easy to create a range of smashing designs.

All of that said, I found it jaw dropping to see that the houses around me are quickly flung up with just something which looks like chipboard. Pretty big chipboard, but chipboard nonetheless. Obviously, there are sealing boards and plaster boards added in layers to seal and provide a decoratable surface on the inside.

On the outside, there are a choice of a variety of “sidings” which the owner may choose from. These are made from plastic or Aluminium. The ones on this estate are all pretty much a uniform grey. I'm not sure if something akin to planning permission is required to change that colour, but in theory a house owner could have whatever siding they wanted. A whole lot easier than painting the outside, I'd say. Definitely a pro's job, with not a hint of DIY possible.

Still....they're WOODEN houses, folks. Really wooden. That's amazing.

Comments

[Jason]

And what do they taste like?

[Rebecca]

Who put that house there.....oh....I love that house....that is a nice house.

[Jac]

We are weird creatures aren't we... the things we build for ourselves.

[Sandy]

Funny how different things are in different parts of the U.S. Some of the stuff you're talking about I've never seen before either. Other things are familiar. Housing materials vary greatly across the U.S. I once helped my ex-boyfriend's dad build a house in the middle of the desert made out of straw. (Well, straw bales were used as the interior of the walls, but there were other materials around it.)