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How to design a house to last 1000 years

constructionphysics.substack.com

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Re: How to design a house to last 1000 years

#81

Post by lotsofpulp »

boringg wrote: post #55
lotsofpulp wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One of the greenest things that you can do to a home is not build a new one as I understand it. I would need evidence for this statement. There have been many great advances in technology over the years, to the point that I can see old insulation/wiring/plumbing to not be worth repairing and replacing. Not to mention if any of the previous stuff used harmful materials such as lead and asbestos. I also think it is u…

I would surmise that by not sourcing new materials (that currently aren't that green from a carbon footprint perspective which is probably the largest part of your footprint) you are saving a lot of carbon cost. There are challenges with old homes such as sealing the building envelope and updating wiring/heating etc. Maybe I am telling myself that - I'm not sure. My argument does resonate though. New builds require t…

I have yet to come across an old house that I did not want to gut. To update wiring, plumbing, gas lines, central air, siding, roof. By the time you are done, you are only saving on replacing the frame, but tearing down a frame of spaced 2x4s and plywood sheets are not that much waste in my experience.

Re: How to design a house to last 1000 years

#82

Post by ramshanker »

The moment I saw the diagram text "Seismic moment connection with Fuses", I knew it was not meant to last 1000 year. The moment you introduce seismic fuses, you need active Repair post a large earthquake. This is like expecting to keep repairing every few years and claim Life.

My first though reading the title was, you need to build it with STONE. So was "Taj Mahal" and many other religious structure lasting LONG years.

Re: How to design a house to last 1000 years

#83

Post by masklinn »

jacquesm wrote: post #57
tomthe wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stainless steel is also much more brittle than construction steel. And this matters a lot. Not only in case of earthquakes but also just in construction where you have large tolerances. Construction steel will bend plastically, while a more brittle steel can just crack. Welding stainless steel is also inviting issues, but possible in principle.

That, and using both steel and stone in the same structure brings its own class of problems due to the different expansion coefficients which needs to be dealt with in a very ingenious way if that is supposed to last for a millenium (or more).

Seems to me like, given the expense and duration goals, you'd be much better off forgoing steel entirely and creating a stone gravity-bound structure, and making the places where you can't go with stone easy to repair or replace, something for which I'm not sure structural steel is ideal.

> Our other option is slate. Slate roofs have extremely long lifespans and are extremely attractive. But, like copper, they’re more expensive upfront, and require more specialized skills to install (since they’re less common). A slate roof is also extremely heavy, putting more weight on our framing and increasing the risk of damage during an earthquake.

OP apparently doesn't know that slate roof have to be repaired all the time. Slates will age and break, especially if they're nailed (because the metal expands and cracks the slate).

I've spent 10 years with a slate roof, and it has to regularly be fully checked, and missing or breaking slates replaced (because they'll leak).

Screw slate, give me terracota tiles any day of the week. Lighter, way more flexible, and easier to replace when they invariably break.

Re: How to design a house to last 1000 years

#84

Post by arethuza »

jacquesm wrote: post #58
berkeleynerd wrote: post #34

Build with stone blocks. Even if it gets knocked over the blocks just need to be reassembled to be useful whether as a wall, a tower, a road, or another house.

Add some mortar and before you know it you'll just be building a house in the traditional way.

I actually went on a course a couple of years ago to be trained in how to prepare and use traditional lime mortars - the course had us building a wall that was going to be knocked down and the stones re-used for the next class:

https://www.scotlime.org/

NB I did this because our house is an old Scottish farm building that was converted to a house ~12 years ago - I wanted to be able to do proper wall repairs and build garden walls in the same style.

Re: How to design a house to last 1000 years

#85

Post by simonebrunozzi »

dahfizz wrote: post #15

Constructing a building that would last 1000 years is not particularly hard with modern engineering and materials. The hard part is, first and foremost, getting someone to pay for it. I'm not going to live 1000 years. My great grandkids likely won't even live to see the year 3022. Why would I spend orders of magnitude more for a house if a structure meant to last ~100 years serves my needs perfectly? My friend just n…

> The house will be torn down if it's in a city

The world is varied, it's not just a copycat of the terrible design affecting US cities.

One example? I live in Venice, Italy. The city is 1,600 years old. Most houses and palazzos are at least 400 years old; a big chunk of them is at least 600-700 years old. No one is going to tear down these places. And no, rising sea levels will not destroy Venice (see the MOSE dam [0], which is working, despite the big corruption scandals).

Besides Venice, which I'd agree it's a rather unique place, many other places in the world consist of small/medium towns, not huge megalopolis where a small house will be tore down to make space for a skyscraper.

Finally: I'd love to build a house that will last 1,000 years. Even if my great-great-great-grandkids will not be around to see it.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mose

Re: How to design a house to last 1000 years

#87

Post by rsync »

ortusdux wrote: post #53

Stainless steel rebar is an often overlooked option. In theory, solid SS rebar should outlast the concrete, but it is a difficult thing to accurately study. In favorable conditions, regular rebar reinforced concrete starts to need major repairs after ~40 years due to corrosion. The Progresso Pier in Mexico was build over 80 years ago with SS rebar, and reportedly has not needed any renovations. A pier built 20 years…

I came here to mention that. SS rebar is, indeed, a thing and would be an interesting combination with long lasting (fly ash) concrete, etc.

Re: How to design a house to last 1000 years

#88

Post by cafard »

azalemeth wrote: post #80
ghaff wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The second problem is making sure people want to maintain the structure for 1000 years, or at least not tear it down. I don't think this is as hard as the other comentors are saying, though. Just don't build the house in a city. I live in about a 200 year old house but it has been extensively reworked over its lifetime including by me. And given that it's on a nice piece of exurban property it's hardly a stretch to…

I grew up in a 600 year old house. That isn't particularly unusual in the part of the UK I was born in. The village church is 1200 years old. There's a chapel not too far away that dates from around 600 AD. We're not going to change it much. We fix it when it breaks. Most of North America (or at least, the bits I've visited) seems to be fixated with new buildings of sometimes questionable construction standards, and…

What do you get with new houses? Well, you get wiring, with outlets conveniently located. You get modern plumbing. You ought to get good insulation.

You may not get good design, you may get shoddy construction, true.

Re: How to design a house to last 1000 years

#89

Post by EricE »

bigyellow wrote: post #19

Having built my own house, I can definitely say this article is for intellectual stimulation only, and won't result in the construction of an actual home. Not only will you never find contractors and subs that give a shit about this level of detail, but you will struggle explaining these things to permit approvers, county bureaucrats and other people who want to make your life hell because you know more than they do,…

Hehe - you are very right! Never underestimate the ability of the "code enforcers" to stifle innovation.

However occasionally you do see examples of excellence managing to push through the bureaucracy - I would love to build a house like this someday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuYvDuOQ-5M

Re: How to design a house to last 1000 years

#90

Post by d0gsg0w00f »

criddell wrote: post #3

If I were to design a house with the idea that it should serve future generations, I'd design it to be reconfigured, recycled, or torn down easily. After reading some of Stewart Brand's writing, I've learned to love ugly buildings.

Wood is pretty easy to reuse and basically lasts forever if you keep it dry.
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