Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The wonder of modern drywall

worksinprogress.news

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 277 posts

Re: The wonder of modern drywall

#191

Post by willis936 »

lazide wrote: post #180
willis936 wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes so use the cheaper methane gas turbine combined cycle power plant. Coal can't compete with higher efficiency, cheaper fuel options.

In areas where there are gas transmission lines, sure. Large portions of the country don’t have that infrastructure built out yet, but do have rail lines which provide coal. It’s also a timing/capital issue. It will change eventually, but in the meantime people need their kWh.

Rail lines also provides logistics for methane, which produces many more usable joules per kg of fuel.

Re: The wonder of modern drywall

#192

Post by Insanity »

CalRobert wrote: post #186
ragall wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You have to break open the wall to fix things The best is to build in such a way as to not have to fix them in the first place. European standards mandate passing all wiring through corrugated tubes. Builders add spare empty ones for future expansion, which makes it unnecessary to open the walls in most cases.

Having owned a couple European houses they’re horrible to alter and mediocre on energy. I miss nice adaptable wood structures. Bizarrely Europeans seem to think their cinderblock homes are nicer…

I've never wanted to adapt a house that significantly. But yeah, I much prefer the cinderblock homes and miss them. Something about the wood and drywall houses just feels incredibly cheap, and I don't like the aesthetic (de gustibus et coloribus..)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Little_Pigs

Re: The wonder of modern drywall

#193

Post by buckle8017 »

willis936 wrote: post #101
trollbridge wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or AI’s thirst for power will bring coal back.

Why would heightened electricity demand increase the use of the most expensive energy source?

Coal, the most expensive energy source?

That's funny, is marginally more expensive than natural gas because natural gas is a byproduct of oil extraction.

Coal is vastly cheaper as a 24x365 source of power than anything but hydro and natural gas.

Re: The wonder of modern drywall

#194

Post by dTal »

jf___ wrote: post #41

A huge share of the gypsum used in drywall is *synthetic gypsum* — a byproduct of flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) at coal-fired power plants. When SO₂ is scrubbed from exhaust using limestone, the reaction produces calcium sulfate dihydrate, chemically identical to mined gypsum. In the US, FGD gypsum has accounted for roughly half of all gypsum consumed by the wallboard industry at its peak. The "cheap, uniform, and f…

Interesting comment with worthwhile content, but the writing style strongly smells of ChatGPT, and the phrase "For someone in your position" is incongruous (who is being addressed?). Did you use it, and if so, would you mind sharing the prompt?

Re: The wonder of modern drywall

#195

Post by CalRobert »

Insanity wrote: post #192
CalRobert wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having owned a couple European houses they’re horrible to alter and mediocre on energy. I miss nice adaptable wood structures. Bizarrely Europeans seem to think their cinderblock homes are nicer…

I've never wanted to adapt a house that significantly. But yeah, I much prefer the cinderblock homes and miss them. Something about the wood and drywall houses just feels incredibly cheap, and I don't like the aesthetic (de gustibus et coloribus..) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Little_Pigs

To each their own I guess. I’ll happily move walls, add or remove a bathroom, add windows, etc.

Terrible carbon footprint for concrete too.

I know modern structures are better but I also don’t entirely trust block in an earthquake. Obviously less of a concern in most (not all!) of Europe.

Re: The wonder of modern drywall

#196

Post by [deleted] »

ragall wrote: post #106
rootusrootus wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's just what you get used to. Every method has ups and downs. And different regions are going to gravitate to different materials based on availability (for example, my Indian coworkers just cannot fathom why we would ever build houses from trees instead of reinforced concrete; doesn't it rot?!!). I don't think of the walls as especially flimsy, though. Built correctly, they are totally fine. Yes you can pu…

Stick frame buildings are prone to dry rot, very susceptible to molding, and the addition of drywalls* make them objectively inferior for any building that's expected to last more than ~40-50 years. It used to be, 100 years ago, that the big cities like NYC, Chicago, Cincinnati, etc... were so dynamic that entire neighbourhoods were expected to be rebuilt every ~50 years or so. That's no longer the case. Over a lifes…

[deleted]

Re: The wonder of modern drywall

#197

Post by zarzavat »

Insanity wrote: post #192
CalRobert wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having owned a couple European houses they’re horrible to alter and mediocre on energy. I miss nice adaptable wood structures. Bizarrely Europeans seem to think their cinderblock homes are nicer…

I've never wanted to adapt a house that significantly. But yeah, I much prefer the cinderblock homes and miss them. Something about the wood and drywall houses just feels incredibly cheap, and I don't like the aesthetic (de gustibus et coloribus..) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Little_Pigs

Ultimately houses are built in the way that works for the region they're built in.

Europe has few trees and few earthquakes (outside of Romania, Italy, etc). Masonry houses make sense.

In California unreinforced masonry is illegal and trees are plentiful. Making houses out of sticks is rational even if it's unsightly.

Those asphalt roofs though...

Re: The wonder of modern drywall

#198

Post by 46493168 »

dTal wrote: post #194
jf___ wrote: post #41

A huge share of the gypsum used in drywall is *synthetic gypsum* — a byproduct of flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) at coal-fired power plants. When SO₂ is scrubbed from exhaust using limestone, the reaction produces calcium sulfate dihydrate, chemically identical to mined gypsum. In the US, FGD gypsum has accounted for roughly half of all gypsum consumed by the wallboard industry at its peak. The "cheap, uniform, and f…

Interesting comment with worthwhile content, but the writing style strongly smells of ChatGPT, and the phrase "For someone in your position" is incongruous (who is being addressed?). Did you use it, and if so, would you mind sharing the prompt?

“Terrestrial develops a robotic approach to earthen construction”. person you replied to claims to be a founder of this company, according to LinkedIn

Other “tells” in the comment are the subscript “2” and the full spelling of the chemical. Also 3 emdashes

Re: The wonder of modern drywall

#199

Post by quickthrowman »

ragall wrote: post #110
hn_acc1 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a while in the 90s, a friend from Canada went to Germany and started building NA style houses (wood frame, drywall) in Germany. People loved that it could be finished in 3 months instead of 9-12 and cost 1/3 less, IIRC.

They're happy until the long-term effects hit them, as stick frame houses need repairs a lot more often. Nowadays, European companies have developed many modular building techniques that have reduced the labor considerably, from robots that 3D-print concrete walls, to LEGO-like hollow bricks.

> They're happy until the long-term effects hit them, as stick frame houses need repairs a lot more often.

Please explain why you think this is true, I disagree and I work in construction.

Once you get a roof and siding on a building, the framing material doesn’t matter. As long as it’s strong enough for the application, the building will remain standing, provided you maintain the roof and siding. I’m living in a balloon framed stick-built house that is 140 years old right now.

Re: The wonder of modern drywall

#200

Post by KoftaBob »

rootusrootus wrote: post #69
BadBadJellyBean wrote: post #67

As a German I always found North American houses and their drywall and wood constructions incredibly odd. It always felt flimsy to me. From my experience we just started using drywall for some interior walls on some newly built homes. But throughout my life I was used to very massive walls. I recently saw some house building videos and it is somehow fascinating how different the building materials and methodologies a…

I think it's just what you get used to. Every method has ups and downs. And different regions are going to gravitate to different materials based on availability (for example, my Indian coworkers just cannot fathom why we would ever build houses from trees instead of reinforced concrete; doesn't it rot?!!). I don't think of the walls as especially flimsy, though. Built correctly, they are totally fine. Yes you can pu…

> cannot fathom why we would ever build houses from trees instead of reinforced concrete

Steel-reinforced ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) has become a much more common frame material for homes in the US, especially in the hurricane-prone southeast.

Post reply on HN