Quote:
Originally Posted by RICH1
BLOCK …. Unless you want noise and high AC bills
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While I consider block superior, I live in a 1200 sq ft courtyard villa that is stick built. Sometimes I can hear a car go by outside or a delivery being made, but not usually, and I think that is due to sound through the windows. My highest AC bill has been $122, last month, with the AC set at 73° all the time. I’d love to double the amount of insulation in the roof, but payback at that rate might be twenty years.
Block with no eaves (as often seen in Bermuda) is safer in a hurricane than stick built, BUT, the most important thing is that the roof trusses be well-fastened to the walls and that the sheathing on the trusses be fully nailed down to the trusses, according to the current building code. The damages from Hurricane Andrew in the Miami area were made much worse by shingles barely tacked on, sheathing with inadequate nailing and nails that often missed the trusses, and trusses merely toenailed to the top plates of the walls instead of being secured with Hurricane tie plates properly nailed. This is the case with block walls as well! These details are crucial. That’s why insurers will give you a big break if a hurricane mitigation test shows with photo evidence that your house has been properly built. One difference with 2x4 or 2x6” stud walls, however, is that the walls need to be properly bolted onto the slabs. I suspect that all of these things have been done with all Villages housing for the past twenty years. My first house here was stick built in 1998 and was properly fastened down.
So, yes, block is safer, but only if the roof is properly attached. But block can be harder to insulate. Most stick houses have 6” of fiberglass, but bock houses here may have only one inch of foam or less. A lot of the new housing going in uses what is called the Superior Wall System. This was developed for basements, but has been used above ground for thirty years. It’s terrific. Eight inch prefab walls made up of 2” of 6,000 psi concrete, 1” of styrofoam blue board, and 6” reinforced concrete studs. Between the studs there is room for 6” of fiberglass. These walls are strong, silent, and well insulated. Much better than block walls. Far better insulated.
Then there are the shingles. Shingles have to be nailed down properly. Were yours? Do you know how to tell? The ideal is nailed by hand. Pneumatic nailers have to be set just right so they don’t tear the shingles, and the right nailing pattern is always required. Inexpensive shingles are much more likely to suffer hurricane damage than stiffer, stronger architectural grade shingles, but those do cost quite a bit more, and they may not be allowed in some courtyard villa neighborhoods where all the roofs are the same. These days the best shingles also have tabs at the edges that gradually melt in the heat and over several months glue down to the shingles below them. They are more likely to survive high winds.