o/t flat pack houses and property market

[George Dawes]

factory flat pack houses, think this is a brilliant idea , cheaper gas and electric bills with being more fuel friendly, i think it will have some impact on the property market but benifit more people, only greedy Landlords losing out.

it's like in Australia getting on the property ladders isn't that big a deal, as renting is cheaper in comparison to the UK where if you can afford to rent you can afford to buy but people struggle to save for deposits, and a generation have struggled because of this.

it's like in America too, they have loads of houses made of wood.

[Shrimp Girl]

A bit like the old prefabs, my grandparents lived on a prefab estate and everyone loved them. It should be possible to design an updated, energy-efficient version of those.

[George Dawes]

A bit like the old prefabs, my grandparents lived on a prefab estate and everyone loved them. It should be possible to design an updated, energy-efficient version of those.

yeah, it's like them log cabins at Pine Lake, I've worked on them and there really warm and well insulated .

[shrimpnsave]

Are they like MFI of old (made for idiots)

[George Dawes]

Are they like MFI of old (made for idiots)

probably MDF , you can get it so it's fire retardant, we use a lot now in the UK, cheaper than wood(so they say)

[Keith]

Make them out of straw. Warm, insulated & really difficult to burn too.

[George Dawes]

Make them out of straw. Warm, insulated & really difficult to burn too.

bah humbug.

[seasonsinthesun]

Make them out of straw. Warm, insulated & really difficult to burn too.

But remember the story of The Three Little Pigs, and what happened to the one who made his house of straw.

[George Dawes]

Make them out of straw. Warm, insulated & really difficult to burn too.

But remember the story of The Three Little Pigs, and what happened to the one who made his house of straw.

weak counter argument


pine lake, and work cabins around here down the years have had no if little problems with strong winds, where brick houses have had roofs and Gable ends blown down.

plus flat packs will be cheaper to repair.

[KenH]

pine lake, and work cabins around here down the years have had no if little problems with strong winds, where brick houses have had roofs and Gable ends blown down.

Cement is a very poor "glue" - it's only good under pressure, i.e. vertically down forces. Cement can't really cope with sideways or upwards forces (like due to wind etc), hence why tiles blow off the roof and walls fall sideways. Whereas timber houses are actually held together by screws/bolts/joints etc which give them a much stronger resistance against sideways and upward forces. The main problem is rotting, which if treated/preserved well and properly maintained can ensure they last a good few decades.

[shrimpnsave]

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Fire retarded plastic

[marky No.1]

Retardant rather than retarded I hope, being biased I prefer them on wheels myself

[Keith]

Not too shabby a house built from straw for a little piggy!
Straw bale construction, wood siding & earth plaster.
http://www.deepgreenarchitecture.com/strawbale.html

[shrimpnsave]

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I prefer this,solid as a rock

[George Dawes]

the project is a 3 billion pound investment by China building 4 factories to produce an estimated 88.000 homes combined a year.