Stick vs. Concrete / Construction Quality Issues

[PhilmerPhil]

Lisa Bender kinda debunked that whole piece: https://twitter.com/lisabendermpls/stat ... 4231655424

[mplsjaromir]

That dude in her mentions has the thirst.

[Nick]

I kinda get the sense that most (but not all) complaints that "all new development looks boring/the same" are really just stand ins for "I don't want anything to change" in the same way that people pretend some crappy old house is historic or claim a four story building will destroy their neighborhood's character.

All the brownstones in Loring Park and Stevens Square look the same and are kind of boring, and the density of the neighborhoods are what make them interesting.

[RailBaronYarr]

^1,000x this.

Maybe brick really does give a more natural texture that ultimately is more pleasing to the eye vs. metal/glass/etc. Maybe it's just something we convince ourselves we love it so much because we romanticize 50-100 years ago. Ultimately I think it's (*mostly) the change thing.

[min-chi-cbus]

^50% of these

I'm not sure it's got anything to do at all with anti-change, as I'm 99.9% certain I've heard that assertation here on urbanmsp.com amongst our own "urbanites" and I doubt any of us are anti-change. I think it just comes down to the fact that no matter what you design, there's always somebody who's going to disagree with it, and when a design is under a strict budget there's a better chance that the design will be mainstream/uninspiring since there's less room for creativity.

[clf]

I just wonder about the longevity of these types of buildings. I have heard there are already issues with some that are a bit older.

[Silophant]

I do as well. I think that in 2060 or so we'll look at these buildings in the same way that we look at brownstones now, if there's any left. And that's a big if.

[Nick]

What kind of buildings don't need work done twenty, thirty, fifty, or a hundred years after they've been built?

[clf]

20 years sure, but I have heard the Blue already has some issues with the windows leaking and it has not been open very long.

[maxbaby]

YIKES! The horror of all stick construction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQJMJ6E-OYY

[Anondson]

Vienna going big with tallest wood building.

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/ ... are_btn_tw

[trigonalmayhem]

My big complaint about stick is that if you have an upstairs neighbor who stomps or wears high heels (or BOTH!) it's intolerably loud. I'm surprised they aren't all carpeted to avoid this as much as possible. I'm probably going to shoot for concrete and steel next time because I hate outside noise and knowing exactly what room someone else is in upstairs.

[FISHMANPET]

International Building Code revised to allow 8 story stick buildings:
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/pos ... ses-in-dc/

Looks like currently it allows 1 story of concrete with 5 of stick on top, but that the change is "more" concrete (2 stories?) with 6 of stick on top of that, for ~8 stories total.

I'm guessing the state would have to adopt the code revision and then the city would have to adopt it as well?

[seanrichardryan]

So, do they need taller fire ladders now?

[RailBaronYarr]

Should buy these Japanese trucks that can reach 41m high (134'). http://www.tfd.metro.tokyo.jp/ts/soubi/car/03_01.htm

[Nick]

Throughout the boom of the past couple years, there have been a lot of questions about construction quality in some developments. Thought I'd set up a thread after I saw this walking today:


IMG_4667 by UrbanMSP, on Flickr

It's the side of Eitel Building City Apartments, built in 2008. Studios start at $1095/month.

*moves into building*

[Tiller]

I doubt this is exclusively a central-city problem, or even an apartment problem.

As someone whose father and grandfather both worked in construction for their entire working lives (and still do), let me say, that not all construction workers are the "cream of the crop", if you catch my drift (luckily that doesn't include my aforementioned family). Whether that means they are incompetent, or that they give zero shits about quality, the result is the same: shoddy work as seen in this thread. It can really be just hit and miss.

Sometimes you'll find people who take pride in their work, enjoy making an honest living, do it to feed their family, [other stereotypical statement about blue collar workers]. Other times, you'll find workers whose drug habits affect their craftsmanship, management who just want to move on to the next job ASAP (regardless of circumstances), or even workers who were never adequately trained, yet are involved with something like waterproofing.

so yeah, it's a systemic feature of our labor market. Having worked with my dad, I've seen it first hand.

[Anondson]

12 story wood tower approved in Quebec.

http://www.treehugger.com/green-archite ... oreys.html

[grant1simons2]

Sam firm who designed on T3

[MNdible]

It will be obvious if you read the articles, but because of the thread title, I just wanted to clarify that in this case, "wood" is very much not the same as "stick".