01-26-2008, 02:47 AM
just my opinion,
I looked into steel reinforced masonry construction .... stick built pencils out much better for me ... based on a thirty year structure life
being that we are in EQ. zone 4 (I was reinforced masonry inspector for a little while in my last life) .... masonry would require a lot of steel, carefully placed, to meet code. and a little extra in the lintels - for me to be comfy inside of of it
we should really be rated as ESQ. + ++++ out here on the BI compared to the other EQ4 zones.
...btw..... have you ever seen old reinforced concrete on the island? I believe there to be just as much of an issue with the steel rusting - concrete cracking as in any high salinity tropical location add a little vog ... and your concrete wall just became a battery - grin
... yup it corrodes out here too , even if imbedded in concrete ---- leading to a much higher failure rate out here than in termperate / dryer climates rock / hollow block would fare much worse for mold imo
I looked into steel reinforced masonry construction .... stick built pencils out much better for me ... based on a thirty year structure life
being that we are in EQ. zone 4 (I was reinforced masonry inspector for a little while in my last life) .... masonry would require a lot of steel, carefully placed, to meet code. and a little extra in the lintels - for me to be comfy inside of of it
we should really be rated as ESQ. + ++++ out here on the BI compared to the other EQ4 zones.
...btw..... have you ever seen old reinforced concrete on the island? I believe there to be just as much of an issue with the steel rusting - concrete cracking as in any high salinity tropical location add a little vog ... and your concrete wall just became a battery - grin
... yup it corrodes out here too , even if imbedded in concrete ---- leading to a much higher failure rate out here than in termperate / dryer climates rock / hollow block would fare much worse for mold imo