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If you go by history of the building inventory then a hybrid may be the answer. There are tens of thousands of Ordinary Construction ( masonry walls- timber floors ) buildings that are over a hundred years old back east.
Of course new ones would need to be reinforced concrete to meet seismic standards. but wood floors are lighter more flexible and more comfortable for residential size buildings
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You can meet seismic standards without building a reinforced concrete structure... though ultimately a reinforced concrete building, properly done, is our highest standard of strength and durability.
Now if there were, say, 20,000 historical buildings 100 years old or older that would be something like .0002% of the national housing stock. A very, very low survival rate.
Assume the best and ask questions.
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So called 'modern' building codes are more to provide a liability buffer for the state than to address realistic structural scenarios. Requiring bunker-grade footings for individual stick-built dwellings is total nonsense, but lawyers always find a way. When the fools in the state supreme court, and they ARE fools, allowed people to hold the state liable for catastrophic natural events, it opened a liability Pantora's box that is rapidly making owning a home, even a home you build yourself, out of reach for people of modest means. This, on top of the fact that a world of 9+ Billion people that we are rapidly approaching needs to be a world where housing uses minimal resources, not over-the-top, pie-in-the-sky lawyer dictated structural overkill that uses massive resources simply to put a roof over someone's head.
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You can't fix Samsara.
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'modern' building codes are more to provide a liability buffer for the state
If it's really all about "liability", why won't the State let me execute a waiver?
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Just had our post and pier foundation poured according to the new code. I think we missed being grandfathered in with the "on top of the ground" piers by three months. It sure was a hassle getting it done. Inspectors sign off on it after the termite treatment and before the concrete is poured.
The contractor poured my concrete cesspool cover at the same time. Cesspool was installed 7 months prior.
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People should complain loudly to their council member. The Building Department is requiring solutions to problems that don't exist.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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The Building Department is requiring solutions to problems that don't exist.
They seem to only "require" this of people who can afford permits... perhaps this is somehow "fair".
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Permits are cheap... Building to what's on the permit is expensive. I got a permit to build for my home, but didn't end up building it as I basically ran out of $ at the time. I doubt it will ever be finialed.
I was worried at first... But when I saw how the building department handled the "house of cards" property, I figured I was golden! Unless the state burned it down? Could they really be that corrupt?
I've seen where people will get a house plan and 2 car garage, start off with the garage, then pimp the space out to a nice small living space and never finish the house. More than one way to get it done. Getting a little creative with the plans.
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Does anyone know if there is a limit how high off the ground a post and pier can be and also must be now?
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All depends on accepted or engineered lateral bracing installed. I imagine if you shear plywood walled the corners and post/pier in between, you would get the seismically/wind structural approved pretty easy. Diagonal 2x6 bracing (x pattern) greatly helps as well. Both would get you eight feet. Most fail at removing the diagonal bracing within the exterior perimeter to gain square footage, but without beefing up the exterior bracing to make up for the loss, or actually creating a framed shear plywood room, you end up with a weaker structure.
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