cavity wall

[imago]

Challenge aside, I do agree with you. Modern construction techniques mean that buildings have built in obsolescense, and I don't think thermal efficiency is the reason. If a building lasts for a hundred years it's bad for all the industries involved in putting it up. If it lasts for thirty or so there is a turn around which keeps everyone in business/work.

 

[Guitarist]

Timber is treated against pests far more efficiently than it was decades ago.

 

[Engineer54]

I accept the challenge

Cinder blocks which were used prolifically in the '40s '50s and '60s are no longer allowed. They were just as crumbly as the modern thermal blocks, and they also started to burn if the building caught fire because they were essentially compressed cinders from the coking plants.

I bet those houses built with those cinder blocks will outlast anything built from the 70's onwards. Most of the council houses, and probably the low rise flats were built with them. Those in my parents house (built in 51) where i grew up, were pretty dam solid, as were the bricks that were used...

 

[imago]

I bet those houses built with those cinder blocks will outlast anything built from the 70's onwards. Most of the council houses, and probably the low rise flats were built with them. Those in my parents house (built in 51) where i grew up, were pretty dam solid, as were the bricks that were used...

Which is just like saying that an old rewireable fuse board will outlast a modern board. It's true, but misses the point.

 

[Guitarist]

I sort of agree , but I would rather have a bit more protection than just PVC/pvc . Agree with demand,the most your gona to have is a tv + dvd player and a table lamp,will always ask just in case he wants to weld in his conservitry lol

I know several people who don't have central heating in their conservatory, just plug in a 3kw fan heater when it gets cold.

 

[telectrix]

Timber is treated against pests far more efficiently than it was decades ago.

can't be that well treated if building inspectors can walk away after inspecting it.

 

[Engineer54]

Which is just like saying that an old rewireable fuse board will outlast a modern board. It's true, but misses the point.

So what's the point then??

 

[imago]

So what's the point then??

Neither the cinder blocks, nor the old style rewireable fuse boards are as safe as their modern counterparts.

 

[Guitarist]

Neither the cinder blocks, nor the old style rewireable fuse boards are as safe as their modern counterparts.

Totally agree. Longevity is no substitute for improvement in safety. Give me an RCD board any day over one with only rewireable fuses. That said, I reckon the new crabtree stuff will be around for a good while yet. Just like me...robust, yet safe

 

[Engineer54]

Neither the cinder blocks, nor the old style rewireable fuse boards are as safe as their modern counterparts.

What are you saying, literary 100's upon 100's of thousands of Council homes are unsafe, because of the use of the old cinder blocks, ...that's just cobblers!!! I'd like to see any of these modern wooden framed houses and buildings withstand a house fire better than those old council homes....

As far as the electrical argument goes, for sure RCD protection is better to have than not have, the same goes for MCB protection over rewireable fuses...

 

[imago]

Did I say unsafe? Not as resistant to fire, and unsafe are two different things. In the same way as describing all properties with rewireables as unsafe would be untrue, but to say they are not as safe as those with MCB and/or RCD protection would.

As for the cinder block walls with two coat plaster providing better fire protection than a boarded stud wall, you're wrong.

 

[Engineer54]

Did I say unsafe? Not as resistant to fire, and unsafe are two different things. In the same way as describing all properties with rewireables as unsafe would be untrue, but to say they are not as safe as those with MCB and/or RCD protection would.

As for the cinder block walls with two coat plaster providing better fire protection than a boarded stud wall, you're wrong.

Really, ....I bet i'm not!! Give me solid clinker block inner walls and partition walls (many were dot and dabbed plasterboard) any day of the week against a stud wall using the thinnest wood frame allowable with plastic sheet vapour locking. It's one of the main reasons for so many total losses with American wooden frame houses... That and the hundreds of screwit type wire connectors used in every house/apartment...loll!!