61 replies to this topic

[Dave_12]

Brian, there is not much difference  and the good thing about steel is no toxic chemicals are needed for protection from termites.

[Phil Hackett]

In my area, when there's a tear-down, it's almost always a steel load structure installed. Not sure about steel exteriors being OK by LA City building codes.

 

Also, where I live, stucco is the material on exterior walls... except many of the tear-downs install siding.

[Dave Crevie]

Just after WWll, the federal gummint subsidized building of all steel Lustron homes for returning soldiers. These houses were pre-fab, pressed out of enameled steel sheets. All water piping, sewer, and heating ducts were already installed in the wall sections. The builder just had to bolt everything together. The idea was good in theory, but it real life there were several problems. If you had a water pipe leak, you had to cut a hole in the wall with a torch to get to it. The walls were cheaply insulated, and since steel is a good thermal conductor, the houses were very cold in the winter, with no room to upgrade the heating plant. Sewer pipes often froze and would back up. 

 

One of the selling points of the Lustron homes was that they were all steel and not prone to fire. The problem was, that most of the contents were wood, and would burn. And the heat from the fire would warp the walls and the house would be ruined anyway. I had a relative that lived in a Lustron home in Lombard, which was one of a whole block of identical Lustron homes. These were the same design as the one at 2:15 in the video. Several of these homes were destroyed by fire. Proof that no home it totally fireproof.

 

But what really brought them down was that the walls would rust out along the bottom where they were bolted to the cement slab. The last of that group was torn down in the 1970s.  

 

[Bucky]

There was video of a Jewish temple that had been totally missed by fire while all the other structures around it burned to the ground. Makes you wonder.  

What does that make you wonder?

[Phil Hackett]

The conspiracy theories are raging out of control over the fires, the causes and the underworld's ultimate goals. Everything from Scientology to invisible beam weapons from space to completely tearing down LA to make it a smart city ala the WEF.

 

As for the fore mentioned Temple that survived.... perhaps it was built in a way that made it fire resistant/proof. I know the church I was baptized in is made of stone and concrete with a slate roof. I suspect it would stand a direct atomic hit. Maybe the temple had similar construction. I see no sinister plot here.

[Dave Crevie]

Sad, sad situation. This is an aerial shot of the neighborhood an old family friend lived in. Glad he and his family are out of there. In the bottom right corner is a Jewish temple (white building), totally untouched. The last of my living blood relatives lives in Huntington, not far from the library. Safe, for now.

 

 

Have several "once removed" relatives scattered about SoCal. Mostly around Fountain Valley. I think they are all safe.

[Bill Seitz]

California changed building code requirements for houses in fire-prone areas after the devastating and fateful fire in Paradise, CA. However, the area that has just burned along the Santa Monica Mountains is an older neighborhood built well before such requirements.

 

A finding from analysis of the Paradise fire found that wind blown fire-brands were able to enter structures through vents and ignited the structures from the inside. New fire codes require protected vents. Another finding was that the increased use of plastics was also a major fire contributor. Wind-driven fires can reach over 1,000 F. Fiberglass melts and ignites. Aluminum melts.

 

While some houses in Arizona are stucco or other masonry with tile roofs, this isn't a building code requirement. My stucco home has an asphalt shingle roof as do many other masonry homes. Tiles can be made of aluminum or fiberglass, and I don't know the fire resistance of these products. Metal is the favored roof material for fire-prone areas.

[bbr]

Reality is – fire is now a common thing in Cali. 

 

But... I can't think of any other place I like to live. LOL.     

 

I just avoid locations that are fire, landslide, and earthquake prone.

[Pappy]

Try Ohio. 

[Cheater]

Might want to consider the weather factor.

Didn't you have 12 inches on snow on the ground when we spoke the other day, Butch? LOL.

 

Bottom line is that are pros and cons to every location where one might live.

[Pappy]

Sure did. Have you ever been sled riding in LA? 

[Dan Ebert]

Never had to shovel fire, just sayin...

[Cheater]

Just like I have never once had to shovel sunshine... LOL.

[Pappy]

And snow has never burnt down my house, mud slides have never covered up my house, and earthquakes have never shook my house apart. 

[Pappy]

Never had to shovel fire, just sayin...

 

Dan, you've never shoveled ashes?

[Dave Crevie]

For the last ten years I have been searching for the ideal place to retire to. Haven't found it yet. The closest recently got covered in volcanic ash.

[Brian Czeiner]

For the last ten years I have been searching for the ideal place to retire to. Haven't found it yet. The closest recently got covered in volcanic ash.

 

Houseboat. No lawn, no neighbors, fishing pole in one hand, TV remote in the other.

 

And if you don't like the location, crank up the motor and move.

[old & gray]

As the comic once commented about the weather in New England:

 

"Snow, it falls from the sky and gently lands there. It doesn't shake, it doesn't slide, and it doesn't burn."

 

From a man who has chosen to live where the air hurts his face in winter. 

[Dave Crevie]

Been to Dallas/Ft. Worth and Plano area. Too hot/humid at peak of summer.

 

Visited a friend in San Antonio on a 114 degree weekend. We stayed inside. He said that down there they get three months of too hot weather, but nine months of beautiful weather. In Chicago, we get three months of nice weather, and nine of freezing cold weather. He was born and raised in the Chicago area.

 

It's a matter of what you like. There is no perfect paradise. 

[MSwiss]

C'mon, Dave, Chicago doesn't have nine months of freezing cold weather.

[Dave Crevie]

Read the post, Mike. I didn't say that, he did. But we can get below freezing for a low from mid Sept. to mid May. I may have been a fan of snow when I was a kid, but old age has made it a devil's curse for me in my old age. It's all personal preference. I prefer 75 to 85 degrees, 30 to 50% humidity.

 

 

[NSwanberg]

The conspiracy theories are raging out of control over the fires, the causes and the underworld's ultimate goals. Everything from Scientology to invisible beam weapons from space to completely tearing down LA to make it a smart city ala the WEF.

 

As for the fore mentioned Temple that survived.... perhaps it was built in a way that made it fire resistant/proof. I know the church I was baptized in is made of stone and concrete with a slate roof. I suspect it would stand a direct atomic hit. Maybe the temple had similar construction. I see no sinister plot here.

 

In this age of mass social media truth is whatever you want it to be.

[MSwiss]

Read the post, Mike. I didn't say that, he did. But we can get below freezing for a low from mid Sept. to mid May. I may have been a fan of snow when I was a kid, but old age has made it a devil's curse for me in my old age. It's all personal preference. I prefer 75 to 85 degrees, 30 to 50% humidity.

 

Screenshot 2025-01-17 151911.png

It doesn’t matter who said it, it doesn’t hit 32 274 days of the year in Chicago. It's more like half that.

[MSwiss]

I know your friend wasn't making a precise statement, but he wasn't close to being on Planet Reality. 

 

It only hit freezing 64 days last year.

 

 

[Larry Labounty]

With all the climates change I fell no matter where you are, we all are going to see some sort of issues. Look at how early tornados started to pop up last year. We been kind of lucky here in the Northeast, just a matter of time when we run out of luck.

My brother-in-law a sister lives in Burbank so I'm always thinking about what's going on out there. Makes me think about the movie The Perfect Strom instead of in the sea it's on land. Prayers for all who been affected by this!!