Flimsy homes of America

You can hear conversations through the walls, footsteps up the stairs, banging pots in the kitchen when you're across the house. That's just life in most American homes. Walls are thin and the opposite of soundproof, and something always needs to be fixed. And most homes aren't even that old. There should be no excuse that they're falling apart, but why are they like this? Especially when other areas have sturdy, thick houses that last hundreds and hundreds of years.

The answer isn't just capitalism, so don't click off the video just yet. It's actually a lot more complex, and the solution isn't easy.

The History of Balloon Framing

If you're looking for one quick thing to blame, you can look towards George Washington Snow. In 1832, the civil engineer was tasked with building a Chicago warehouse as quickly as possible from the local softwood. So he got creative. Snow used two-by-fours to assemble hollow walls several stories high. The method let individual workers handle assembly, leaving only one person to nail it all into place. Snow completed the warehouse in record time.

The method was called balloon framing, and it became the construction method of choice in Chicago. But balloon framing didn't take off until the 1940s, when America was experiencing a post-war boom period. More Americans had money than ever before, and they wanted the American dream: a house. They could suddenly afford to buy homes in sprawling new suburbs, and contractors knew they could make a killing if they could produce enough homes to satisfy the demand.

Balloon framing and its successor, platform framing, allowed contractors to frame houses basically overnight. But there was something unique about balloon framing that made it only feasible in certain countries like the US and Canada and not in Europe.

Why Balloon Framing Is Only Possible in the US

Balloon framing requires a massive quantity of long, mature trees. America had an abundance of super tall mature trees, plus it was an easy and cheap construction material for the newly growing suburbs. Wood is sturdy yet flexible enough to withstand low intensity earthquakes and tornadoes. If you want to hear about all of wood's good qualities, check out our video on the subject here.

In Europe, wood is still incredibly expensive because so few forests remain and what they do have is heavily protected. So the average European home is built with brick, stone, or concrete and they are many centuries old. These materials can be sturdier and safer than wood. A concrete masonry wall has a shock-er higher fire insulation property rating compared to a wooden frame wall. One of these concrete walls has a fire rating of around four hours until it's destroyed, as compared to a wooden framed wall which only has a rating of around an hour. Insurance carriers also have long-term data suggesting that homes constructed of brick are less likely to be destroyed by natural hazards. And if saving money is your game, the US Department of Energy estimates that you could save $340 a month or over $4,000 a year on heating and cooling if you live in a brick house over a wood one.

Why American Homes Are So Cheap

It's not just the construction method that makes American homes so cheap. It's also the way we build them. In most other countries, homes are built to last. They're made with sturdy materials and they're designed to be maintained. But in America, we build homes to be cheap. We use cheap materials and we don't put much thought into maintenance. This is why American homes are so flimsy and why they fall apart so quickly.

What Can Be Done About It?

So what can be done about it? Well, there are a few things. First, we need to change the way we build homes. We need to use sturdier materials and we need to design homes that are easier to maintain. Second, we need to change the way we think about home ownership. We need to stop thinking of homes as disposable and start thinking of them as investments. And finally, we need to be willing to pay more for a home that's built to last.

It's not going to be easy, but it's possible. If we all work together, we can make American homes stronger and more sustainable.