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cjfl

Beach Crab
Aug 29, 2010
3
1
Hello everyone,
I have posted questions here before about lots and construction, and I appreciate the thoughtful responses I received. I m still daydreaming about building a house on 30A, and I have some more questions. I was wondering why I don t see more concrete houses built in this area. It seems like it would be a desirable structure because of the hurricanes that threaten the area yearly. Do they cost a lot more to build that wood frqme structures? Is the roof also concrete in this type of construction? Was all the concrete in the area used up in building the Hilton House? Thanks for your responses
 

Matt J

SWGB
May 9, 2007
24,646
9,496
Until recently it wasn't a common method of construction in Florida. I've seen houses built in various combinations from complete bunkers, just walls, to even just the first floor. There aren't many contractors in the area that specialize or even have very much experience in the process. I would strongly suggest contacting Gidget that posts on here as she has the most experience of anyone I know of.
 

PalmBeach

Beach Lover
Feb 21, 2007
111
10
I grew up in South Florida where 90%+ of the construction is concrete block, so I was very surprised to see all frame construction when I moved here in 1999. I just had a 2 story cottage built in PC Beach with the first floor block and the second floor frame. The builder that I used charges the same for block or frame.
 

Matt J

SWGB
May 9, 2007
24,646
9,496
I think one of the other reasons for frame over concrete was due to the vast timber readily available for decades.
 

TNJed

Beach Fanatic
Sep 4, 2006
589
118
53
Seagrove Beach, FL
Maybe it's because of an insurance, building code, wetlands issue? Many houses here are elevated and on pilings and just wont hold the weight of concrete.
 

florida girl

Beach Fanatic
Feb 3, 2006
1,453
67
Santa Rosa Beach
My dad at one time built the wood frame houses, many in Grayton, but later switched to block due to the storms and sand. Most of the houses on the beach built before 1970 were his work. Concrete block is much cheaper than other materials. By the way, he died in 1975.
 
Last edited:

Sandy Thompson

Beach Comber
Sep 24, 2010
30
0
Concrete homes

My husband is a contractor in the 30A area and has built several homes in the area with poured concrete. I does cost a little more but is worth it (utility savings, insurance savings, and safety when the next hurricane comes through this area). We stayed in our house for every hurricane since 2004 and felt very safe. Sandy
 

Dmarcht

Beach Comber
Mar 28, 2008
9
0
Atlanta, GA
This is not a simple question and shouldn't be given a simple answer. I am an architect and have worked with many types of construction. I see advantages and disadvantages to both. Concrete and concrete block need to be reinforced with steel to resist horizontal forces caused by hurricanes as concrete is not strong in tension but very strong in compression. Concrete is not a very good insulator and has no waterproofing characteristics, so it has to have a waterproof coating added.
I see a lot of stucco on concrete walls and wonder if sealers are added to the finish to make them water resistant. You generally have to build a 2x4 wood wall on the interior to run electrical and to add insulation in the wall cavity. This seems like building 2 walls instead of 1 to me. Wood construction is fine as long the structure is properly engineered to meet today's stringent Florida Building Code which was developed after Hurricane Andrew. Wood buildings have to be sheathed in plywood and contain a multitude of metal connectors to tie all wood components together. They are typically better insulated. Walls are wrapped with housewraps and sealed around windows and doors. Roofs are coated with waterproof materials before roofing is applied. If you are trying to meet Fortified Home requirements to reduce insurance costs, concrete houses allow more flexibility in the configuration of the house. I believe all Alys beach houses are required to meet these standards. All in all if any house or building gets a direct hit from a hurricane or strong storm surge, I would not want to be in it. I fear there is getting to be a concrete good, wood bad mentality that is not accurate. If it is the look you are after then by all means go for it.
 

Matt J

SWGB
May 9, 2007
24,646
9,496
This is not a simple question and shouldn't be given a simple answer. I am an architect and have worked with many types of construction. I see advantages and disadvantages to both. Concrete and concrete block need to be reinforced with steel to resist horizontal forces caused by hurricanes as concrete is not strong in tension but very strong in compression. Concrete is not a very good insulator and has no waterproofing characteristics, so it has to have a waterproof coating added.
I see a lot of stucco on concrete walls and wonder if sealers are added to the finish to make them water resistant. You generally have to build a 2x4 wood wall on the interior to run electrical and to add insulation in the wall cavity. This seems like building 2 walls instead of 1 to me. Wood construction is fine as long the structure is properly engineered to meet today's stringent Florida Building Code which was developed after Hurricane Andrew. Wood buildings have to be sheathed in plywood and contain a multitude of metal connectors to tie all wood components together. They are typically better insulated. Walls are wrapped with housewraps and sealed around windows and doors. Roofs are coated with waterproof materials before roofing is applied. If you are trying to meet Fortified Home requirements to reduce insurance costs, concrete houses allow more flexibility in the configuration of the house. I believe all Alys beach houses are required to meet these standards. All in all if any house or building gets a direct hit from a hurricane or strong storm surge, I would not want to be in it. I fear there is getting to be a concrete good, wood bad mentality that is not accurate. If it is the look you are after then by all means go for it.

You sure about that?

You don't have to build an interior wall for wiring and insulation, in some cases if the end user desires a small sub-wall can be built using 1x1 firing strips, but a full two inches is unnecessary. As far as building out for insulation that's also incorrect as many poured in place homes now use a Styrofoam form so the insulation is built in.

As far as steel reinforcing, while that may a code requirement I can show you hundreds of examples of concrete block homes throughout the gulf coast that have weathered hurricanes just fine without steel reinforcement.
 

florida girl

Beach Fanatic
Feb 3, 2006
1,453
67
Santa Rosa Beach
This is not a simple question and shouldn't be given a simple answer. I am an architect and have worked with many types of construction. I see advantages and disadvantages to both. Concrete and concrete block need to be reinforced with steel to resist horizontal forces caused by hurricanes as concrete is not strong in tension but very strong in compression. Concrete is not a very good insulator and has no waterproofing characteristics, so it has to have a waterproof coating added.
I see a lot of stucco on concrete walls and wonder if sealers are added to the finish to make them water resistant. You generally have to build a 2x4 wood wall on the interior to run electrical and to add insulation in the wall cavity. This seems like building 2 walls instead of 1 to me. Wood construction is fine as long the structure is properly engineered to meet today's stringent Florida Building Code which was developed after Hurricane Andrew. Wood buildings have to be sheathed in plywood and contain a multitude of metal connectors to tie all wood components together. They are typically better insulated. Walls are wrapped with housewraps and sealed around windows and doors. Roofs are coated with waterproof materials before roofing is applied. If you are trying to meet Fortified Home requirements to reduce insurance costs, concrete houses allow more flexibility in the configuration of the house. I believe all Alys beach houses are required to meet these standards. All in all if any house or building gets a direct hit from a hurricane or strong storm surge, I would not want to be in it. I fear there is getting to be a concrete good, wood bad mentality that is not accurate. If it is the look you are after then by all means go for it.

The concrete block houses dad built were reinforced with steel, and he drove pilings down very deep. One house in particular I saw had an interior supporting wall that was actually 3 concrete/brick walls in one. Another I discovered had a sidewalk around the house that the concrete was 4 feet thick. Insulation was mostly an unknown at the time, but most of the beach houses were just that, summer houses. Concrete is cooler than others, especially positioned for the winds to blow through the house. You could tell after a hurricane which ones dad built for the most part.
 
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