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Wow... that's good to know about hay. (Seemed counterintuitive, so I went online and found: http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/ag/hayfire.html )
High moisture hay stacks can have chemical reactions that build heat. Hay insulates, so the larger the haystack, the less cooling there is to offset the heat.
When the internal temperature of hay rises above 130 degrees Fahrenheit (55 degrees C), a chemical reaction begins to produce flammable gas that can ignite if the temperature goes high enough.
Also scary is the preservative treated hay that produces hydrogen cyanide gas at high temps.
SFWoman
Yes, the tweakers have presented a problem for my friend in the trailer park biz.(or mbile home parks, as he calls them)
GWs"past" alcoholism??? I believe alcoholism is a disease that has no cure.
I walked to the end of the hall to open the door - and it was fake. There was just a door, no room. All for show.
Perhaps the door is for spirits only. I have seen doors leading to nowhere in the Winchester House.
Linda,
Usually if you have them sealed up in walls there isn't near the risk,because it isn't getting a huge amount of oxygen. But indeed- if you take a bale of straw and place it in a puddle of water, it can spontaneously ignite after a few weeks.Compost can get up to 18o degrees in the center when it decomposes. That's what mushroom soil is made of, and the heat "cooks" all the germs out. That's why my uncle was antimate about getting them into the barns as soon as they were baled. The bigger threat would be the walls rotting if there was a leak. Straw can last forever. I saw a lot of straw roofs in England, and if they are properly binded, they can last for almost 60 years. Not cheap though.
Nomad
Thanks for the info. I had no idea...I'll have to look into it in more depth.
I like the idea of buying a small house in a place ...maybe New Mexico and addig a large straw bale room as a family/living/party room. Give the whole structure a mission flair. There's something about thick walls that feels more permanent.
I would never fair well in a McMansion.
There’s something about thick walls that feels more permanent.
How about 10 feet of concrete? You can have your own nuke bunker.
I guess posting links is ungood. Nomadtoons, I was curious about the hay fire hazard, then found a link explaining. Learn something new every day.
(Wondering if that's how early man got started with fire; it seems more probable than relying on lightning.)
Nomad,
Please notice that I specifically exempted people like your parents, who own their own land. I was thinking about the overall economics of apartments vs. economics of trailers. It seems to me that in suburban areas, apartments are more cost efficient to run than trailers. I wasn’t railing out against trailer dwellers, I just can’t see how suburban trailer parks made any sense unless the costs are very low.
Incidentally, my boyfriend and I were contemplating about buying a used RV to live in. Apparently, there are some free parking areas in the BA and some people on fatwallets.com claim this was the cheapest way to live in the BA. I’d say all the benefits of trailer living and you can move your home if someone kicks you out. It was finally dismissed for being a little too absurdist.
Skibum,
I remember last summer there were a crop of million dollar trailer stories. These were in Malibu trailer parks owned by someone else. I laughed my ass off.
Re: straw houses, HARM kindly provided some links that I’m reposting:
http://www.dsaarch.com/
http://www.strawbuilding.org/
http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm?fileName=040301a.xml
http://www.skillful-means.com/menupages/strawbaletips.html
From what I read, straw houses do not burn easily. They are less likely to burn than all but concrete, adobe, and metal shelled houses. Straw is high in silica, which is a flame suppressant. Tightly packed straw doesn’t have enough oxygen to cause a problem.
SFWoman,
They should try selling your example Tuscan McVilla to Chinese investors, there will be takers :P
Linda,
Have you considered adobe as an alternative to straw? It might be a bit more expensive to build, but it has similar good insulation qualities and there's no question of combustibility
SQT,
Thanks, I guess wordpress thought I had too many links for one post.
SQT: I think it had gotten approved before then, as it now appears back on the page. (Same link that Linda came up with, actually.)
there’s no question of combustibility
When all houses are fire-proof, firemen will have nothing to do but to burn books. :-P
Sounds like Peter P’s been reading some forbidden literature.
I am Patrick Killelea's "Bay Area Housing Crash Continues".
guys,
I'm going to post my first thread here. It'll be on post asking for thoughts on post-crash economics and job opportunities. Let me know that sounds okay.
I’m going to post my first thread here. It’ll be on post asking for thoughts on post-crash economics and job opportunities. Let me know that sounds okay.
Just post it. Never ask. Anything is better than "Huh?"
My daughter used to have a silly game with a crystal ball called “Ask Zandar,†perhaps we should question a crystal ball?
I have more faith in the stars.
Or perhaps a crystal ball called "Ask Zillow".
“homedeptor�???
Alright...So I mispelled a word..... "astrid"????
well, I thought you were intentionally trying to poke fun at somebody
"Yes, the tweakers have presented a problem for my friend in the trailer park biz.(or mobile home parks, as he calls them)"
In commercial lending we call them "Manufactured Home Communities"...
HARM, please delete the troll, mustly let them fester. "flowergirl" anyone that posts that maggot troll gibberish, ie, mls listings from SF should be shot. As we cannot shoot them, we can only delete them.
tanks.
"In commercial lending we call them “Manufactured Home Communitiesâ€â€¦"
FAB, I hope I don't come across as completely ignorant, but I'm curious what sort of interests lead to "mfgr home communities"? Given how hard it is to move the trailers around, this sort of split ownership seems like a bum deal, particularly for the trailer owners. They're placing their immobile property in a place and betting that the mfgr home community will continue to be affordable and will not be slated for more lucrative developments(which seems like an easy temptation given the low cost of preexisting infrastructure).
Are these places considerably cheaper to run compared to apartments and thus produce enough economic benefits for both the trailer owner and the trailer park owner?
Are these places considerably cheaper to run compared to apartments and thus produce enough economic benefits for both the trailer owner and the trailer park owner?
We should just make apartments more appealing. Why should they even have things like "on-site laundry facilities"? I thought it is the 21st century!
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1. Congress enacts/President signs new Tax Code into law (1997) subsidizing real estate speculation? Check.
2. Cabal of arrogant Fed bankers/Washington politicians/Brokerage firms ignore (or actively encourage) massive Dot.com stock bubble? Check.
3. Aforementioned stock bubble imploding in Fed's/Pol's faces (2000)? Check.
4. Extreme Fed/Pol fear of damage to the rest of the economy by ruptured stock bubble and willingness to flood economy with ultra-cheap credit (to inflate new bubble)? Check.
5. Massive GSEs market intervention, allowing private mortgage lenders to shift default risk from themselves onto taxpayers, FCBs & institutional investors (using the magic of MBS/CMOs)? Check
6. Complete erosion of lending standards, thanks to Fed's easy credit + GSE's MBS/CMO mortgage risk transfer? Check.
7. Cabal of arrogant Realt-whores enforcing monopoly MLS, gaming the numbers and lobbying for federal protection? Check.
8. Public's unshakable faith in the impregnability of real estate ("it never goes down")? Check.
9. Public's complete lack of historical memory, understanding of credit bubbles, the Fed/GSEs, business cycles, etc.? Check.
10. China/Japan underwriting much of our toxic MBS/CMO debt, while secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
11. International carry-trade spawning RE bubbles all over the globe, thanks to ultra-cheap $USD ? Check.
HOUSING BUBBLE, YOU ARE CLEARED FOR TAXI
Discuss, enjoy...
HARM
#housing