Hurricane resistant construction ?

Question

Anyone had any experience with concrete residential construction ? How did the concrete buildings fare in the MS coastal area after last storms ? I am looking at http://www.ConcreteCottage.com as an example of concrete home construction.

Answer 1

I've worked on a few of these in Louisiana.  Here are a few of my opinions.

They are only as good as their foundations, and they require one heck of a foundation.  Now only should it carry the additional load of the structure, but it should resist being scoured by water.

They make hanging anything difficult and expensive.  The forms rarely stay straight under the tremendous loads of the liquid concrete, and are 'wavy' at best, and bow tremendously at worst.    

Personally, I like the raised steel construction in a coastal area.  It solves the flooding problem, and is very capable of surviving the wind.  Tornadoes are another story, and anything is susceptible to those in a hurricane.

Answer 2

Hello. I am from Puerto Rico. In PR majority of the homes are made of concrete & steel rods, even the roofs. When was the last time you heard about a devasting hurricane in PR??? Not for a long time. We get hit all the time, but our houses dont fall down. You hear other islands like Haiti & Dominican republic with devastation because there is alot more poverty & people have many wood homes or huts that get destroyed.

I suggest you build your home like we do. I am not an expert but I can tell you the basics. First you need to lay your concrete foundation reinforced with steel rods of course. Then the walls we build with cinderblocks & steel rods, then fill or cover(not sure) with concrete. Now the concrete roof is much harder. We usually hire a contractor that knows what theyre doing.  Also you can add hurricane shutters which are steel that close by rolling down.

OK now look at this photo. This home has part of it comleted & then part was underconstruction again. So you can see what it looks like while building. You see the rods sticking out of the cinderblocks. Also the hurricane shutters.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kroman/5060...