Just wondering if any Florida members live in homes made of reinforced concrete & how you made out during hurricane season.  Also, can you recommend a builder of these homes?  Looking at the Citrus County area.

Not reinforced but we have "Post Andrew" cinderblock with poured columns and properly stapled shingles.  We didn't loose one shingle and the only damage was all thoe holes I made attaching plywood.    We live north or Orlando in Volusia county.

I did notice a few things to keep in mind.  We are protected by woods/a house on the northeast side.    I think a wind break is almost more important than construction so long as you don't slap up your house using the cheapest methods available.

Large old oaks look nice but need to be thinned so that they don't topple.

Hope this helps.

-White Horse

Mine is Cinder block and brick and it did fine. I was more concerned with the looters than the Hurricane!

My house is a block home with the Hip style roof.  No damage from any of the storms.  A lot of folks near us did not fare so well, I'm in Lake County.

I'm in Martin county where both of the east coast storms came ashore.  My house is wood frame with a metal roof.  It really is not that important what the walls are made of, all the damage done here was when the homeowners lost their roof.  If the shingles go, then everything gets wet, and is ruin.  On my street 6 lost their roof, one house was total, all with 3 tab shingles, don't use them.

Pasco county, sustained 80mph winds, high end 5th wheel trailer. No damage.

Palm Beach County here, in the south part of the eye wall during Jeanne with 110+ mph winds.  My house is post-Andrew CBS construction with concrete window & door headers and hurricane ties.  Roof is an underlayment of shingles with concrete tiles on top (tiles are pretty much for looks only).

We had no damage to the house.  We did lose a dozen or so roof tiles, but the shingles underneath kept everything dry with no real damage.  We're still waiting (as are many people) for a roofer to find time to replace the tiles.

Lennar's our builder.

We live in Orlando, just north of the International airport. Charley gave our house 110mph  gusts, and I don't know the sustained winds. Seems that we were right in that Northeast quadrant that the weather types talk about. Lost 2 trees, and the fence and part of the roof (shingles only). This is on a mid-70's concrete block home with the normal down cells(poured) and lintel block(poured continuous). Don't really see the need to go with anything like "reinforced concrete".
Was farther south by Kisimmee 3 days after Charley, and they caught it worse than we did (traffic lights blown completely away, etc.) and saw no structural damage other than roof and falling tree damage. Only reason I was there is that I work for a roofing company and had estimates to do.
Bottom line is that this reinforced concrete sounds like a rip-off, having spent my adult life building and quality control of structures.


Dave

Quoted: We live in Orlando, just north of the International airport. Charley gave our house 110mph  gusts, and I don't know the sustained winds. Seems that we were right in that Northeast quadrant that the weather types talk about. Lost 2 trees, and the fence and part of the roof (shingles only). This is on a mid-70's concrete block home with the normal down cells(poured) and lintel block(poured continuous). Don't really see the need to go with anything like "reinforced concrete". Was farther south by Kisimmee 3 days after Charley, and they caught it worse than we did (traffic lights blown completely away, etc.) and saw no structural damage other than roof and falling tree damage. Only reason I was there is that I work for a roofing company and had estimates to do. Bottom line is that this reinforced concrete sounds like a rip-off, having spent my adult life building and quality control of structures. Dave

I have a friend in Punta Gorda-he wasn't as lucky as you & many of the other arf members.  Anyway, glad you & others did ok.  No-reinforced concrete homes are not a rip-off.  In fact, 100's of homes across FL this year will be built this way.

Check out these companys' sites: Davis Caves, Performance Building Systems, and www.undergroundhomes.com/.  They should be some of your best bets for a strong and efficient house.

Glox:

I would like to be more positive about reinforced concrete, but the ones I have seen (and tested) were a styrofoam block situation with vertical re-bar at coded intervals. If you are talking about said styrofoam blocks, w/rebar at intervals, the actual concrete thickness may be about  5" or 4.5" (nominal average due to the fit and/or size of the form blocks). Add to this that concrete is usually poured at only 4' lifts, then allowed to set. This situation results in a "Cold Joint" when the next 4' lift is poured. Right in the vertical center of an exterior wall.
It sounded like a good thing at first, but seems to me that the old CMU w/downcells works just as good. Only advantage of the styrofoam (if that is what you're referring to) is the increased "R" value. Always a plus in Florida.

Dave

ps; Hope your friend in Punta Gorda is ok!

Quoted: Glox: I would like to be more positive about reinforced concrete, but the ones I have seen (and tested) were a styrofoam block situation with vertical re-bar at coded intervals. If you are talking about said styrofoam blocks, w/rebar at intervals, the actual concrete thickness may be about  5" or 4.5" (nominal average due to the fit and/or size of the form blocks). Add to this that concrete is usually poured at only 4' lifts, then allowed to set. This situation results in a "Cold Joint" when the next 4' lift is poured. Right in the vertical center of an exterior wall. It sounded like a good thing at first, but seems to me that the old CMU w/downcells works just as good. Only advantage of the styrofoam (if that is what you're referring to) is the increased "R" value. Always a plus in Florida. Dave ps; Hope your friend in Punta Gorda is ok!

Thanks for your experienced input., which I respect.  My bud in Punta Gorda is having insurance problems & doesn't expect  his home to be normal until the end of summer.  It's a sad situation.  The storm blew his garage door in & that was just about it for the roof.  After that, the water soaked everything.  His insurance is giving him the run-around on what the fine print said on his policy.  I'm planning a move to the gulf side & I'm looking at the various building techniques used in the Sunshine State.  Have a good one & thanks for your reply.

Here's what ya'll need.........  I'm thinking about this when it comes time to buy/build a house.

www.aidomes.com/

Quoted: Here's what ya'll need.........  I'm thinking about this when it comes time to buy/build a house. www.aidomes.com/ www.aidomes.com/pics/slide7.jpg

That is one awesome design.  Check domeofahome.com.  Sorry, don't know how to make the link hot.  Anyway, the home is in Pensacola Beach.  What a fine idea.  What  about dome home cost?

Hey, AirforceSP;
Does that design come with the hill to divert the wind, or is that optional?
We're kind of shy on hills here in East Orlando.