Trailer house. $238,000

Warren Buffett has always reminded me of the character played by Will Geer in the 1966 movie Seconds: so avuncular, so ruthless.

That's certainly what I've seen in stick-built houses up here.

I'm not even sure I've got a top plate. The birdsmouth on the rafter might just rest on the top course of concrete block. The only studs in my house are in interior walls. I'm sure my husband has seen the junction of roof and walls, but he's not available for me to ask right now. It's all buried under insulation, since we don't have any soffits.

We've got those on the shop that we built in 2006:

Nailed 'em in with my own lily-white hands. (You can always tell a lady by her hands.)

That's hardcore. Still, I can see why.

I'm pretty sure the trailers next door are tied down in some way. Maybe not as well as down there.

Cindy Hamilton

replying to Neill Massello, Iggy wrote: Had to look that one up. Yep, I agree with you. Especially, that blinking thing...I could totally see Warren doing that!

I saw a couple of prime examples coming down though Navajoland a couple of weeks ago. Hurricanes are rather rare in northern Arizona but it does get windy.

Those H8 "twisties" are better than toe nailing but they don't meet code for much down here. You use something like this for the trusses.

Until you don't ;-) Most hurricane damage to structures is because of uplift and internal pressure lifting the roof off or taking a stick built house right off the foundation. You guys saw that during "Mediocre Storm Sandy" that was only "super" because the houses were not built to take even a minimal tropical storm.

Granted. On the other hand, the code for footing depth is deeper here, because of frost. We each have the code we need for our conditions.

Cindy Hamilton

If the house is not firmly connected to the footing, it will just give you a good indication of where it used to be. ;-) "Mediocre Storm Sandy" proved the north does need a better building code, particularly if you are on the global warming band wagon.

There's a reason that codes get more demanding over time. We learn as we go.

Cindy Hamilton

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com posted for all of us...

ote:

I agree. I can tell you know I was be facetious. There was a hurricane in P A several years ago in new housing development near a nuclear power generatin g station. All flattened... Gen station didn't even have an alert.

The weight I was referring to was from the govt. I know my house would be a goner.