←back to thread

Is the world becoming uninsurable?

(charleshughsmith.substack.com)
478 points spking | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.437s | source
Show context
tobyhinloopen ◴[] No.42734903[source]
American, living in area prone to natural disasters: "Is the WHOLE WORLD becoming uninsurable?"

The answer is obviously "no" since there are other parts of the world that don't live on a hurricane highway nor build houses made from firewood in an area prone to wildfires.

replies(22): >>42735049 #>>42735252 #>>42735436 #>>42736011 #>>42736604 #>>42736730 #>>42737082 #>>42737199 #>>42737348 #>>42737687 #>>42738099 #>>42738455 #>>42738961 #>>42740444 #>>42740756 #>>42741668 #>>42741813 #>>42742051 #>>42742463 #>>42743561 #>>42744077 #>>42744352 #
infecto ◴[] No.42737082[source]
Honest question. Why when people describe wood framed homes do they always phrase it like houses made from "firewood", "sticks", "twigs" etc? It at least for me always detracts from the argument at hand. You could just as easily build a wood framed home with an exterior shell that is fire resistant using modern materials or brick.
replies(14): >>42737226 #>>42737735 #>>42737914 #>>42737966 #>>42737981 #>>42738100 #>>42738297 #>>42738497 #>>42739478 #>>42739857 #>>42740828 #>>42741037 #>>42741241 #>>42743464 #
1. globular-toast ◴[] No.42737735[source]
> You could just as easily build a wood framed home with an exterior shell that is fire resistant using modern materials or brick.

That is actually how pretty much all new houses in the UK are constructed. They are pre-fabbed timber frames with a brick facade. It's quite common for British people to be snobby about building materials. I wonder how many don't realise their house is timber framed.

replies(1): >>42738084 #
2. afactcheck ◴[] No.42738084[source]
> That is actually how pretty much all new houses in the UK are constructed

This claim struck me as unlikely, so I did a quick fact check.

Accroding to the most recent report I could find[1]: "Figures from the National House Building (NHBC) suggest that timber frame market share has developed from 19% in 2015 to 22% in 2021 and that market conditions, as described above, present the opportunity for this to develop to circa 27% by the end of the forecast period (2025)"

This appears to be driven by Scotland where 92% of new builds were timber framed in 2019, while in England (where the majority of new houses are built) it was just 9%.

[1] https://members.structuraltimber.co.uk/assets/library/stamar...