New Construction Materials

woodmagman

What new construction materials pose a significant threat to tradition material?
TJI is replacing dimension lumber for floor joisting.
Built up roofs is being replaced by single membranes.
Vinyl siding, replaced wood siding.

laybrick

seems like everybody wants cultured stone anymore, rather than natural masonry

mikesewell

Polymers, polymers, polymers. Chemistry is still in it's infancy.

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AtlanticWBConst

Funny, your post reminds me of:
The guy in 'The Graduate' talking about 'plastics'...

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thom

I don't think threat is the correct word. The basic material in TJI's is lumber. It's not so much replacing lumber as providing an improved lumber product. Same with single membrane roofing.

Clearly vinyl siding replaces a traditional siding, but lack of decent materials for wood siding is driving that as much as anything. Maybe it is a shortage of affordable redwood siding that pushed the shift to aluminum then vinyl.

Though I hesitate to use new materials until they have some real world testing by others, I must say many of the new products are better than the old ones. Clear trim was nice but got impossibly expensive. Finger joint just doesn't finish well (many of the joints show) but mdf finishes and installs nicely. Latex paint is a better product than oil for many (but not all) applications, and can be easier to work with. Remember butyl caulk. I think we're all happy with latex caulk. How about the switch from 8penny hand drives to staples for sheathing and decking? I don't think anyone want's to go back there. Plastic DWV pipe instead of Cast? Plastic is cheaper, easier to install, maintains better, lasts longer. Who here would put cast in his own house?

There is a reason we call these changes progress. Sure, there are some backsteps, but overall we build a much better product today than we ever did before. People say "They don't build them like they used to". I say, thank God.

mikesewell

Absolutely.

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mdshunk

Um... I did.

Nice not to hear the upstairs crapper flushing.

POOLMANinCT

ask my grandfather, a plaster contractor in NYC - what he thinks about sheetrock

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georgia dawg

I think many folks dismiss a new product when it first comes out. Sometimes rightly so, but as the quality kinks are worked out and pricing drops, watch out. Keep your eye on:

Pex
Tankless water heaters
cement board
high R-value insulation (21 vs 19, 15 vs. 13)
quality laminate flooring
panelized construction

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JasontheMason

Thats weird I did too.

RLGC

I work a lot in a town in North Jersy that is known for its old victoian and colonial homes. The money people spend triing to keep to the period is amazing. I wonder if the materials that are availabe today were around back when those houses were built if they would opt for something that didn't have to be painted regularly, and was resistent to insect infestation. I wonder if the contractors had a choice whether to nail a billion pieces of lath on roughly honed lumber and plaster the hell out of it, or slap some sheetrock up spackle and sand,which would they choose. I know the electricians that lived to talk about installing their knob and tube wiring would be in awe of the new products out there. The licking your fingers touch wire test not withstanding. Sodering has vitually been eliminated with the plastic water lines now available. High efficiency boilers and on demand water heaters make sence to me. Roofing products that are algae resistant. Flexable bonding products for tiling. The elimination of aspestos in building products. No more lead in soder.
Composit decking products are a beautiful thing. Then there is corean and the like.
Although many products out there leave much to be desired, I personally salute the new technology. Be well

Builtbybeck

I needed a few sheets of greenboard the other day and was supprised that my local lowe's doesn't cary it any more. The new product was a paperless fiberglassed faced gypsum. The plusses were nothing to support mold growth and more dent resistant. The cons were a texture I could see in the right light after finishing, (needed a skim all over) and it ate up blades.

Bradracer18

I am in a material engineering course right now....and you guys would be surprised of all the engineering that goes into a product. We are just about to talk about reinforced(fiber) concrete. Were talking about the fusolodge (spelling?).....and the turbine blades on an airplane....

Neat stuff, I'll tell you what........

keepitstraight

here in the mountains of sw colo we average 300 sunny days/year. the uv is a killer. these are some changes we have seen.

since i moved here from minnesota 6 yrs ago i had the hardware stores get both torx screws and white bag durabond. they're staples now of course.

pex is king. totally. in floor heat is almost standard with gypcrete on the second floors. others are still skeptical about in-line water heaters, but i'm going that way. lots of history in europe.

in minnesota greenboard was not allowed in exterior walls, at least in northern minn. it apparently turns the center of the board into slime. almost everyone here uses lick and stick "stones" and they tend to look pretty good. there is a foam rock looking thing i saw used, but they need to come up with something for the edges where it hits a door, corner, change of material etc.

the vinyl siding is for those whose primary concern is low maintenance over appearance. the same with hardiplank or cemplank. they look ugly to me until you are 30 yards back (for cement siding) and the vinyl has so few options to make a gable look good. old houses lose their charm there.

the tones are always light because the vinyl expands so much it has been known to twist studs according to what i've heard. the dark colors expand too much in the sun. we won't mention the obligatory j-channel effect around the windows, doors and features.

i think i am like others here, let it get the kinks worked out before i want it on my home. keep it basic, keep it clean, environmentally as sound as possible.

hrscammisa

Differant materials for differant climates on the siding t1-11 would not work where i live.Its all vinyl siding and I would take tji's over 2x materials any day and I still use rebar in my pours even with fiber mesh and the new decking now is great low maintenance

Same Old

Fiber mesh is not a replacement for rebar. Not even one little bit. They have completely different purposes.
It is a replacement for wire mesh though.

I can understand the confusion as most people think wire mesh is some type of replacement for rebar, it isn't.

tcleve4911

Solid vinyl trim boards. Just did a curved railing on an exterior balcony. Glued up 5/4 vinyl, no worries about water getting into the joints since the stuff "fuses" together as one piece with the PVC glue.

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Wolverine-Eric

We are involved in liquid ceramics (not for house paiting... We believe that the 'never paint again' stuff is a scam). A couple of years ago it was only suitable for warehouse floors and garage floors. Now, we are figuring out how to make it extemely decorative. Now, a few residential applications have been done. It is just a matter of time before it is used in residential applications in a mainstream kind of way.

Now, about the 'never paint again stuff'... This is the kind of product that makes you guys re-think using new products. In general, we see companies over-selling thier materials and in some cases... flat out lying about what they can do.

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Same Old

Do you have a recommendation for an epoxy garage floor coating?

Preferrably one that will clean easily, but still have some traction.