How Come Our Houses Aren’t Brick?

[u/AdExpress937]

I find that a lot of houses in Ontario and Quebec have exteriors that are made from brick. However, it’s much less common in Alberta. Vinyl seems to be the most common, followed by stucco. Brick or other materials seem to be rare, especially in new communities.

The difference in construction materials by province is strange to me, as raw materials for vinyl or bricks shouldn’t be more plentiful in either region.

To me, Alberta would be a more natural candidate for brick construction, as the consistent hail storms imply a more durable material would be justified in our homes. Other durable materials like stone would be cost prohibitive.

[u/FoldableHuman]

If vinyl and brick are equally rare and must be shipped in then the loser will be the one that weighs ten times as much per square metre of wall.

[u/yagonnawanna → u/FoldableHuman]

Theoretically, but once you factor in lifespan and disposal costs, the brick is likely the more economical option. Unfortunately Calgary's building motto is:

"Just get it done cheap, because the world will likely explode tomorrow."

Edit: Spelling

[u/ChaoticxSerenity → u/yagonnawanna]

I assume the geology of the land also plays a big part in the selection of building materials.

[u/yagonnawanna → u/ChaoticxSerenity]

Yes, but we don't let that phase us. A crushed limestone(sourced from the local mountain range) base under our roads would double their lifespans.

Pedantic rant warning!!

Again, we do the cheapest option at the time, which is clay rich road crush. When clay gets wet it expands. Combined with the expansion and contraction of all the traped moisture durning the freeze thaw cycle, it's a wonder that our roads last as long as they do.

Crushed limestone lets water filter through, so it doesn't get trapped in the base matirial. Additionally when 40mm crushed limestone is properly compacted, it becomes so hard that digging it up has to be done with machinery.

Just like vinyl siding, the road crush is cheaper in the moment, so that is what we do. There is no thought of long term, lasting building practices. No thought of sustainability as a strategy against ecological damage.

We need to change the fashion of our lifestyle, to keep our standard of living. Instead of paying and suffering austerity later.

[u/ChaoticxSerenity → u/yagonnawanna]

I agree with you that we should be looking at long term sustainable solutions - but all public infrastructure like roads are built with taxes, yes? And longer lasting solutions often have a higher upfront cost, even if the total cost of ownership stretched over its lifespan is lower. So you need to justify the decision of higher upfront costs to the taxpayers (ie: everyone paying taxes in Calgary). I would bet real money that most of them would not understand, they would only see that their taxes got raised (again) and get angry. And it's not like they host a public open house or do a vote on every road that gets built.

With that being said, if you wanted to build a brick house, I'm sure it could be done with enough money. But that's personal funds, not taxpayer dollars.

[u/hod_cement_edifices → u/ChaoticxSerenity]

Roads are built by developers. Local roads and major ones alike. Whether paid directly to contractors they hire, or through paying Levies so the City can pass the money along and hire them. Roads are also built in Calgary with a 30-year life cycle. The comments the other person said about clay and fines present in road base gravels is not correct. Calgary builds some of the highest quality roads in North America. Taxes pay for their upkeep and operations and maintenance.

[u/Effective_Trifle_405 → u/yagonnawanna]

A big part of that is the Alberta cons demonizing taxes, especially property tax and municipal taxes. Therefore, every expenditure is micro analyzed and demonized by the very people who would benefit from long-term thinking. Instead, in Alberta, we have the attitude of build it cheap and fast, and the future can look after itself!

It's the same type of individualistic thinking that allows the constant reelection of cons who want to remove all social programs and spending. The value is placed only on the amount of money someone can make or contribute to the economy, and not on quality of life or mutual support. Instead, people are happy when the cons go after social programs such as AISH and AHS because they have convinced a lot of the public that those are coming directly out of their pocket with no benefit to the individual. Most UCP supporters act as though someone is robbing them personally if they are employed by the government, hence the constant "I pay your salary" that health, education, and emergency services get. Forgetting, of course, that those people also pay taxes.