How are houses built in the central states of the USA? How houses are built in America. The experience of Russians American houses

By writing this title, I mean a house that the average American family can afford. In this case, I just went to realtor.com and looked for houses within a 30 mile radius around me.

I searched for a long time, by the way, because the photos are bad. Americans don't bother taking pictures because everyone knows roughly what's inside. You still have to go and see.

In general, I chose a couple of houses with a cost of up to 200 thousand. And I will try to comment on what you will see in the pictures. Since such houses are even very familiar to me.

Here, look at the house. 3 Bed 3 Bath, that is, 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms with toilets. In the first picture, as in the song, it is sung: “This will be the front, it is called the facade.”

I've lived almost exactly like this before. So, I know the device at home well. On the right is a garage for 2 cars, and the garage is quite long and spacious. To the left is the entrance and a small porch. A tiny front garden, by default, builders plant rose hips there. We enter the house:

To the left is the entrance door, immediately from it there is a staircase to the second floor. Directly you see the windows overlooking the frontyard, that is, right in front of the house. In the first picture, the same windows to the left of front door, oriented? There are two figs hanging on the wall, it's just for beauty.

If we do not stop on the spot and continue to stomp, then we will reach the opposite wall of the house and exit through the glass sliding door to the backyard, that is, to the backyard.

Our kitchen was made differently, and even on the right, not on the left. Here is the same kitchen in more detail:

The refrigerator is far from the stove. Not very convenient, we had it next to the stove. Here, above the stove, a microwave oven is attached to the wall - as they often do now. It also seems inconvenient to me, because it is simply dangerous to lower the hot from above.

Cookers are now made with a double oven. That is, the lower one is large, and the upper one is a little smaller, so as not to waste gas in vain, if you just need to put out one chicken. There is one oven here. Lighting and an extractor hood are required above the stove, moreover, with a fan at two speeds.

When renting a house, as a rule, everything is already worth it, except for the refrigerator. Or maybe now a refrigerator is built in. To the right of the sink is a dishwashing sink. In the sink itself, a garbage chopper is necessarily built-in - disposal.

I stole this from another house, but that's the point. Upstairs suspended ceilings, on the right and on the left, long white doors are built-in pantries. Well here workplace for the hacker is shown as I see it. A pair of monitors for what else?

In general, I didn’t see anything in the basements: bars, game rooms, gyms, workshops. I show a piece of my basement in this video: Fizkult-Greetings from Doctor Vlad I do not insert it here, so as not to take up space, just click on the link.

On the ground floor, in addition to the hall with the kitchen, there are two more rooms - on the left and on the right. Here is one of these rooms from the same house:

Here it is empty. You can leave it like that. I have seen some done game room for kids. I note that it is not wires sticking out of the ceiling, but such a standard chandelier, as in the picture. It has a chain so it can be raised or lowered. Or she is above the table, then lowered. Or there is no table, then they raise it so as not to knock heads. How much I live, all the time I knock on such! 🙂

Often in one of these side rooms there is a fireplace, a TV and armchairs. Now I'll steal the photo from somewhere else in their house.

Yes, here is a classic of the genre - a relaxation room with a fireplace, with a TV on the wall. From the same, approximately, at home. There is also a sofa and comfortable, soft chairs. We ate, now you can sleep! All this is still on the ground floor.

Here is a small fireplace. Pay attention to the ceiling - it is sloping. That is, there is a roof right from above, without an attic above this room. And two windows to look at the stars. In the last picture in the article, you will see these windows on the left, right in the roof.

It's empty right now, but that's because the house is for sale. Of course, an appropriate entourage is always created around the fireplace.

And in this picture is already the second floor, that is, one of the bedrooms.

Most likely, this is the parent's bedroom, that is, the master bedroom. It differs in that it has its own toilet with a bathtub. The sink is often made double there, so as not to quarrel in the morning.

The ceiling is also sloping, so they do it so that there is more volume in the bedrooms. At the top there is a fan with light bulbs. Sometimes it is controlled from the remote control so as not to get up and turn off the light.

This is the bathroom in the master bedroom. Our toilet was around the corner, and the bath opposite. Well, there may be different subtleties. All toilets must be ventilated. Turns on next to the light.

And here is the children's bedroom. It was the former tenants who decorated it so. Of course, there are a million options. See what kind of kids you have. Americans always try to ensure that each child has his own room.

And a third bedroom. So, they took and painted it in different colours. It is clear that this is also a children's bedroom.

Another small picture: landry-room, that is, a washing and drying machine. The author was greedy and removed, apparently, on the phone. And now I'll steal from another house and glue them together.

You can see for yourself that the machines on the right are more modern. Both there and there you can see where the hot and cold water. Gas for the dryer is connected at the bottom. In the left picture you can see how the washing machine is on a pallet, drain under the pallet. This room is small, just behind the entrance from the garage.

Well, in the end, look at this house from the back.

In our house, the facade was exactly the same, but behind both floors are full, in the whole house. Apparently the bedrooms are small. On the ground floor there is a small window for the kitchen. They always make him so small. There are no pictures of garages, otherwise I would have posted too.

I’ve figured it out now, I haven’t told much about it yet. Every room has a smoke detector hanging on the wall or ceiling. And now they are also obligated to hang up the CO indicator, that is, carbon monoxide.

This so-called carbon monoxide without color and smell, which just “burn out” if the stove is closed early. They are the ones who get poisoned. All these sensors howl terribly when my wife is cooking if something is on fire in the house. And they fall silent only if you thoroughly ventilate everything.

These indicators have one more unpleasant property. When the battery starts to run out, they seem to beeping. That's it at night! You get up, pull the battery out of it and put a new one in the morning.

I haven't lit the lighting yet. Well done, right? There are many switches in the house. The simplest example - you entered the house, turned on the light, undressed, took off your shoes and immediately went up to the second floor. There is a second switch that can be used to turn off the light on the stairs. And there are a lot of such “paired”, and even built-in switches throughout the house.

In short, I'm rounding up. Ask if something is unclear. Here is a direct link to this house: 2461 Hearthstone Drive And here is the second one, from where I dragged the pictures too: 1471 Hearthstone Drive As you can see, they are on the same street.

Both houses are from Hampshire, not far from me and from Chicago. The one that I mainly talked about costs 190 thousand, the second 170. Approximately, because you can always bargain and agree.

P.S. And here is what a small apartment looks like, which can be obtained almost for free for people with little income.

For an American private house- indicator of success. Living in the suburbs, where the neighbors know each other, in silence, away from the noise of the metropolis, is much more prestigious than even in the center of New York. At the same time, a typical American house differs from a traditional Russian one. Let's try to understand the main differences.

Let's start with the construction process. The technology adopted in the USA involves the construction of a frame from wooden frames on which sheets of OSB or plywood are attached. Between them - a heater. The walls are hollow, making communications easy. In addition, such light walls do not need a solid foundation, the construction process is easier and cheaper. Redevelopment is also easy - no reinforced concrete that will have to be hammered. However, such an American house is more expensive to operate - it is more difficult to cool it in summer and heat it in winter than a capital one made of cinder block or brick.

Most likely, when you enter a typical American house, you will be greeted by a staircase like this leading to the second floor, which is more private, where the bedrooms are traditionally located. A closed corridor or a separate hall where it is customary to take off shoes and leave outerwear, in American homes most often simply is not.

The kitchen in American homes is usually open, spacious, often with an island for cooking. It is noteworthy that already finished houses can be sold unfurnished in other rooms, but always with a built-in kitchen set and equipment that is not accepted to take with you when moving.

The kitchen - dining room - living room in general usually represent one room, occupying almost the entire first floor. An American woman, choosing a house, most likely, will immediately say - I want to cook and look after the children or communicate with guests. Such an open layout is now becoming more common in Russia, but far from being so popular.

Garage for two or three cars, which often becomes part of the ground floor and has a separate entrance directly to the house - another difference american home. There are usually at least two cars in the family, because the hostess living in the suburbs also needs to get to work on something, take the child to training or to kindergarten.

Machines for drying clothes in Russian homes are rare, as is a separate laundry room. In American houses, for these two units, a special pantry is usually allocated, hiding the equipment from guests. Often a laundry with a dryer is located on the second floor, not far from the bedrooms, or in the basement. Washer in the kitchen or bathroom, which is often found in Russian small houses, will cause great surprise in the American.

Residential basement. For the average Russian, the basement is a cellar where potatoes and pickles are stored, stocks for the winter. For an American, the basement often becomes a full-fledged additional floor. There can be a home theater, a guest room with another small kitchen, a "men's lair" of the owner of the house, a bar, a games room.

Master bathroom. AT american home There are usually as many bathrooms as there are bedrooms. Or even more - a separate bathroom can be located on the ground floor for guests. Of course, it is not necessary that the bathroom be attached to the living room like this, as in the photo, but it must be adjacent to the master bedroom.

As for children's rooms, there are no significant differences in size and design. However, in the United States it is customary for each child to have a separate room. Therefore, an addition to the family often becomes the reason for moving to a larger house or redevelopment. Yes, and children's bedrooms usually have their own private bathroom, even one for two.

Leaving guests on the sofa in the living room overnight is not an American tradition. A spacious house usually has a separate guest bedroom with everything you need, although not very large, but functional, great for friends and family.

Built-in wardrobes and wardrobes. Another attribute of a typical American home. Free-standing wardrobes have not taken root in this country, there is a lot of space for clothes and shoes, so a dressing room often adjoins the master bedroom, and in the rest of the rooms there are wardrobes built into the walls for a lot of things.

BBQ area. An American house usually has two yards - in front of the house and in the back, hidden from the eyes of passers-by and neighbors. Exactly on backyard, even a small one, there will be a barbecue area - a typical American family pastime on warm summer evenings.

And finally - in the USA a house is rarely bought by a family with the thought - "This is where my children will live." Mortgages are available, the country is large, and there may be many reasons for moving. Therefore, the attitude towards houses and apartments is somewhat different - not for centuries, but as long as it is convenient for me and my family, a lot can change in ten years. In addition, we clarify that the above differences relate to traditions that have developed historically. Modern Russian mansions are often even larger than American ones and have similar characteristics.

Nov 28, 2018 Sergey

Do Americans really not use bricks to build houses? Or is it a myth? Surprisingly, but true - as shown in numerous action films, the walls are built from easily breaking cardboard and plywood. What is the reason?

Climatic features

Often there is a mention that it is mostly warm on the continent. But in the northern regions of America it is quite cold, but still we will not find capital house from stone. It turns out that it's not about the climate!

Frequent tornadoes

One side, stone houses stronger and more stable but frame buildings there are significant benefits:

1. collapsed wooden structures easier to dismantle than to take out a pile of cement and broken bricks.
2. A piece of concrete that falls on a person leaves practically no chance of survival.
3. The timing of the construction will allow you to quickly rebuild and move to a new home.

Due to frequent catastrophes, it is customary for Americans to insure property. In this way, they compensate for the costs.

In case of natural disaster almost every house has a basement - a residential basement where you can wait out the storm.

Love for freedom

Americans are initially characterized by a craving for travel, change of scenery and moving from place to place. It is in the genes, it is not for nothing that they are the descendants of desperate migrants! It is considered absolutely normal to move from state to state for study and work.

Leave inexpensive house much easier than a huge castle!

One house can change several owners, each of which will remake it for themselves. Frame structures are easy to use and reconfigure. Much easier and cheaper to fix wooden partitions than to move the main walls.

Economic reasons

Here we come to the main reason!

1. It is quite difficult to get permission from the state for brick construction.
2. There is a problem with production, it is too expensive and unprofitable, the plant requires a large number of permits and insurances.
3. Build brick house you can, but it will be very expensive. Only very wealthy people can afford such a luxury.

We all know distinguishing feature American dream - own house. The massive demand and affordable mortgages are pushing for the search for simple and available ways erection.

Clever decoration trick

You can see houses that look like brick, but in fact they are cladding. The walls are made of cheap shingles and thin planks. The main task of the American is profit. They need to build a budget option and sell as luxury housing.

Construction in America is historically corrupt, so commissioning regulations were written like this in a tricky way that it was possible to rent out dwellings in almost any condition! So expensive palaces with plywood walls arose.

The entrepreneurial spirit of American residents has long been known all over the world, so when buying a home in the USA, you should take a closer look at the walls!

typical american house

Classic is a cottage with a basement and a garage for 2-3 cars. The garage has an entrance through the living quarters. The basement is most often actively used, it increases the living space, because the technical rooms are located in the basement.

at the expense basement a building with two floors will be cheaper than a one-story building.

Planning features:

• there is always a separate toilet in the master bedroom;
• be sure to build a porch;
• the kitchen is combined with the living room;
• for clothes, a built-in wardrobe is used, more like a small room.

In every detail, the practical nature of American citizens is noticeable, they count their money and do not allow spending on unnecessary, in their opinion, things. Overseas, stone buildings are not popular, as they are more expensive and more difficult to resell and operate.

Even elite housing is built using frame technology, the cost is increased by increasing the area, location of the site and internal design.

Residents of the USA are very mobile, they do not tend to settle in one place, and they have no prejudices about their own strength and heat capacity of a brick! Economy, practicality and speed of construction are at the forefront.

Did you know that in the States even 5-story buildings are framed apartment buildings? Below is a small photo sketch of how things are with low-rise construction in the southern states of the United States.

But before talking about the construction itself, I would like to first talk about psychology, otherwise the picture will be incomplete or incomprehensible, which often gives rise to a wave of unfounded criticism of our overseas neighbors.

Americans

Home for a typical modern semi-urbanized American - a temporary home. They can change their homes as often as their cars. One of the reasons for the family to move is the proximity of the new house to a good school where the children will go. Among others - proximity to a new place of work, etc. Compare this attitude with our Russian mentality, where everyone strives to build for centuries, so that at least children and grandchildren get it. By the way, the children of Americans, upon reaching the age of majority, as a rule, leave their parental home (themselves or at the insistence of their parents) and embark on an independent voyage. And older Americans can even sell their last home to travel the world a little and then settle down on a full board in some good home elderly. In such behavior, a Christian motive is remotely visible, when a person feels himself to be only a temporary guest in this world and does not seek to be deeply attached to anything that exists here. But, of course, the main motive is only practical considerations and convenience.

Photo: samlib.ru

Americans value space. In a private house, there must be a large living room, often combined with a kitchen, separated only by a bar. Be sure to have several bathrooms and bathrooms (for parents, for children, for guests) and a garage for two cars. Also required central system air conditioning (it is also heating) and, as a rule, a gas fireplace.

Americans also love fireplaces. And although in theory natural gas is preferred, due to the increased cost of insurance and unnecessary hassle with ignition, in practice they use the first. Ordinary stone fireplaces can be found in older houses or more expensive ones. Quite often you can see that fireplaces are attached to houses from the outside. And the fact that in this way they warm the street more does not bother anyone, since the practical meaning here fades into the background. Some Americans enjoy roasting potatoes in them when the cool winter weather arrives.

settlements

Americans practically do not engage in independent construction of private houses. This is very troublesome and expensive: a lot of approvals and checks, a lot of paperwork, running around. Typically, Americans buy homes in townships or specially built-up areas. If the village is just preparing for development, the buyer can choose in advance one of the standard projects offered by the developer and make certain changes to it.

Each district-settlement has a master plan with all the infrastructure, from communications and road network to various places social purpose (pools, playgrounds, tennis courts, park areas). Districts are divided into districts, each of which includes about a hundred houses. The entire area-settlement will use the pre-built infrastructure of shops, banks, kindergartens and other things in accordance with the estimated number of residents.

Usually, each house in the village stands on its own separate territory, has a fenced courtyard in 1.5-3 acres and the front "lawn".

In the backyard they sometimes plant a couple of small fruit trees. Occasionally place small pools or jacuzzis. But most often there is a continuous lawn on which some kind of a big tree to create a shadow.

How houses are built in the USA

In accordance with the master plan, communications and roads are being laid in the village, and then excavation of soil for pillows for the foundations of houses begins. Usually, a surface reinforced concrete slab with elements of shallow-depth tapes is poured as a foundation. And although there is no frost in the southern states, high level ground water and the composition of the soil cause a lot of trouble. For example, in one of the relatively old villages in the suburbs of Houston, where I happened to live for a week, many houses had very serious problems with the foundations. Somewhere, a slab simply broke, and the crack ran through the entire house, including the tiled floors, walls, and ceiling. Someone in the house does not close several external and internal doors etc. Residents and specialists blame this on mobile, water-filled clay soils.

After pouring the slab, a frame is erected. As load-bearing elements a two-inch board (fifty dozen) is used, which in places of high loads (supports, floors) is fastened into a “sandwich” in several pieces (up to four or more).

Frame elements are fastened with metal plates.

As fasteners, nails are mainly used, and not self-tapping screws or screws, as many might think. They are clogged in one second with pneumatic devices and better hold the transverse loads on the cut. However, screws, bolts and capercaillie are also in use.

Hurricanes are a separate story. They visit the Gulf Coast with enviable frequency. A typical visiting hurricane is Category 2 out of five on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The wind speed in it reaches 40-50 m/s (150-180 km/h). In this case, the local population is evacuated on a voluntary basis. Houses in the aforementioned village survive such bad weather without any problems. Although the locals say that the famous Hayk knocked down all the fences in 2008, and the hangars for garden tools then filmed from trees in neighboring areas. At the same time, none of the houses required special repairs. However, just to the south, this hurricane demolished the entire town of Galveston, located on the very coast. Even reinforced concrete buildings were damaged there.

After installing the frame, all the necessary communications are laid in it ( central air conditioning, water, electricity, internet), then it fits into the frame mineral wool and it is covered with OSB shields.

Interior finish - drywall. And the external one depends on the status of the village or district. In more prestigious places there is lining decorative stone or shields with its imitation. On the periphery, ordinary siding is more often used.

If you crave more details, then this link can find enough detailed photo report from one of the construction sites.

The frame is everything

If you thought that frame technologies are used only in low-rise construction of the private sector, then you are mistaken. They are used throughout apartment buildings five or more floors, as well as large shopping centers.

A typical house is not only " standard project”, popular in America, but also a house that the average American family can afford. For an example, I went to a real estate website and looked for houses within a radius of up to 30 miles around me.

Photos Depositphotos

I searched for a long time, by the way, because the photos are bad. Americans don't bother taking pictures because everyone knows roughly what's inside. You still have to go and see. I have chosen a couple of houses worth up to $ 200 thousand, and using their examples I will talk about a typical American house.

The ad text 3 Bed, 3 Bath means that the house has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms with toilets. And besides this - a living room, utility room, garage.

The most common house design in the US. Photo realtor.com

I lived almost in such and well I know the device of the house. On the right is a garage for 2 cars, and the garage is quite long and spacious. To the left is the entrance and a small porch. A tiny front garden, by default, builders plant rose hips there. We go into the house.

Hall in the house - by default. Photo realtor.com

To the left is the entrance door, immediately from it there is a staircase to the second floor. In the lobby there are windows overlooking the "front yard", that is, the area in front of the house. In the first picture, these same windows to the left of the front door, did you get your bearings?

If we reach the opposite wall of the house, we will exit through the glass sliding door to the "back yard", that is, to the backyard.

The typical house has doors to the front yard and back yard. Photo realtor.com

A microwave oven is attached to the wall above the stove - as they often do now. It seems inconvenient to me, because it is simply dangerous to lower the hot from above. Lighting and an extractor hood are required above the stove, moreover, with a fan at 2 speeds.

When renting a house, as a rule, everything is already built in, except for the refrigerator. Or maybe now they are building a refrigerator. To the right of the sink is a dish sink - "dish-washer". In the sink itself, a garbage grinder - “disposal” is necessarily built-in.

In the kitchen, a door to the basement or "basement". Builders rent it, as a rule, simply with cement walls. But you can turn this basement into a candy. For example, like this:

The basement is equipped as the fantasy of the owners suggests. Photo realtor.com

The basement usually has suspended ceilings, and the long white doors to the right and left are built-in storage rooms. In general, I didn’t see anything in the basements: bars, game rooms, gyms, workshops.

Let's go back to the first floor. Here, in addition to the hall with a kitchen, there are other rooms. Some have a playroom for children. Often in one of these side rooms there is a fireplace, a TV and armchairs.

Classic lounge. Photo realtor.com

This is a classic of the genre - a lounge with a fireplace and a TV on the wall. And in this picture is the second floor - one of the bedrooms.

Master bedroom. Photo realtor.com

Most likely, this is the parent's bedroom, that is, the "master bedroom". It differs in that it has its own toilet with a bathtub. The sink is often made double there, so as not to quarrel in the morning.

Photo realtor.com

All toilets must be ventilated. Turns on next to the light. The rest of the bedrooms (children's) have a shared toilet. Americans always try to ensure that each child has his own room.

A mandatory room in a typical American house is the "landry room", that is, the room in which the washing machine and dryer are located.

Photo realtor.com

This room is small, just outside the garage door. Well, in the end, look at this house from the back.

Photo realtor.com

Apparently the bedrooms are small. On the ground floor there is a small kitchen window. They always make him so small.

There are moments that are not included in the photo. Every room has a smoke detector hanging on the wall or ceiling. And now they are also obligated to hang up an indicator of CO, that is, carbon monoxide. This is the so-called carbon monoxide, colorless and odorless, which is just poisoned if the stove is closed early. All these sensors howl terribly if something is on fire in the house. And they fall silent only when you thoroughly ventilate everything.

These indicators have one more unpleasant property. When the battery starts to run out, they beep. At night - that's it! You get up, pull the battery out of it and put a new one in the morning.

I haven't talked about lighting yet. There are many switches in the house. The simplest example - you entered the house, turned on the light, undressed, took off your shoes and immediately went up to the second floor. There is a second switch that can be used to turn off the light on the stairs. And there are a lot of such “paired”, and even built-in switches throughout the house.

Both houses that I described are not far from me and from Chicago. The one I mainly talked about costs about $190,000, the second costs about $170. Approximately, because you can always bargain and agree.

The material is printed with the permission of the author.

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