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Post by the light works on Nov 26, 2013 15:16:46 GMT
Tsunami proof?.... Sometimes the great idea come from not thinking responsibly. I live in an area that gets a little surface water on occasion... Attachment Deletedhowever, the location is nice the other 50 weeks. my solution was to pour a drydock cradle and then build a houseboat in it. that way you don't have to have your house up on stilts in the dry season; though most people make the best of it by making the stilts tall enough to use the house as a carport.
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Post by Lokifan on Nov 27, 2013 6:50:12 GMT
Let's see... Carbon for diamond structural members...check. Silicon for aerogel insulation...check. Carbon again for a diamond shell around the aerogel...check. Maybe graphene if it works out. You don't need "solid" necessarily, just a nice strong lattice. Maybe use some design incorporating fullerines, nanotubes, etc. You could even build something like a Kevlar/carbon fiber sheet. Except in this case, nanotech should be able to make and maintain perfect structures. Your nanites might have most of their brains in the macroworld, also, so they don't have to be that smart. Nanotech is at the level of electricity that Ben Franklin played with--we know we can do a few things with it, but we don't know the limits yet. And we keep finding out more fun things along the way. Of course, depending on those limits, you could argue that houses really wouldn't be necessary with sufficiently advanced nanotech (ref: Clarke on "magic"). Just order the "nannies" to build a temporary shell around you, and protect you at all times. You don't need to actually own anything, as the nannies could build whatever you want on demand, then remove it later. These nannies would take care of you for the rest of your life...which might be until the heat death of the universe.
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 27, 2013 8:59:06 GMT
I have seen this actually put into practise. 'Cept they used a couple of old mud flats. The problem was, as I was told, balance. You have to be careful on design to make sure the thing balances well when "Afloat".... as in, put too many white goods in a kitchen at one end and its tail heavy, as an example.... The other problem was services. You can do wonders with telescopic drains, electrics can be done overhead wires, but Gas and Water are a problem.
The houseboat in a flood idea came with automatic dis-connects should the house float, but re-connection was manual.
My solution?... always source a house on a hill.
This one I am sitting in is three foot above the house next door..... We also have a local railway that goes through a gorge 20ft deep about 500yards west of our houses..... The whole estate is on a gradual gradient of about 5%, we are at the top end of that estate. I would suspect we would need about 50ft of rainfall in one day to get my front doorstep wet?.... We do not flood.
Rivers are nice, but live next to one?... only if I knew it had a drop of over 5% past my property, and/or was minimum 5ft below my lowest foundations. I would also wish to see flood risk data for the area....
Floods in the UK are seldom, rare, but when you do get them, they are ferocious, they do not give warnings, and the first you know is when your sofa floats past the end of your bed?...
As for the idiots who have built on known flood plains in the UK and are finding it hard to get insurance against flood damage, ...... you were expecting what?.... In other countries, as stated, people build on stilts and use the basement as a car-park.... In England they plant roses and pretend they "Didnt know"..... There is a phrase for that, and it rhymes with Bankers.
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 27, 2013 9:01:19 GMT
TLW, Question, where do you put the car when it does flood?....
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Post by Cybermortis on Nov 27, 2013 10:02:39 GMT
It depends on where in the UK you happen to live, some places are more likely to flood than others.
The real culprits in regards flooding damage in the UK are not the home owners, but successive governments who not only granted planning permission on known flood plains to large building contractors*, but paid flood defences lip service rather than money** - even after being warned for a decade or more and after people had seen their homes flooded twice in twelve months.
And of course you don't have to tell anyone that the house they are considering buying is probably going to end up six feet underwater twice a year.
(*British Governments just LOVE the idea of turning the 'green and pleasant land' into something covered in tarmac and semi-detached homes twenty miles or more from city centres. The idea spending a fraction of the money needed to buy new homes to refurbish older vacant houses in the middle of cities is alien to them. After all who wants to live in a terraced house five minutes walk from the city centre with the high council tax rates. When you could live fifteen miles away and have to spend six times the higher tax rate on travel costs and get up three hours earlier to get to work...)
(**Something that is not, unfortunately, unique to the UK. I believe that the exact same thing happened in a small US town called New Orleans. After all the politicians making such decisions are not the ones who have to deal with the consequences first hand, and they may well be out of office by the time the flooding starts.)
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Post by the light works on Nov 27, 2013 15:04:59 GMT
I have seen this actually put into practise. 'Cept they used a couple of old mud flats. The problem was, as I was told, balance. You have to be careful on design to make sure the thing balances well when "Afloat".... as in, put too many white goods in a kitchen at one end and its tail heavy, as an example.... The other problem was services. You can do wonders with telescopic drains, electrics can be done overhead wires, but Gas and Water are a problem. The houseboat in a flood idea came with automatic dis-connects should the house float, but re-connection was manual. My solution?... always source a house on a hill. This one I am sitting in is three foot above the house next door..... We also have a local railway that goes through a gorge 20ft deep about 500yards west of our houses..... The whole estate is on a gradual gradient of about 5%, we are at the top end of that estate. I would suspect we would need about 50ft of rainfall in one day to get my front doorstep wet?.... We do not flood. Rivers are nice, but live next to one?... only if I knew it had a drop of over 5% past my property, and/or was minimum 5ft below my lowest foundations. I would also wish to see flood risk data for the area.... Floods in the UK are seldom, rare, but when you do get them, they are ferocious, they do not give warnings, and the first you know is when your sofa floats past the end of your bed?... As for the idiots who have built on known flood plains in the UK and are finding it hard to get insurance against flood damage, ...... you were expecting what?.... In other countries, as stated, people build on stilts and use the basement as a car-park.... In England they plant roses and pretend they "Didnt know"..... There is a phrase for that, and it rhymes with Bankers. pantographs are your friends. the electrical services (including communications) can be overhead. the rest can be on pivots on the pantograph arms that keep the house stable while it is afloat. personally, I am about 15 feet above the highest flood level I have seen.
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Post by the light works on Nov 27, 2013 15:06:29 GMT
TLW, Question, where do you put the car when it does flood?.... in the driveway of my fire station usually in such a way that it obstructs my turnaround. I've taken to posting nastygrams on them, pointing out that I am under no obligation to not call for a tow truck to remove them.
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 28, 2013 9:36:49 GMT
Ahhh... Now... Well... Thing is, those "Permissions" were given on the understanding that the developers did serious work with local Rivers to "Divert" possible floods, or "Contain" them.... But, of course, they do "Minimal" work, under-size the drains that were required, and no shirt sherlock, the first flood, turns out what they did is useless?....
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 28, 2013 9:41:14 GMT
TLW, Question, where do you put the car when it does flood?.... in the driveway of my fire station usually in such a way that it obstructs my turnaround. I've taken to posting nastygrams on them, pointing out that I am under no obligation to not call for a tow truck to remove them. So people park in front of the fire station. There was a very well publicised film shown at one point of a fire engine in the UK pushing a car out of the way.... It sort of stuck in peoples memories?... get in the way, they get pushed, and damage is YOUR fault for obstruction....?... People here in the UK wouldnt dream of obstructing a fire station. That and the fact if you tried, you get Mr Big Fireman asking you what the bloody hell do you think you are playing at and if you dont move it now, they WILL move it for you...... The yellow box on the floor in front of all fire-stations is an mediate tow zone, to the local pound, £160 release fee, (approx?) and an hourly rate for storage on top.
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Post by the light works on Nov 28, 2013 14:48:54 GMT
in the driveway of my fire station usually in such a way that it obstructs my turnaround. I've taken to posting nastygrams on them, pointing out that I am under no obligation to not call for a tow truck to remove them. So people park in front of the fire station. There was a very well publicised film shown at one point of a fire engine in the UK pushing a car out of the way.... It sort of stuck in peoples memories?... get in the way, they get pushed, and damage is YOUR fault for obstruction....?... People here in the UK wouldnt dream of obstructing a fire station. That and the fact if you tried, you get Mr Big Fireman asking you what the bloody hell do you think you are playing at and if you dont move it now, they WILL move it for you...... The yellow box on the floor in front of all fire-stations is an mediate tow zone, to the local pound, £160 release fee, (approx?) and an hourly rate for storage on top. my lot is gravelled, so the yellow paint wouldn't last a week. I also don't have the time to hang around the station and educate the idiots - and I've been asking for the last three years for some new "no parking, this means YOU" signs where I need them. problem is I use the entire length of the lot for my turnaround, and since the average american driver does not comprehend turning around or driving backwards, they think that the space immediately in front of the station house is the only space that is important. they almost NEVER put anything in the approved parking area.
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 29, 2013 7:53:06 GMT
Then move the signs.....?.....
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Post by the light works on Nov 29, 2013 15:56:43 GMT
Then move the signs.....?..... I will, when they give me some.
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 1, 2013 8:43:29 GMT
Cant you approach a local business and get some "Sponsored" signs made up?... as in, give em enough pole to put up an advert from them under the important sign?...
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Post by the light works on Dec 1, 2013 16:45:49 GMT
Cant you approach a local business and get some "Sponsored" signs made up?... as in, give em enough pole to put up an advert from them under the important sign?... well, it would be cheap enough. I was going to sponsor them until I used my surplus 4X4 posts for something else. addendum: usually, no parking signs are sponsored by the local towing company - as in "unauthorized vehicles will be towed by ____________ at your risk and expense"
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