90
England’s concrete crisis could extend to hospitals and courts, experts say
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2023
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TLDR you limey bastards built school roofs out of a material that was advertised as with a 30 year life span, and here we are 40 years later and its surprised pikachu faces all around.
It's not clear to me from the article whether it was expected to only last 30 years at the time, or whether it was subsequently revised down in some way.
I mean, my guess is that many building materials may only guarantee some number of years, but it may be the norm for them to last longer. I assume that businesses selling stone do not rate, say, masonry for hundreds of years, though it clearly can last that long.
The article has:
EDIT: Yeah. From another article, it sounds like at the time it was built, it was not realized that the material would last only 30 years:
https://news.sky.com/story/the-once-wonder-material-reinforced-aerated-autoclaved-concrete-will-cause-chaotic-start-to-academic-year-12951727
And timber frames are only manufacturer rated for 30 years. The Americans have been using them for decades, while in the uk we've only started to accept them recently.
Source for 30 year rating? I'm not aware of such in either Europe or North America. I found a few sites reporting that number but couldn't find an actual authority giving that rating.
Also, there's a difference between a wood (or stick) frame and a timber frame, at least if you're including North America in context. In our terminology, a timber frame has large timber beams and columns supporting the load, and dividing walls are put in between. A stick frame house uses smaller lumber studs, and most of the internal and external walls are supporting the floors or roof above.
American houses are stick frame, and with proper maintenance a stick frame house can last easily over 100 years. Wood doesn't rot if treated and maintained properly. Settling of the foundation is a bigger problem, and simply subject to ground conditions which would impact even a steel frame house.
Timber frame is becoming more popular again for large buildings though, since ~12"/30cm timber columns have pretty good fire ratings, can support 3-4 stories, and are good carbon sinks for more environmentally friendly construction versus concrete or steel. My city is putting up some 3 story timber apartment buildings that look pretty awesome.
Long story short, wood is a great, renewable construction material if you're smart about how you build with it and how you treat it.
30-45 years is what the frame manufacturers would give in guarantees, or expected life. Which is possibly why some mortgage providers class timber frame as non-standard construction.
In terms of actual age, the numbers I found suggest that properly maintained softwood frames can last in excess of 80 years.