The Invention that Accidentally Made McMansions

[@warrenlemay8134]

A gang nail plate cut a gash into my leg when I was using an unused wooden truss as a ladder for a treehouse I built during the construction of my parents' house as an 8-year-old kid, when I slipped and tried to catch myself. I still have the scar. 21 years later, I am now in graduate school for architecture at IIT in Chicago. Thanks to this video, I finally have a name for the piece of metal that left that scar, and another explanation for why I don't like McMansions.

[@oooodles3]

the real money is in treehouses bro. better clients too.

[@nannerz1994]

I'm from Naperville so sometimes I have a little soft spot for certain McMansions but you're so lucky you get to hang out at that gorgeous mies van der rohe campus

[@MikeDS49]

Congrats on getting into grad school. It sounds like the real life version of a radioactive spider biting you.

[@DC-SA1]

This video captures a microcosm of the problems / unnecessary excesses in America. I've been in, and lived around McMansions in multiple US cities, and what I can definitively say, is that families that live in these enormous houses, stay almost exclusively in 2 rooms during the day--the kitchen and the "TV room"..(About 800 square feet of space).. ALL the other square footage of these monstrosities is wasted space, excepting a few bedrooms where people only sleep, or your teenager hides out. But otherwise, there are areas in these homes that no one ever steps foot in..

[@catherinesanchez1185]

And most of the house isn’t even furnished !! They can’t afford it

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

amazing. i have seen these at home depot and had no idea. fantastic one.

[@SoidHoid]

Structural Engineer here. Love this video. Great job Stewart.

[@Pppoopoo3]

I’ve wanted to be a construction worker sense I was 4 years old and now I’m here working plumbing and learning more and more every day and I love it.

[@MineshShah]

I now think there would be no Tony Soprano without the gangnail plate!

[@JJMcCullough]

I know this isn’t the point of this video, but as someone who stresses a lot about lighting in my own videos, I’m really impressed you were able to film this video quickly enough enough that the sun didn’t set. It looks like you filmed it during the golden hour.

[@stewarthicks]

JJ! Love your videos! Happy to share the secret anytime.

[@solitivity]

I think he's using a green screen, buddy. I was just looking at "light" coming from the left of the picture and it didn't move once throughout the whole video (or shift in any direction).

[@moth.monster]

​@@solitivityI'm pretty sure he just put a little whatever it's called thing that makes a shadow in front of a studio light

[@charltonrodda]

​@@moth.monstergobo! it took me a while to remember the name.

[@BaphomentIsAwsome666]

JJ your the man, love the videos

[@ArmyofOneandaHalf]

This was an excellent narrative. Damn.

[@JDoors]

LOVE that you covered truss plates. I remember being impressed the first time I saw them, though a little skeptical. My first home had a vaulted ceiling, made possible with trusses, but no attic storage, just as you said. Interesting to know the history, and the consequences, of the product. Thanks.

[@Urbanhandyman]

It's a fun theory but I don't agree with it. Traditional rafter construction is still common here in California in home construction. Code requires hurricane/earthquake ties to greatly strengthen the roof structure. The modern truss system is cheaper to build and faster to install but is associated with lower quality construction. McMansions are a developer's attempt at maximizing profit and thus it makes sense that they'll employ the cheapest roofing system. If factory-made truss systems didn't exist, developers would still build McMansions with traditional rafter construction since that would be the only method allowed them.

[@bjrnmagnusson5351]

I totally agree with you. We (california framers) were cutting and stacking complex roofs for decades. McMansions existed in the 19-teens. In track homes where piecemeal production framing was born, framers like Larry Haun could cut and stack a roof in a day. The only change these plates had was lowering the cost of complex roofs, maximizing profits for developers.

[@mendynoma4272]

Fascinating presentation. Lots of food for thought.

[@RadixLecti]

Oppa gang-nail style...

[@mikeinportland30]

I'm just a focus group of one, but in my life I have had three houses, all older (the newest built by the owner in 1948) and had very few problems with any of those, yet both my mom and sister bought fancier new build houses (the 1980's through early 2000's) and I they both have had constant issues. Admittedly (and thankfully) none with framing which is the topic of this as usual great Stewart video. But at least with my experience I will never consider a new build houses no matter how much showy lipstick decorations they put on it.

[@JHrenovates]

A couple things on trusses, that weren't quite mentioned that (I believe) make them more beneficial, especially here in the northeast are 1) Energy Heels. Trusses made energy heels possible by moving the slope of the roof above the bearing point of the truss itself. This creates more room over the exterior walls for insulation, where in the northeast, using standard insulation methods, needs a more space for the amount of insulation needed for meeting the R-value required. A common issue here on older homes is ice damming, where heat loss through the insulation melts snow and ice on the roof which sheds down over non insulated spaces, like porches and other overhangs, and refreezes, creating a dam where the water above will gather and work under shingles, making leaks in the interior of houses. Having more space for insulation alleviates this, somewhat. Along with other methods such as ice and water shield, since you can't stop ice damming completely, but it prevents leaks in the house. And 2) Floor trusses. People's need for deeper garages and floor space with open space below needs a member than can span further without support. TJIs can do this, but the real max span for a TJI (even the biggest ones) is in the realm of 32'-8" (this being a 560 series 16" TJI, 12" O.C. [which is nuts, expensive, and hard to find]). Plus, with open webbing, it allows for electrical, plumbing, and HVAC to be run without cutting or modifying the member, plus larger tops for sheathing ease. Only down side is it creates a large open cavity for fires, which is accounted for in the code with maximum cavity size. All of that being said, there are still many houses and needs where a raftered roof is preferred. Great video!

[@christopherzehnder]

+1 for the open webbing of trusses which facilitates a much-easier installation of mechanical systems. As for the void space and fires, the code allows for blocking or draftstopping to compartmentalize and manage the fire risk.

[@CU96821]

Don't blame the tool, truss plate..... blame the people wielding them, developers, which are spured by supply and demand. Think levittown PA. in the 40's.

[@miltonwelch4177]

When pickup trucks sales slow down all it takes is to lower the gas price 50 cents to revamp the buying frenzy. People are strange. Developers capitalize on ignorance as what is genuinely a "quality construction".

[@bradleypaskell5802]

Hey Stewart! Miami-Dade county wind load requirements these days start at 165mph and reach up to 195mph in a higher risk category!

[@BryanTorok]

You hit on the main reason I don't like truss construction, unusable attic space. I feel as though if I am paying to enclose that space, I should be able to use it. With the size of the McMansions, there is a fair amount of floor space that could be finished into living area. It could provide that private space for when one wants to get away from it all, or a nice little hobby niche. That is also a reason why I want a basement, preferably with 8 or 9 foot ceilings.

[@nathanphillips7787]

The ability to make trusses like this allowed some people with mobile homes to build additional roofs for them when the manufactured ones were inadequate. The irony is that the increased house prices caused by the McMansions made all of the mobile homes virtually unsellable.

[@ttopero]

Unnecessary complexity is how I refer to the mess in attics of modern houses! The insulation & thermal barrier is often very poorly installed & effective if even present. I saw so many attics in million $ houses that had bare ceilings & walls in Phoenix!

[@j.mieses8139]

Great Video!

[@stevemiller7949]

Wow, thank you for pointing this out. I am totally onboard with you pointing out problems related to McMansions. It would be interesting to know what percent of people live in them.😊

[@dangerduguid]

Interesting theory.. as a designer working in this space and scale frequently I can admit that pre fab trusses do allow for a decoupling from rational plan layouts and thinking - and therefore proportions and scale. For whatever deeper reason, a roof line and facade proportioned off more traditional roof framing limitations is more pleasing to the senses - and results in interior plans that are more orderly, human scaled and comfortable..

[@DouglasJWalker]

Who taught you this?! Fascinating

[@repairdrive]

I'm totally nerding out on this right now! 🤓🤓

[@barryrobbins7694]

7:58 The SUVs of housing.

[@nannerz1994]

I've used a hydraulic press to attach one of those plates before and it's really really impressive

[@Bonserak23]

I keep calling this guy Stweart little in my head for some reason when I am thinking of his videos.

[@needamuffin]

"It shifted our values from the hand-crafted to the mass-produced." No it didn't, corporate greed did that. You said it yourself, the builders became the main characters and started building giant homes that no one asked for.

[@knaudi86]

Bingo.

[@richdobbs6595]

If no one asked for them, who is buying them? Businesses have always been greedy. The problem that I see is that you can't easily build a simple home between accelerated infrastructure requirement and gold plated core systems like HVAC and electrical. If it is a good strategy to maximize return by having a large mortgage and expecting housing to inflate, then you have an incentive to make it hard for other people to build and to buy what you think will sell rather than what you need. And, in most cases size is the cheapest aspect of housing - lumber is cheap, framers and drywallers are the worst paid trades.

[@MyEconomics101]

@ScottBrownCarpentry should make a video showing the complex, time-consuming joinery foregone, skipped, with the gang nail plate.

[@miltonwelch4177]

Whole point of 2x framing construction at its start was that semi-skilled adult and teenager w/o attitude can build the livable structure. Perforated plate is a further improvement to that building philosophy.

[@ArmyofOneandaHalf]

That's amazing

[@miltonwelch4177]

My immediate thought was lightweight 2x framing construction as a culprit but you went further. Little perforated plate. Who would think of that?

[@barryrobbins7694]

The complex roof designs of McMansions serve to dramatically increase the likelihood of water intrusion.

[@richdobbs6595]

There is no labor saving device that has ever made housing more affordable in general. Nothing out weighs our ability to run up the cost by regulations and land use limitations, to run up prices by making long term mortgages, and driving expectations from those who can afford them, and to impose unavoidable minimum standards on those who can't.

[@stu1037]

Yay! Someone else to watch on Nebula. Even if you spell Stuart wrong 😂

[@MonD_ay]

"hiahlayuh city" For future references its "hi-uh-lee-uh"

[@bartekd9885]

Each time I hear about how those houses in US are built with plywood, I'm just baffled. I mean use bricks, u won't get your houses blown by breezes you call 'hurricanes'

[@rolisreefranch]

don't be jealous

[@MonD_ay]

Everytime a non american tells us americans to build our houses out of bricks it makes me loose hope for humanity (We cant make our houses out of bricks because if a hurricane hits and the bricks fall on you itll be way worse than a drywall or wood wall falling on you) I know its hard to understand but the problem of rebuilding is way better than watching your brick wall fall on your family members

[@davidjoly9816]

A lot of houses in Florida are built using reinforced concrete block for the outer walls.

[@thenexthobby]

It’s interesting that much of today’s neighborhood pushback against updated zoning laws (that ironically mimic the way things used to be before zoning laws existed … ) is because homeowners “know” developers build for personal gain. That experience comes from the death of sane planning and design.

[@sparksmcgee6641]

You are clearly clueless. People buy a house where they don't understand the zoning rules. Then, when things change, 😮 make up a change they think will stop the change the font like. Now, they don't understand the new effects of their idea.

[@rolisreefranch]

I aspire to McMansion ownership

[@randomman057]

Those same plates are used for open web floor trusses too. Personally, I don't see them as degrading the quality of homes though. Good builders use them where it makes sense to. McMansions to me are a result of architects not having the skill or time to design a home with a quality facade.

[@pyeitme508]

YES!

[@ryannatividad3137]

"Aesthetic Erosion" 🤣

[@darthparallax5207]

It's everyone's desire to live in a castle when they are not actually nobility. If we had a monarchy and restricted house types by birth in addition to income, there would be fewer mansions. This would apparently improve the environment? We have too many mansions. But we probably won't stop building them for any reason. This is a human nature thing.

[@flytrapYTP]

Certainly isn't everyone's desire. I'd hate to live in a McMansion.

[@mnemosynevermont5524]

What happens to these places when this plate fails?

[@parlaxmaps]

Make me think my 1958 house have quality now

[@Kypsie]

2:12

[@BretSchwalb]

I think you talked to it in a way, but it wasn't the truss plate as much as greed corrupting it.

[@trombonepaul]

I’ve always called them gusset plates

[@stephencurry8552]

Huge houses on small plots of land look ridiculous! Ugly.

[@joho0]

It's pronounced HI - UH - LEE - UH and I grew up in one of those tract homes.

[@landiahillfarm6590]

Great episode, as always. The thing about McMansions is we wont have to worry about them for much longer, no one except aging Boomers can afford them. Sry to nitpick but it was driving me nuts... Hialeah, FL is pronounced "hi-ya-lee-ah", at least to my ears after living in SFL for almost 40 years. That said, that simple style home, of which I owned several down there, was everywhere. Many of them were similar but took the FLW route of a pitched flat roof instead, at least until Central A/C became the norm. And I'm afraid to say that no matter hw hard they try, if it's more than 2 stories and not made from either steel or concrete, it's going to get battered in a big hurricane. All the nail plates in the world wont save you from 175+ mph winds.

[@sonicblackhole3559]

Galvanized square steel

[@sparksmcgee6641]

The morral B.S. at the end is laughable. Standard architectural narcissism that is required to teach architecture. I love these entry level videos. He does a great job most of the time. Re-bar would have been a better product to make up as the cause. Plywood and OSB are bigger products in the things hes saying.

[@TXNIZ]

3:10 are eco friendly wood veneers included ?

[@kendrickdelosreyes5381]

I thought the answer was central AC/heating 😅

[@DanDillon627]

Kind of like the CAR created suburbs.

[@egbun]

The unavailability of attic space also has negatives, as you mention, storage has to go elsewhere, leading to larger garages, a component of suburban sprawl. The loss of attic space also is esthetic erosion, as loft spaces can be great retreats, view points, exercise and recreation rooms etc. loss of attic also tends to prevent the use of the "chimney effect" to remove hot air from the lower floors without using fossil fuel energy.

[@opalyankaBG]

The extent Americans go only not to build brick and concrete houses :D

[@MadLadCustoms]

This is cool, I never liked McMansions because of this. Subpar construction material picks, made to look expenaive. It accomplishes the opposite, once you get the eye for it.

[@Baloo555]

Why can't people just be honest about why they don't want to live in the inner city?

[@grabasandwich]

And it was all downhill from there. I know house fires are rare, but they go up so much quicker now, putting homeowners and firefighters at much higher risk. It's a race to the bottom. Use the cheapest materials, slap it together as quick as possible (with little oversight) and make people overpay for junk.

[@who2u333]

When I was in the fire service, we were trained to watch for Gusset Plates because they warp and release much faster than a nailed joint.

[@grabasandwich]

@who2u333 I guess that would explain why attic fires in homes of that era often result in roof collapses. However, that seems a bit safer than homes which now have OSB floor joists. Two FFs didn't make it out of a modern house here 10+ years ago. I think the fire commissioner said occupants only have 6-8 min to get out now before it's fully involved, vs older homes that were much slower (15-25? Sorry, I forget)

[@pierren___]

The roof going off make me laughed haha

[@rakr9334]

german here: The rafters on my ordinary house are 14x24 cm. Why do you build houses out of match sticks? And reinforce it with cardboard? Even my dog's hutch is more rigid...

[@Raw_Dawgs6409]

That's a Timber-Frame house here in the US. Some new homes are made like that, but it's expensive and requires more skill to build

[@Tormekia]

Build it cheap, sell it for a banging profit. America isn't about quality. It's about selling a fantasy. It's why McMansions and prefab homes have a lot of shared styles.

[@DoubleOhSilver]

Well it used to be more affordable (now house building is a scam, it currently costs like half the price to build) and quicker to rebuild if it gets destroyed.

[@Urbanhandyman]

Here in California, being too rigid is a bad thing. That's why we vote Democrat.

[@JohnDoe-qz1ql]

😂😂😂 Money, my friend!!To make a house that still stands, but with as little as possible. American 2x4s used to actually Be 2x4, now they’re 1 3/4x 3 1/2. And the houses still sell ridiculously expensive. The US is a Mess!!

[@jvanderberg]

It’s odd that you pin a new manufacturing process with all of these evils. When the cause is single family zoning. The truss just made high quality roofs cheaper and more consistent. That’s it. That’s all.

[@muronelkaz]

Well, since he created a cheaper roof and pushed for it to be used in zoning, the argument is that he made housing much cheaper - single family zoning then becomes more attainable and widespread due to builders looking for profits. He touches on the investment aspect, but all this is somewhat related.

[@StephenCoorlas]

Yeah - trusses are out, single sloping roof rafters are in. Less expensive, easy vaulted ceilings, and with drop drywall systems easy to run ductwork/utilities. Also better for modifications down the line. Great video and animations.

[@dsdonovan]

"Hi-ah-lee-ah" not "Hi-ah-lay-ah".

[@pltnz64]

hi-uh-LEE-uh

[@barryrobbins7694]

5:18 Nail guns, and other power tools, had a huge impact on home construction.

[@imSterling]

That's not how Hialeah is pronounced, the "e" has a double e sound (like in sleep).

[@jordanbalke]

++ I was so confused for a moment and wondered if there had been a shift in pronunciation in the last 50 years

[@derickmarin223]

He also said that's how houses 'used' to look here but they're still all around central/East Hialeah

[@pietervoogt]

Careful with the moralism. Since 1908 simplicity, frugality and aesthetics have been combined in modernist ideology, while most people like organic complexity as a part of beauty. Elaborated, merging roofs are fun to look at. Modernist flat roofs are horrible and depressing. If you want less ugliness and more sustainability, ambitious architects should work with the taste of common people, not against it. Only then will people also accept the concerns about sustainability.

[@barryrobbins7694]

This video is showing that construction methods actually affected the taste of the “common people” - and not necessarily for the better.

[@user-gn1ic9ww8q]

ms. bush what brings u out this time of the day, hey your honor, i know i dont work here anymore, but my boss forgot to ammend these inmates sentencing journals... let me see. any inmates i locked up on all holidays rather its federal holiday as long as a calendar recognizes it as inmated i sentenced are to be placed on admin lockdows for 24 hrs on all holidays... IT IS SO ORDERED honorable Timothy J Lisk III.......

[@Everywhere2]

Gangnail Style also makes us gallop while wearing blue polyester tuxedos. There is evidence of this right here on KZbin.

[@skyscraperfan]

A house made of wood seems crazy from a European perspective. Wood ist for the roof, but not for floors and walls.

[@pierren___]

And they pay a lot for it.

[@skyscraperfan]

@pierren___ Yes, those houses are really expensive for such a low quality.

[@mikeinportland30]

Not in parts of Scandinavia where wood is plentiful like the US, but I would prefer a more typical European stone house if we could get them (they look nicer to me).... but again, I live on the West Coast of US so maybe it's better to have wood framed housing here.

[@DeathSocrates]

McDonald's?

[@CarlClassenX]

Answering questions I didn't even know to ask! Huh, truss plates. Had no idea.

[@1puppetbike]

The title is misleading.. It could read.. how hurricanes are responsible for the proliferation of mc mansions... But i love it either way. Makes sense!

[@immk9988]

Hurricanes existed before the mid-20th century, so they are not the cause.

[@JGambrosia]

Awesome stuff. Who wouldn’t want to live in a McMansion?

[@ThomasPoulin]

People with good taste, I fear

[@Urbanhandyman]

*Raises hand*

[@Heothbremel]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@gljames24]

We need Housing Cooperatives.

[@MichaelJohnson-vi6eh]

This was really an efficient way to discuss this. I think at least in the US, our homes are built specifically to NOT be permanent. We must always run new ductwork, run cables and install new power outlets, update kitchens and bathrooms, install sliding doors, move walls, etc. I never got the open concept idea - its noisy, expensive to heat and cool, and frankly lets all your guests take a gander into your kitchen.

[@Imaboss8ball]

Lol it's a kitchen not a bedroom or bathroom.

[@lavafree]

Still building wooden houses? 🤔 reinforced concrete infinitely better

[@cantkillcliffrose]

....... come on. Use your brain. You're so close.

[@izikavazo]

This is an incredible connection, and it feels extremely accurate. The skills required to design residential structures has diminished, as have the framer's skills. This was multiplied by the development of TJI joist type floor systems. This should result in simple designs becoming cheaper and quicker to build, but it's not happening. Or rather not happening on a reasonable scale. Depressing

[@zwegchen]

Who would’ve thought a board of nails would be a system of torture.

[@ThomasPoulin]

So don't buy a house built during or after the 80s, got it thanks

[@ahilltodieons]

I was working in an attic mansion recently and made a comment about the cavernous empty space to the owner (there was at least 700 square feet of over 8' high space). He mentioned his neighbors had turned theirs into a loft with no windows. 1 point for ingenuity, but why do you need that much space above your second storey?

[@Cinnamonbuns13]

Stewart, you need to do a collab with Brent Hull!

[@Baamthe25th]

9:48 There's no irony here ? That's economic 101, supply and demand. If things get cheaper, people will consume more of it

[@sassenspeyghel4155]

Well yes, but no

[@blueheartphd]

Even though McMansion get criticized a lot, it acctually improved people's living standard.

[@barryrobbins7694]

That’s subjective. Is bigger necessarily better? Also remember, that even though they were bigger the quality of the construction was lower.

[@who2u333]

11:56, no, there is room to blame Levittown as well.

[@rosezingleman5007]

I get it. But Levittown was a consequence of FLW’s Usonian Houses and also post war pre-fab experiments. They wouldn’t have emerged without a need already existing. In my architecture education, this topic caused a near brawl one day that ended friendships and altered career trajectories. Maybe Stewart will address it more broadly?

[@Aloddff]

I hear complicated elaborate roofs but all I see is gable gable gable gable.

[@whotoobe]

Does nebula do kids content?

[@bobthecomputerguy]

I thought you were going to say engineered wood beams/I-joists. They allowed for longer joists for cheaper than natural wood joists, which also allows for wider open floor plans.

[@TristouMTL]

Mr. Hicks does it again! Thanks for being so brilliant and showing that even a small piece of metal in the roof of my house can hold a fascinating story.

[@TheOnlyDamien]

The quality in this video from the b-roll footage to the architectural models and everything is just absurd, thank you for posting! I have always wondered about these things and had no idea they were so insanely impactful. The no attic thing is kind of mindblowing to realize too.

[@rosezingleman5007]

Brilliant Mr. Hicks. He really was like Henry Ford. Cue the Jeff Goldblum clip from Jurassic Park! I live in a little house that I purchased four years ago and before purchase, the inspector called me and said, “you’ll love this, there’s a truss system in this house.” Someone had been an early adapter of gang plates.

[@davedujour1]

By 5minutes in you explain the overlapping connections, but what about the toe nailing of joists? Do you show us how this nail plate removed/changed that connection? How are the trusses connected to the exterior walls?

[@izikavazo]

It's still the same, bottom cords of trusses are toe-nailed down to the top plate of the wall. In many areas clips are used to create a more resilient connection to resist wind or Earthquake loads.

[@tukek88]

@@izikavazo 6-8 inch screws come up through the top plate and into the truss and or hurricane straps. You are right he never talked about it but brougtht it up in the beginning

[@boberu4755]

galvanized steel🗣🗣🗣

[@moshecohen127]

hi-uh-LEE-uh not hi-uh-LAY-uh.

[@CakeboyRiP]

Let's see what the keybord warriors have to say about this one 🤔

[@RealClanth]

That we are still waiting for the discovery of concrete, bricks and rebar in private housing in the US?

[@lisakilmer2667]

Super interesting. A clever solution spurred architectural invention that grew to ridiculous proportions. (I'm thinking the pointed arch was similar!) I have, thankfully, noticed that excessive roof lines are calming down in my area: the major developer has 5 house models, and only one has 5 gables facing the street.

[@andrewtoth9403]

Great video!

[@redlabel7833]

Amazing video !!!!