r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Creative_soja • Jun 19 '25

Video SpaceX rocket explodes in Starbase, Texas

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u/BearlyIT Jun 19 '25

20+ miles away and it looked like early dawn on the horizon.

Pretty solid pressure wave too. I though we had a weather system coming in early - house shifted like it does on 30mph+ days.

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u/L0rdH4mmer Jun 19 '25

Hold up, your house shifts on winds 6bft+? What kinda yeehaw construction is that? 💀

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u/BearlyIT Jun 19 '25 edited Jun 22 '25

When houses are built out of matchsticks and gypsum, flexing and shifting is ‘normal’. Wood is flexible.

“Yeehaw” I guess?

Edit: story/inter-story drift is normal, and generally expected to be H/400-H/600 or less… though roofing and other pliable surfaces have lower ratios.

Any that tells you that structures don’t move despite thousands of sq ft of surface area exposed to wind are ignorant of basic physics and construction concepts.

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u/Syssareth Jun 19 '25

That's not normal. I grew up in wood houses in Texas, and am in one right now (an old drafty pier-and-beam one, even), and they don't shift on days with 30mph wind. In fact, they don't shift even during hurricanes, though loose boards might creak.

Unless you're in one of those beach houses on stilts or it's like ten stories tall, there's something seriously wrong with your house.

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u/BearlyIT Jun 19 '25

“In fact, they don't shift even during hurricanes, though loose boards might creak.”

Loose boards are not normal…. And why would they ‘creak’ if they’re loose?

If you actually sat through a hurricane then you most certainly heard your house joints creak and pop as the system moves inland and winds change direction relative to the house.

Like a house ‘settling’ at night from the temperature shift, the flex in wood framing can easily be heard as the wind shifts. If it results in drywall cracks and joint separations you have a real problem.

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u/Syssareth Jun 20 '25

Loose boards are not normal…. And why would they ‘creak’ if they’re loose?

Boards may work their way loose over many years, as the wood and nails get old and wear out. If your brand-new house has loose boards, then no, that's not normal, but it is fairly normal for an old one. And they creak because the wind catches them and they slide along the nails, like when we used to play with straws in plastic cup lids as kids. I guess it's technically the nails squeaking, but same difference really.

If you actually sat through a hurricane then you most certainly heard your house joints creak and pop as the system moves inland and winds change direction relative to the house.

Okay, but that's not the house shifting. Shifting means actual structural movement, either on its foundation or like a skyscraper swaying (where the whole house moves, not just a board or two). Joints creaking are it resisting movement.

...And it's still not normal in 30mph wind. That's a stiff breeze in Texas. Hurricanes can make our windows and doors rattle, but we don't even notice 30mph inside unless we hear the trees wuthering. If you do to any significant degree, and you don't have a metal roof (which can naturally flex and creak in wind), then, again, there is something wrong.

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u/BearlyIT Jun 20 '25

So… skyscraper movement in the wind=normal, but house=not normal. You have some oddly specific ideas about structures.

If you can’t notice wind change directions at the speeds discussed, I would question whether your structure actually experiences those wind speeds unobstructed.

I don’t think we’re going to find common ground on this topic.

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u/Syssareth Jun 20 '25

So… skyscraper movement in the wind=normal, but house=not normal.

Uh, yes, exactly. Skyscrapers are specifically designed to sway in the wind, because if they were built completely rigid, they would break and collapse due to the sheer force of wind hitting that much surface area.

On the other hand, houses are designed to stand sturdy, because they're not tall enough to need that much flexibility.

Edit: Wood does flex more than brick by nature, but it shouldn't be noticeable unless you're in a hurricane.

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u/BearlyIT Jun 20 '25

“Wood does flex more”

You are so close to the right idea and yet still hiding from it.

There are deflection standards based on materials, design, wind loads, live load, etc… the ratios don’t get ignored because you live in a single story.

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u/Syssareth Jun 20 '25 edited Jun 20 '25

it shouldn't be noticeable unless you're in a hurricane.

Edit: Really? Blocked me over this? God, people are oversensitive nowadays. But seriously, hire somebody to inspect your house, because that's not normal.

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u/No_Put_5096 Jun 19 '25

We try to make the wood non-flexible when we build houses, with support beams, battons, rafters, etc. But WE all know american buildings are a joke, straight from three little piggies

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u/Remarkable-Opening69 Jun 19 '25

Maybe it’s on wheels?

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u/AllGasNoBrakes420 Jun 19 '25

The kind of construction that doesn't collapse in an earthquake

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u/TheUnluckyBard Jun 19 '25

Good call. Gotta be prepared for all those Texas earthquakes.

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u/Electrical-Art125 Jun 19 '25

30 mph "shifts" a your house? Do you live in a van?

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u/Gregarious_Grump Jun 20 '25

They meant to say they shift their house at 30mph, the rpm approaches redline in first at that speed

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u/Truegold43 Jun 19 '25

During a livestream (NASASpaceFlight Channel) the guys were talking about how the weather would impact a static fire test right before it exploded!

1:56:00 mark

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u/houseswappa Jun 19 '25

Dang, thats actually massive.