# Could one construct a house (full sized, habitable) from LEGO? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-one-construct-a-house-full-sized-habitable-from-lego/499227 "2009-06-09T18:13:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-one-construct-a-house-full-sized-habitable-from-lego/499227/41 "2010-04-15T18:16:42Z")
Lego joints are very weak even at their tiny scale. Scaling them up would only make it 100 times worse. So no. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-one-construct-a-house-full-sized-habitable-from-lego/499227/42 "2010-04-15T18:28:30Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > Just wanted to reopen this to share this video of the finished house. Wikipedia says it was demolished a few weeks later. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIwr-dyIsn8&feature=player\_embedded](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIwr-dyIsn8&feature=player_embedded) Clicking around the related videos from your link takes you to a view of the demolished house. It has a wooden structure. Still pretty cool but not 100% Lego. ETA: Which was already mentioned 5 posts above (but 7 months ago, in my defense). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-one-construct-a-house-full-sized-habitable-from-lego/499227/43 "2010-04-15T18:37:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > “Legos” is the typical usage in the US, at least. I’ve tried to get out of the habit of saying it since learning better, but old habits die hard. No reason to change. It’s our native dialect. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-one-construct-a-house-full-sized-habitable-from-lego/499227/44 "2010-04-15T18:38:14Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > (Re the link above) Since when were they called “Legos”? That’s just silly. Lego is and always has been a mass noun. You don’t have Legos any more than you have a bowl of rices or popcorns. 🙂 Those of us with spines 😉 don’t let marketing departments tell us how to talk. In my neck of the woods it has always been legos. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-one-construct-a-house-full-sized-habitable-from-lego/499227/45 "2010-04-15T19:03:17Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > (Re the link above) Since when were they called “Legos”? That’s just silly. Lego is and always has been a mass noun. You don’t have Legos any more than you have a bowl of rices or popcorns. 🙂 I haven’t looked, but I assume that like with Google and Adobe, the good folks at Lego would rather you said “Could one construct a house from LEGO™ brand modular building blocks?” or something similar. Sort of a conversation stifler though. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-one-construct-a-house-full-sized-habitable-from-lego/499227/46 "2010-04-15T19:57:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Those of us with spines don’t let marketing departments tell us how to talk. In my neck of the woods it has always been legos. I see your point, but I figure I’ve gotten enough enjoyment out of Lego in my life that it’s only polite to talk about it the way the company asks. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-one-construct-a-house-full-sized-habitable-from-lego/499227/47 "2010-04-15T22:17:05Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > You ever step on a Lego? Do you want a whole floor made out of 'em? Oh lord, have I. But there are flat cap pieces that can make a smooth surface. I have been to two Legolands (near San Diego and Uldum, DK) and they have some fairly large structures that don’t fade, don’t seem to support mold but that I have always assumed were bonded with some strong glue, impervious to moisture. But it would be an amusing idea, if a bit pricey. ---
**Author:** ![AZCowboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/97f17d/32.png) [@AZCowboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AZCowboy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-one-construct-a-house-full-sized-habitable-from-lego/499227/48 "2010-04-15T22:31:04Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > Clicking around the related videos from your link takes you to a view of the demolished house. It has a wooden structure. Still pretty cool but not 100% Lego. > > ETA: Which was already mentioned 5 posts above (but 7 months ago, in my defense). If you get a chance to watch the James May’s Toy Stories episode on the Lego house, they explain the “wooden structure”. They started out to build a pure all lego structure, but the local building codes and their own insurance company wouldn’t let them. Therefore, they built a wooden structure within the Lego house, but they also made clear in the show that the wooden structure was there for safety and backup, but wasn’t part of the lego structure itself. They also demonstrated some beam construction techniques of pure (actual, original) legos that would more than hold the weight of an adult male, spanning a pretty good distance (6 or 8 feet, at least). All of the Toy Story episodes were very good family viewing, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-one-construct-a-house-full-sized-habitable-from-lego/499227/49 "2010-04-15T22:42:15Z")
> [@madrabbitwoman](#): > > This thread has got me wondering about housebrick sized legos and the possiblilties Next best thing [http://www.arxx.com/Content/Contractors/Contractors-How-It-Works.html](http://www.arxx.com/Content/Contractors/Contractors-How-It-Works.html) ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-one-construct-a-house-full-sized-habitable-from-lego/499227/50 "2010-04-16T11:42:15Z")
> [@AZCowboy](#): > > If you get a chance to watch the James May’s Toy Stories episode on the Lego house, they explain the “wooden structure”. They started out to build a pure all lego structure, but the local building codes and their own insurance company wouldn’t let them. Therefore, they built a wooden structure within the Lego house, but they also made clear in the show that the wooden structure was there for safety and backup, but wasn’t part of the lego structure itself. They also demonstrated some beam construction techniques of pure (actual, original) legos that would more than hold the weight of an adult male, spanning a pretty good distance (6 or 8 feet, at least). > > All of the Toy Story episodes were very good family viewing, by the way. My favorite was the 1:1 scale Airfix Spitfire. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-one-construct-a-house-full-sized-habitable-from-lego/499227/51 "2010-04-16T16:06:20Z")
> [@](#): > > They used to make oversized Lego bricks (no, not Duplo) that were nearly the size of regular building bricks. They’re very hard to find, though, and the only people who know they exist seem to be those who had them as kids. I totally remember having these as a kid - a set of 30, 10 each in yellow, red and blue, all of them the 4 x 2 rectangular shape. I wonder if they’re still in my mother’s house somewhere…heaven knows, plenty of my childhood toys still are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-one-construct-a-house-full-sized-habitable-from-lego/499227.md?page=2)