Post Apoc buildings

[CraigD6er]

I think that, for whatever flavour apocalypse you have, in most scenarios we would see far more buildings than the survivors need. Even excluding buildings in hot zones, the die off will be so great that people can just move into an abandoned house (or even re-purpose old stores and offices at a pinch). Brick, stone and adobe structures will last as weather proof shelters for a considerable time without any skilled maintenance needs. Old time log cabins and barns have lasted for many decades with minimal work, which shouldn't be beyond anyone that survives the first few years of an apocalypse. Beyond that, it will be a case of whatever is locally available to effect repairs, scavenged from within a few miles because no one will be transporting materials far. A brick house would have a tin extension out back, and a wooden shed/log cabin will be added when the local source of tin and bricks run out. Anyone that finds a lorry load of empty cans will be selling them as flat tiles for walls and roofing. Going 150 years down the road from the event, inhabited buildings will be a real mix-match of styles and materials, and will grow with the family as few people will travel beyond their local area for many years to come.
For a good idea of a small p.a. community and the homes of the survivors, The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson gives lots of ideas.

[Matt W]

Recycled Materials.

I think CraigD6er is right. The "chrome" could be the materials that have been used to REPAIR the buildings. I suspect there wouldn't be much need for NEW buildings

For example, if the apocalypse involved nuclear weapons, there would be a lot of broken windows. I would expect that window glass would become a valuable trade good - and you wouldn't see single-pane windows. A window might be made from multiple/small pieces of glass (held together by wood,or lead). If there is no glass, old plastic bottles could be recycled as a useful (semi-transparent) building material. Or, if you want to be organic, horn or skin from mutant animals.

Older heating methods might be necessary (no electric heating) but open fireplaces are not possible when there's no chimney. Therefore, you might see the construction of pot-bellied stoves and similar techniques. A chimney made from old car exhausts...

Ambitious communities might have "new" types of street lighting. This could be as primitive as oil lanterns hung from the original street lights.

[nduffy]

Earthships come to mind when talking about recycled buildings. Made of upcycled or recycled materials.

https://www.earthshipglobal.com/

Old propane tanks can be turned into heaters, smokers and even grills as well as old water heaters. I know a welder who loves using old stainless steel tanks from water heaters and making grills and smokers out of them. Also washers and dryers have drums that are very usable for such things. I even have a buddy who turned an old fridge into a cold smoker for doing fish... I can see lots of ingenious uses for many modern conveniences that would not be functional in a PA world unless they had power and some repair maintenance knowledge..
Recycle would and could be very profitable to anyone willing to go into the cities and scrounge for stuff..