Why Have The Quality Of Buildings Declined Over The Years?

[kpl1228]

In house construction, it's kind of like automobiles. If you had a 65 Mustang, you had a powerful cool car that looked great. However, very unsafe, ancient fuel efficiency, brakes that might stop a car in 100 yards at a high rate of speed, a rust incubator, horrid suspension.
I love the car chase scene in Bullitt. But if Steve McQueen was in a 2014 Mustang Shelby instead of his beautiful Mustang Fastback, it'd be no contest. Watch those big old muscle cars "handle" turns and deal with bumps and hills. Awful. Stock factory cars now are built so much better, are safer, handle WAY better, more efficient, and if you got in a 57 Chevy, you'd be crossing your fingers on a cross country trip. In a 2014 Toyota? No problem.
Went to a housing site yesterday to see a contractor friend's big housing job. Lots of particle board and styrofoam. But incredibly heating efficient prefab styrofoam blocks, and precut panels. Incredible flooring with interlocking panels and heating elements built-in. Remote control power tools and nail guns to speed it up and save money, with the same quality. Incredible windows that don't leak like a sieve. All kinds of tricks done with the wood and concrete for increased stability. Looks cheap and awful as being built but the finished product looks great, and will be standing for just as long.
Not to say that Ryan Homes doesn;t crank out some crappy houses with all kinds of corners cut.
I love old houses too, nothing more beautiful than a Queen Anne Victorian. But the fake Victorians they make today are more efficient and have excellent construction as well. It's a different time, different era.
And craftsmen are still turning out fantastic landmark buildings. Frank Geary, IM Pei, etc.
But to say the well-built contracted houses and buildings back then were "better" then now? No way. Cooler looking? Perhaps.

[JR_C]

Originally Posted by kpl1228

In house construction, it's kind of like automobiles. If you had a 65 Mustang, you had a powerful cool car that looked great. However, very unsafe, ancient fuel efficiency, brakes that might stop a car in 100 yards at a high rate of speed, a rust incubator, horrid suspension.
I love the car chase scene in Bullitt. But if Steve McQueen was in a 2014 Mustang Shelby instead of his beautiful Mustang Fastback, it'd be no contest. Watch those big old muscle cars "handle" turns and deal with bumps and hills. Awful. Stock factory cars now are built so much better, are safer, handle WAY better, more efficient, and if you got in a 57 Chevy, you'd be crossing your fingers on a cross country trip. In a 2014 Toyota? No problem.
Went to a housing site yesterday to see a contractor friend's big housing job. Lots of particle board and styrofoam. But incredibly heating efficient prefab styrofoam blocks, and precut panels. Incredible flooring with interlocking panels and heating elements built-in. Remote control power tools and nail guns to speed it up and save money, with the same quality. Incredible windows that don't leak like a sieve. All kinds of tricks done with the wood and concrete for increased stability. Looks cheap and awful as being built but the finished product looks great, and will be standing for just as long.
Not to say that Ryan Homes doesn;t crank out some crappy houses with all kinds of corners cut.
I love old houses too, nothing more beautiful than a Queen Anne Victorian. But the fake Victorians they make today are more efficient and have excellent construction as well. It's a different time, different era.
And craftsmen are still turning out fantastic landmark buildings. Frank Geary, IM Pei, etc.
But to say the well-built contracted houses and buildings back then were "better" then now? No way. Cooler looking? Perhaps.

I could go on and on, so I'll try to stop after this post.

Something that's popular with old cars these days is the "restomod." Original components, such as brakes and suspension are replaced with modern equivalents that allow the old car to perform as well, or better, than a modern car. Of course, some things can't be added/upgraded, like crumple-zones and air bags.

Old houses can be upgraded in the same way. Insulate the attic, replace the antiquated furnace and wiring. Replace the plumbing, if it's broken. (I would have rather kept the cast iron in my house, but it had cracked due to the house being empty for 5 years)

Sure, modern windows are more efficient than an original window that hasn't been serviced in 50 years. But the original window can be serviced, and with the addition of storm windows, can be as efficient, and last indefinitely. The modern window will probably have to be replaced about as often as the roof shingles.

[deskjockey]

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

When Ryan Homes can build a McMansion, with cheap materials (except for selling points like granite countertops) that sells for 100s of thousands more than well built houses in older areas, that's what they'll do. Unfortunately, most consumers don't really care about how well-built their house is, as long as it looks nice, just like most don't care about where their food comes from or how many calories are in it, as long as it tastes good. There are a lot of uneducated, and uninformed consumers, and corporations take advantage of that.

Well said, Cleverfield. Unfortunately, corporations do it by psychological coercion and most consumer have no idea that they have been conned.

[ehfp]

(Slightly off-topic, but the house in your fifth picture - the one with kids playing in a courtyard - was built in 1999.)

[Bballer10891]

Originally Posted by ehfp

(Slightly off-topic, but the house in your fifth picture - the one with kids playing in a courtyard - was built in 1999.)

The Shaker Heights mansion? How do you know?

[ehfp]

There was a story about it in Shaker Life a couple of years ago. It's built on the site of the old Grasselli mansion. http://www.shakerlakes.org/about-us/...neFebMar11.pdf (page 42)