"They don't build them like they used to" - comparison btwn 70s houses to now (hardwood floors, roof)
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I've been looking at photos of 1960's/1970's houses being built (in progress), and the construction process looks EXACTLY the same as today's houses. The way those houses were built, generally, looked identical to today's houses (the building process). I'd be hard-pressed to notice any differences. I also looked at old newspapers through Google archives, and OMG, there were exactly the same complaints in the 1970s as today with newly built houses. "Squeaky floors, uneven doors, leaks, flooding, wobbly baththubs, sloppy paint jobs, breaking roofs" were among common complaints in 1970s newspapers about new houses at the time. Even a 1950s article cautioned about and gave tips for first year problems with newly built houses, pretty much pointing out similar problems nowadays' new houses face, such as leaks and general sloppy workmanship. One article even spoke about the possibility of those houses not lasting 30 years.
Now, look at those same houses, 30-40 years later. We herald those same 1950s-1970s houses as rock solid, built well, etc., and moan loudly about today's houses being poorly built, etc. However, those 50s-70s houses have lasted and are still standing, and pretty much have matured into age. I'm positive the same will happen to today's houses, and 30-40 years down the road, people will be complaining about how 2050s houses are poorly built, and heralding 2010s houses as rock solid.
What do you think? Why does it seem like today, all people do is complain about their new houses and moan how things aren't built like they used to be? It seems to be a bigger deal than it was in the old days. Is this because of social media? Are houses REALLY being built worse than they used to? Hard to believe, given much more strict codes and laws are.
I can't say it was the same thing all over the US but I did start in the 60's in the building industry. Things were a lot different then than now. We rarely used any plywood materials at all. My first job was setting up shop in the living room of the house we were rehabing. We didn't buy premade moulding, we made it on the job. We didn't have aluminum or vinyl windows, they were wood and we made them on the job. We didn't have prehung door units, we made them on the job. Our sub flooring wasn't plywood or OSB, it was 1x 8 shiplap yellow pine #3 grade and most of it was clear. WE sheathed the outside walls with shiplap at a 45 degree angle and we used shiplap for the roof decking. Most had either 117 or 105 yellow pine siding with 1x 4 trim and 2x 6 facia. Our framing lumber was green doug fir and most often it was soaking wet when we got it. Kiln dried lumber was yet to come. WE didn't have a truss plant in the area so all framing was stick framing. If I have a panel wall house today, say 2000 sq ft, my frame guys can have it framed and corniced and ready for inspection provided the "others" are ready, in 3 days. The same frame back then would have been 3 weeks. We also didn't have nail guns and even when they came out, folks thought it was no good here. They paid less if you were going to use framing nailers. Houses then were a lot more basic in design. We didn't have multi-levels, kitchens were useful, not pretty. Bedrooms were larger but smaller closets. Kids of the era didn't a billion and one toys to put away or 20 pairs of tennis shoes. I personally as a kid had 1 suit, 3 pair of jeans, 5 shirts 1 pr dress shoes and 1 pr tennis shoes- PF Flyers to be exact. I didn't need a walk in closet. Most of the houses did not have central air or heat. A water heater was a max 20 gallon and it was close to the kitchen and sometimes in the kitchen. We used a lot of 1x 4 yellow pine flooring. Sometimes stained, sometimes painted. Back then, rugs were the flooring. If you look at the old Craftsmen houses, that's pretty much what we built here in the 60's. As time went on we built the same houses but with brick fronts and accents. Over time it progressed to where we are now, houses that are pretty but not necessarily functional. WE sacrifice space for the architecture, we sacrifice economics for the design and the look. Nobody here builds a basic house like we did in the 60's. Yeah, we have the El Cheapo builders that they yield the most sq footage for the buck but a lot of it is wasted space. We do build a tighter and more utility efficient home versus then though. I'm not sure the houses we build today are better for the families. To me they don't seem like homes but just houses. They don't seem to be a part of the family as the houses were back then. The house has pretty much become semi- disposable. Folks move far more often and don't put roots down like we did back then. Not sure that it's healthy.
I live in a seventies house, and I'm not impressed at all with the construction. I love my neighborhood, but not because the houses were anything special. If they are special now, it's the care and work by owners who had the resources to make updates that has made them so.
I live in a seventies house, and I'm not impressed at all with the construction. I love my neighborhood, but not because the houses were anything special. If they are special now, it's the care and work by owners who had the resources to make updates that has made them so.
Why aren't you impressed with the construction? Was it built poorly or had shoddy workmanship?
I used to have a much older house (older than 60's or 70's) and I think it was better constructed than my current 1998 house. Plaster walls instead of drywall, real wood doors instead of some hollow crap, real wood trim and moldings as opposed to particle board, real hardwood floors instead of some engineered crap, just to name a few things.
It depends on the builder and cost of construction. I grew up in a home built in 1968 with solid hardwood floors throughout standard (which my mother promptly covered with carpeting, of course), thick moldings and solid doors, real brick as opposed to brick veneer, etc. Very solid home.
I own a rancher now built in 1972 in a 1970's development, true brick exterior, but less sturdy materials inside; cheap wood paneling in the kitchen and hallway instead of sheet rock, and cheap composition flooring that cannot even have hardwood flooring put down on top of it. So, quality can vary decade to decade depending on the builder and cost of construction. I will say the original cabinets are solid wood, one of the worst offenders of new construction today, I think, is the particle board cabinetry.
Why aren't you impressed with the construction? Was it built poorly or had shoddy workmanship?
Cheap materials and shoddy finishing work. Most of these homes' interiors have been completely re-done. Those that have original finishes are not particularly impressive. The drywall work inside my house was absolutely terrible. The cabinetry was uneven and poorly fitted. Ugly, flat hollow core doors, which we replaced. Subfloor that was not properly secured leading to extremely squeakily floors. (We fixed that.) I could go on and on, but it mostly comes down to fit and finish issues. The houses were slapped up, and it shows.
On the plus side, my neighborhood's location cannot be beat, and it has outstanding schools. The landscape in both yards and common areas has been exquisitely cared for, providing an unusually lush environment for the the metro area. Those factors are why the houses are in demand, and owners will put the money into improving the homes. It pays off...big time.
The changes in my area came sometime in the late 1950's when the ranch style house became popular, that's when they started using a lot of concrete slabs, truss roof systems, Sheetrock walls, hollow core doors, etc... In some ways the construction is better in the newer houses, because you have standards like using 2x4 studs 16" on center, in some of those older houses it's not uncommon to see slightly larger lumber, but sometimes the studs may be spaced 24" apart.
I used to have a much older house (older than 60's or 70's) and I think it was better constructed than my current 1998 house. Plaster walls instead of drywall, real wood doors instead of some hollow crap, real wood trim and moldings as opposed to particle board, real hardwood floors instead of some engineered crap, just to name a few things.
In defense of new construction - it is up to the buyer. Everyone wants cheap. So builders comply.
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