Quote:
Originally Posted by house-hunter
exterior walls were commonly built from 2x4 studs instead of the now mandated 2x6's due to the new energy conservation code which mandates what the minimum insulation must be on the building envelope. ....also floor and roof construction were built with 2x6 where now they are built with 2x10 or even 2x12. .... Older homes were built with plaster lath, cribbing and mesh on walls and are now built out of Sheetrock. on the floors you now have toungue and groove 3/4 plywood where in the day they used slatted 1/2 x 3 wood boards ...It is unnecessary to frame interior walls out of 2x6 12" oc. when you have got engineered tji's ad gluelam ect this is a complete waste. ... crawl space vs. full basement has nothing to do with being older or new construction and just has to do with ewhere the water table is and what the budget of the homeowner was when the home was built.....Buyers should demand more of their builders and sellers. don't settle for second best ever.
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We could go 'round and 'round for awhile on construction preferences, I'm sure -- which I've no intention of doing, but I do want to say that when I built that second house it was in the early 1990s before the current building codes went into effect; thus at that time my house was "overbuilt" according to existing common practice. And as a matter of fact the roof framing WAS done in 2x12s.
I think you and I are thinking of different things when we say "older" homes. The homes you describe that have lath-and-plaster, wood board flooring and even in many cases literally tree-trunks as foundation support (!) are what I call "vintage" homes... something built, say, in 1940 and earlier (often
much earlier!). The post-WWII houses built from the mid-late 1940s through the 1970s are what I call "older" homes (you did mention the 1971 ranch in Patchogue as being an "older" home so that's what I picked up on).
As far as the 2x6 interior framing, this happens to be a personal preference of ours. The house/size was such that the heavier framing worked well from both a structural and a design (appearance) standpoint. And we had no problem using conventional insulation at the time (early 1990s); we didn't want blown-in insulation. The house was also designed with chases for all the HVAC ductwork and plumbing. The foundation (full-height basement) was indeed poured concrete combined with structural steel supports and full waterproofing on the exterior. Microlams were also used in many areas, because of the size and in particular the unusual depth (front to back) of the house, as well as several very large rooms resulting in wide spans.
When we sold that house, the buyer's inspector (who has been in that business for many years) told us that it was the best-built house he had ever inspected on Long Island.
I agree with you about the foundation types. I was only saying that if I were, for example, comparing a newly built home on a slab with an older home with either a basement or a cement-floored crawlspace, I would consider the slab as a "strike against" the newly built house. But again that is just personal preference.
I completely agree that buyers should demand more of builders and have higher standards for what they are willing to spend their money on, housewise.
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