Difference between homes built in the 90s and homes built in the 2010s? (price, construction)
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Would you say most houses from the 90s have less of a plasticy and more of a traditional look than houses from this decade and the previous one? Or has the design not changed that much?
Houses in the late 90s early 2000 were becoming bigger. The open floor/great room took off and the McMansion became the new way to build. As far as materials stuff made today just has more options and better design than the 90s. Stuff that was custom made in the 90s is more readily available as over the counter or able to be ordered semi custom.
I'd say it varies, by when in the '90s you're referring to, and area of the country. In my area of northern New England, the great room/open floor plan look has never really taken off, and houses are still pretty small. New construction tends to be traditional in appearance outside and only very slightly more open inside... maybe instead of full walls with normal-sized doorways separating the kitchen and living room, there's simply a big wall, maybe 8'or 10' long, untrimmed on either end, and you just walk around it, rather than through a doorway. Pretty much every house has a basement, and since center hall styles are so popular, the stairs down to the basement are usually in the middle of the house (under the stairs going to the second floor) so there is a "core" of stairways, enclosed, with the short walls I've described running off that. Sure, there are some houses which are more open and with high ceilings, but that's been around in small numbers for decades.
I'd say if anything it's the finishes which have changed... (this perplexing enduring obsession with granite and stainless steel....) Some things like laminate flooring and engineered wood flooring either didn't exist or hadn't been perfected in the '90s (especially early) and I think any floating flooring gives a house a plastic-y feel (and sometimes look.) Also there seems to have been a big increase in synthetic materials for fences and decks.
Some may dispute this and I could be wrong, but I feel like there is more of a uniformity to what people in any given demographic want in finishes. It's not that there weren't major trends in every other decade, but the proliferation of social media has made everyone hyper-aware of trends from the major ones which appear in design magazines, to the minor ones like chalkboard paint, writing on the wall, various crafts and furniture "hacks," etc.. Look at any blog written by a 20- or 30-something woman and the interiors are usually very similar. (Obviously not everyone in a certain age range wants the same thing, but I'd argue that social media helps those who are inclined to lack of imagination.)
Energy efficiency. In general. From quality builders.
Plumbing. Copper out and PEX in.
Electrical. Way more GFI outlets.
Concrete. Much faster setting.
Furnaces. Higher efficiency.
There was a huge leap in quality. Houses in the 2010s are not only bigger and built with higher quality materials, but are much more efficient. They have things like double-pained windows and better insulation. Furnaces and Central A/C units are more powerful and efficient and water-heaters are larger.
That's not to say 90s houses are bad, they aren't. They are 100000 years ahead of anything from the 70s/80s, but 2010s homes are just on another level.
I've seen how many contractors will construct a brand new house, setting the most economical materials into the job and cutting corners. In addition to that the remodel occupations are much worse due to their lack of craftsmanship. In both situations the occupations are done as fast as possible which is not bad so long as quality isn't lost. Buildings weren't supported right, wiring was installed, and when the finish job is whole items in the house were falling apart before they could be lived in by someone. I propose view some the houses constructed from the exact same person to see and if considering buying a brand new house check out the contractor
There were great homes built in the 90s and great homes built in the 2010's. There were also many many more crapy homes built in both the 90s and 10s. The tract homes from the 90s and the 2010s still tend to be unimaginative white boxes with spit and kleenex hollow core doors, pressed cardboard trim, textured walls to hide the poor craftsmanship and 'builders grade' fittings. The advantage of the 2010's homes are the mandated energy efficiency measured, however the advantage of the 90s homes is that most of the major builder defects would be obvious or have been rectified by now.
On the other hand there were very nice architect designed one of homes built in both decades.
We looked at homes dating from the 1980s and up to the present. I prefer some aspects of the newer homes, but the ones in our price range were almost always 2 story, and I thought they were a bit cramped. We bought a home built in 2002, and it is definitely better in some respects than homes we looked at from the mid 1980s. I assume that not too much would have changed between then and 1990.
We looked at a couple of really nicer homes from the eighties, and I loved aspects of the floorplans but I hated the kitchens. The cabinets were awful, and the kitchens were small. However, the exterior shingles were wood and the roofs were tile. The interior doors were substandard by what you can have in newer homes. Slab doors or the doors that look like shutters were what I saw, along with dark trim.
Newer homes have larger kitchens, but smaller bedrooms, at least in my price range. My current house has nice wide trim, painted white. The doors have a nice look, but of course they are hollow core, and I don't even think they have wood in them, but they are an improvement over the older luan mahogany slab doors or the louvered pine things we saw in the older homes.
Newer front doors in my price range are fiberglass, and I don't like them very much. If I can't have wood, I'd prefer steel, frankly. My shingles are Hardie board and my roof is regular roofing shingles.
I think it depends on the builder of the original houses, and perhaps the choices of the people who originally bought the house. My house does not feel plasticky. It feels spacious and open, with tall ceilings. (Older homes have 9 foot ceilings, and perhaps a vault.) It just depends on what you respond to. There is truly a house for everyone.
One thing I've heard (and maybe some experts on this board can confirm if this is true) is that some houses built in 90's took advantage of new technologies to build the houses too airtight. This created serious mold issues in those homes. Builders learned from this, and houses built after the 90's are more energy efficient but with sufficient air exchange to prevent those types of mold issues.
The thing about newer homes being "bland'. It's a number's game. Builders want a house that will sell by appealing to the most numbers of potential buyers. In a love it or hate it scenario, they are always going to be 20x as many haters as lovers.
"Character" can easily be added. Paint is the easiest thing to change along with fixtures and doors.
Just about 90% of houses built from 1970-1989 should be burned to the ground.
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