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Old 10-07-2014, 10:05 PM
 
69 posts, read 155,124 times
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Ok I'll add my $0.02. New homes flat out are junk across the board. Honestly I don't think there has been anything built on a mass level since the 60s in any shape or form. It started in the 70s with drywall, slab foundations, and cheaper building materials. I live in the kingswood manor development in orlando Florida, all the houses here were built between 1958 and 1965, mine was built in 1961 and is rock solid. It's a 2,000sqft 3/2 with a huge backyard, and lots of space between neighbors. It's my first home. I'm youngish (30) and knew older houses are better. It's CBS construction with plaster walls and REAL hardwood floors, not laminate. I've got the old style crank casement windows. My place is a one owner home before me, it's like a time warp and has absolutely no upgrades at all. When you walk in my front door, it's 1961 inside. Everything is totally original, not even a light socket has been replaced and I absolutely love it! Everything still works too! I have had some issues though, like replacing the 30 year old roof and the 45 year old air conditioning system but besides that it's been great! I'll take my big clunky light switches, pink tile bathrooms, and jalousie windows over ten foot ceilings with carpet and drywall any day of the week.
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Old 10-08-2014, 05:25 AM
 
Location: Moku Nui, Hawaii
11,047 posts, read 23,860,003 times
Reputation: 10901
Well, one of our houses was built in 1911 but it wasn't built for high end occupants so it's, well, let's call it "rustic". Quaint, charming and rustic. It could be really improved with hallways and closets. But, it's still standing. Considering it was built as semi-temporary housing for sugar cane workers, that's kinda impressive, actually.

Our other house was built in 1972 by a contracting company that built hundreds of homes in our state. The house is modest, but solid. Redwood walls, oak floors. Kinda small dimensions, everything is "adequate" but not "roomy". Does have closets and hallways, so that's a huge improvement.

We are hoping to close next week on a 1947 house and so far I've not found out too much about it. There were four houses built pretty much at the same time, I'm presuming by the same people. It has nice built in cabinets as well as some other nice built in features. The structural seems sound, but the ceilings have been trashed by termites. It's going to take a bit of work to bring it back to life, but "the bones are good" and eventually, I think it will be a better house than either of the other two.
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Old 10-08-2014, 04:48 PM
 
Location: Fuquay-Varina
3,999 posts, read 10,801,876 times
Reputation: 3303
From an inspectors standpoint, I would take inspecting a 60's house over an 80's house any day of the week. Too many experimental materials that did not pan out in the 80's, and in my area there was a major population influx to Raleigh during that time and houses were thrown up with a lot of issues. Your area may differ.
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Old 10-08-2014, 08:45 PM
 
Location: Portland, Oregon
10,987 posts, read 20,454,482 times
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I attained adulthood in the 60s. My husband is an architect. We would rather buy a house built in the 60s and update it from a technology POV than take a chance on a house built later with problematic craftsmanship.
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Old 10-08-2014, 11:33 PM
 
10,181 posts, read 10,199,549 times
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What's the "problematic craftsmanship"?

Floors are caving in? Foundation/interior walls are bowing?

That can happen in a house built in the 60's too.

And if you buy a home built pre-early 1970's, you have a better chance of having lead based paint, asbestos tiles/house shingles/insulation than not.

Crappy windows can be replaced.

Homes have to be inspected. It's 2014 and we have a framing inspection, an electrical inspection, a plumbing inspection, an insulation inspection.....who let the builders in the 80's & 90's and 00's build crap? The city/town you live in.

Blame them.
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Old 10-09-2014, 08:07 PM
 
3,278 posts, read 5,343,228 times
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Houses build in the 50/60s have solid bones. They are called brick outhouses for a reason.

Houses from the 70s/80s are cheap, ugly and thin feeling. The quality is crap. Yuck.

Stuff from the 2000s+ is really the way to go. 2010+ are the best. Most efficient, most sturdy, most well built. Plus not enough time for bugs/mice to move it.
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Old 10-10-2014, 07:29 AM
 
Location: MID ATLANTIC
8,644 posts, read 22,788,447 times
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My home is a remodeled late 1960's/early 1970's TH with original bones. Besides the original hardwood flooring, we enjoy cinderblock under the brick, double firewalls (one of the first TH in the area), high ceilings, and my personal favorite, 4 foot hallways. I have never heard my next door neighbor and my two parking spaces can accommodate both car doors open at the same time or we can squeeze in 3 cars. But the most important, its fire rating is better than any home built after it.
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Old 10-11-2014, 10:42 PM
 
8,495 posts, read 4,118,639 times
Reputation: 7043
I prefer older homes from the 1940s and even earlier because they have more beautiful details that is so lacking in the newer homes. The homes used higher quality building materials and they were built to last. The only things with older homes as other posters have pointed out is that the electricity and plumbing have more issues and may require a complete overhaul sometimes, which can be quite costly. In addition, the age of the homes require more repairs than a newer home, but the rewards are great especially if you love architectural history and have an appreciation for decorative details. Also, I feel a lot of these older homes are more substantial and feel like they can last for decades more and some have already, not like the newer buildings with walls so thin you can hear the next door neighbors going about their daily lives. Also, with newer houses, you have the fear of China made drywall, the ones that make people sick because of the fumes it emits.
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Old 10-11-2014, 11:37 PM
 
10,181 posts, read 10,199,549 times
Reputation: 9251
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mandalorian View Post
Houses build in the 50/60s have solid bones. They are called brick outhouses for a reason.
IF they are properly maintained over the years.

If they aren't, they're no better than any other house built in any other era that was not maintained. I've bought and sold enough homes built in the 50/60's (after fixing them up) to know. I also own 3 rental properties that were built in the early 1900's. One is a craftsman style house - that is the only one that is built like a brick ****house, and it's so ugly it's pretty. The entry way and the stair case? Absolutely beautiful. Didn't stop floors from sinking...didn't stop cast iron sewer pipes from rotting out.

Quote:
Houses from the 70s/80s are cheap, ugly and thin feeling. The quality is crap. Yuck.
That's a personal preference, and not all 70's/80's homes are built like that. My parents built their house in 1972 - nothing ugly or thin "feeling" about it. The quality is good because they paid for quality.

Quote:
Stuff from the 2000s+ is really the way to go. 2010+ are the best. Most efficient, most sturdy, most well built. Plus not enough time for bugs/mice to move it.
I had bugs the day I moved in to my brand new house. Some kind of mites that were not indigenous to the area. Came with the spray-on-lawn I protested against but lost.
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Old 09-11-2015, 09:09 AM
 
887 posts, read 1,204,618 times
Reputation: 2051
A well built late 50's early 60's brick ranch will outlive generations, especially ones that are 100% face brick. What you will see in newer homes are hundreds of changes in codes regarding safety issues as well as energy savings. Who can deny the benefits of something as simple as a Tyvek wrap, factory truss systems, and the like. Little things too that add up. Ever think about the reason they don't want a bare 100W light bulb burning 1/2" away from all the blankets and crap on your top shelf in the closet?

Pros and cons like anything else. Remember that many items incorporated in new homes are not always time tested. Think of the nightmare they ran into with that plastic pipe used for potable water and radiant heat. The stuff went bad. Now think about how you go about redoing that on a slab house. Many were in New Mexico where you also had no attic! Personally, I am waiting to see these new press fit copper fitting o-rings to start failing down the road.

Again there are goods and bads. I'm in the hvac biz and can tell you that nothing done today can surpass the stepped down duct system that was done in my place. Too, as others have said, most of the things you "See" in new track type homes are temporary glitter and 'brass' that will be flaking off in a few years. There's a darn good chance you would find solid brass hinges even on interior doors in the older places. Little things.....

All that said, if you had the cash, the right people, and todays codes and technology, you could surpass any 60's home by tenfold.
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