San Diego Housing Stock (El Cajon, Encinitas: houses, buying, new construction)

[djxpress]

I've noticed that specific areas of San Diego have houses built in certain years (El Cajon has alot built in the 50s, Mira Mesa alot in the 70s/80s etc...).

My agent says that houses built in the 50s and 60s were solid, those built in the 70s, not so much.

Is there some general consensus on which decade housing stock is of good quality in SD?

[rcjhku]

Yes. The consensus is houses built in the 50s and 60s are solid, those built in the 70s, not so much.

[Cardiff Kook]

^^Not sure if serious

[Encinitan]

In my opinion, the generally solid construction from the 50s and 60s extended into the 70s. Our place (and most of Village Park, inland Encinitas) was built in 74 and it's still standing. It's not until the 80s that corners started getting cut with cheaper building materials and practices. The 90s and beyond? Forget about it. Those suckers are made of construction paper.

[Cardiff Kook]

which part of the homes were built very solid in the 50s/60s/70s? Like the foundations and studs? Or was the drywall and interior stuff what you are talking about? My house was built in the 60s but was completely remodeled a year or so ago

[shmoov_groovzsd]

The genreal consensus is that 70s homes suffered from quality issues.
Here is an example of 70s era homes in Santee that still have jacks under the house from when they were built to keep the foundations up. I had posted this a while ago... 10News: 700 Santee homes supported by jacks | UTSanDiego.com

I would actually say at least based on my experience researching and going through the process of buying and talking to many experienced agents, that houses built through the 50s some 60s (including 40s) are rock solid. Ours was built in '47 and the house is a tank. There is nothing terribly special about its design (traditional) but that was the era. The housing industry is also nothing like it is these days.

They used lath and plaster walls, virgin oak floors and the craftsmen from the time were still from the school of trade from an era where home building quality had a different standard than the 70s+. Some good some bad.

On the downside, the homes and rooms are smaller in size than modern homes. So generally there was no master bedroom en suite or some of the amenities that home buyers may want in todays modern market.
\
Also on the downside, is that not all houses that old have necessarily been kept up that well. Also plumbing if it was never replaced from cast iron etc need to be examined.

[hitman619]

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

The genreal consensus is that 70s homes suffered from quality issues.
Here is an example of 70s era homes in Santee that still have jacks under the house from when they were built to keep the foundations up. I had posted this a while ago... 10News: 700 Santee homes supported by jacks | UTSanDiego.com

I would actually say at least based on my experience researching and going through the process of buying and talking to many experienced agents, that houses built through the 50s some 60s (including 40s) are rock solid. Ours was built in '47 and the house is a tank. There is nothing terribly special about its design (traditional) but that was the era. The housing industry is also nothing like it is these days.

They used lath and plaster walls, virgin oak floors and the craftsmen from the time were still from the school of trade from an era where home building quality had a different standard than the 70s+. Some good some bad.

On the downside, the homes and rooms are smaller in size than modern homes. So generally there was no master bedroom en suite or some of the amenities that home buyers may want in todays modern market.
\
Also on the downside, is that not all houses that old have necessarily been kept up that well. Also plumbing if it was never replaced from cast iron etc need to be examined.

Cast iron pipes are reality in eastern San Diego.
They break a lot. I was lucky that the person that owned the house before me put in all new ABS Pipes

[djxpress]

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

The genreal consensus is that 70s homes suffered from quality issues.
Here is an example of 70s era homes in Santee that still have jacks under the house from when they were built to keep the foundations up. I had posted this a while ago... 10News: 700 Santee homes supported by jacks | UTSanDiego.com

I would actually say at least based on my experience researching and going through the process of buying and talking to many experienced agents, that houses built through the 50s some 60s (including 40s) are rock solid. Ours was built in '47 and the house is a tank. There is nothing terribly special about its design (traditional) but that was the era. The housing industry is also nothing like it is these days.

They used lath and plaster walls, virgin oak floors and the craftsmen from the time were still from the school of trade from an era where home building quality had a different standard than the 70s+. Some good some bad.

On the downside, the homes and rooms are smaller in size than modern homes. So generally there was no master bedroom en suite or some of the amenities that home buyers may want in todays modern market.
\
Also on the downside, is that not all houses that old have necessarily been kept up that well. Also plumbing if it was never replaced from cast iron etc need to be examined.

This is good information. I was eliminating homes built in the 50s-60s from my Redfin search, but I may include them now.

[tickyul]

From the late 70's through to a good portion of the 90's saw a LOT of new composite materials going into new construction. Some of these new materials, well, they failed in a big way.

[Think4Yourself]

Also the building code inside the city limits was always a lot stricter/better compared to in the county outside of the city so I'd be real careful with older houses outside of the city limits.