Are old houses stronger than newly built one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the wood is usually stronger which makes for a stronger house - old growth vs. new growth. You can do things like add more studs - every 12 vs. 16

LOL. I hope people don't actually believe stuff like this..

I hope you aren't a contractor. I live in a house built at the turn of the Century. The old growth wood is magnificent, and when we did our renovation and had the walls etc open, all of the construction team marvalled at it.

[Anonymous]

I would never buy something built out of today's new growth 2x4/pressed board/tyvek. These houses will not last more than 20 years, totally disposable.

[Anonymous]

They are not energy-efficient, the electrical is usually not built to today’s standards or to code and often dangerous, the plumbing is disastrous and often unhealthy. Basements are often not waterproof properly and grow mold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would never buy something built out of today's new growth 2x4/pressed board/tyvek. These houses will not last more than 20 years, totally disposable.

Oh you would if you could

[Anonymous]

Anecdotally, a massive tree (6 feet diameter) hit my mid-1940s brick house during a storm. It punctured the roof but stopped when it landed on the brick-and-cinderblock wall construction. I don't think they build them like that anymore.

We had the same experience. The cinder block walled stopped the tree. Early 1960's house.

[Anonymous]

The older home might have been built better, but when it's 100 years old already, is it still more sturdy than a new build?

Our DC rowhouse had crumbling bricks under the foundation of the sleeping porch (which we had to completely rebuild as the sleeping porches get turned into additions often enough, but were not built with that intention), and there are holes in the cinderblock walls if you pull down the plaster. The original wood beams had to have reinforcement added.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would never buy something built out of today's new growth 2x4/pressed board/tyvek. These houses will not last more than 20 years, totally disposable.

Totally ignorant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are old houses in Fairfax from the 60s stronger than the newly built one from post 2015s? Searching for a single family. Ready to upgrade an old house as long as it is strong. Rumor is that, new houses might be weaker than old ones, as old ones were constructed using stronger materials than today. Is it correct? I am afraid that once living in a new house we might end up in repairing the roof and structure after 10 years of stay.

Late 60s houses are built like crap. Ask me how I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are not energy-efficient, the electrical is usually not built to today’s standards or to code and often dangerous, the plumbing is disastrous and often unhealthy. Basements are often not waterproof properly and grow mold.

Yup. Aluminum wiring FTL. Also, building codes have advanced significantly. And my Jeep just barely fits in out 60s house garage. The one we are building will have room for a lift for the hard top and an entire additional Jeep with its own lift. Plus watertight basement. Efficient windows and HVAC, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow you all must have the nicest contractors to be fawning over the blocks of your house like that. Mine generally just come in, say good morning, and do their work.

Interesting that someone you are paying says nice stuff about things that they can’t profit from shit mouthing.

[Anonymous]

Knock on the doors and floors from an older home. Built like brick s houses versus the cheap flimsy crap today.


Written in 1999, but that's when the cheap quality crappy homes were being built anyway:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/realestate/1999/11/13/home-construction-has-changed-dramatically-over-the-decades-sometimes-for-worse-sometimes-for-better/6bee8516-e7bf-4908-b13a-168ea13d72c6/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the wood is usually stronger which makes for a stronger house - old growth vs. new growth. You can do things like add more studs - every 12 vs. 16

LOL. I hope people don't actually believe stuff like this..

I hope you aren't a contractor. I live in a house built at the turn of the Century. The old growth wood is magnificent, and when we did our renovation and had the walls etc open, all of the construction team marvalled at it.

We live in a 50's house and DIY a lot. There is a huge difference in the wood we have pulled out vs. the new stuff we buy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the wood is usually stronger which makes for a stronger house - old growth vs. new growth. You can do things like add more studs - every 12 vs. 16

LOL. I hope people don't actually believe stuff like this..

I hope you aren't a contractor. I live in a house built at the turn of the Century. The old growth wood is magnificent, and when we did our renovation and had the walls etc open, all of the construction team marvalled at it.

We live in a 50's house and DIY a lot. There is a huge difference in the wood we have pulled out vs. the new stuff we buy.

No one gives a shit about wood. The best stuff is engineered or steel anyways

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the wood is usually stronger which makes for a stronger house - old growth vs. new growth. You can do things like add more studs - every 12 vs. 16

LOL. I hope people don't actually believe stuff like this..

I hope you aren't a contractor. I live in a house built at the turn of the Century. The old growth wood is magnificent, and when we did our renovation and had the walls etc open, all of the construction team marvalled at it.

We live in a 50's house and DIY a lot. There is a huge difference in the wood we have pulled out vs. the new stuff we buy.

No one gives a shit about wood. The best stuff is engineered or steel anyways

We honestly don't know that much about engineered wood durability yet. I frequently go into houses with failing truss systems from the 80 and 90s. The gusset plates are detaching or the trusses were under engineered for lack of testing on new growth wood. Engineered wood products get recalled just like anything else made in a factory.

Steel is king, but it's too expensive for widespread use in the US.

It's no secret that engineered wood structures burn faster when exposed to fire, especially those before 2000 when the I-codes came into existence.

There are pros and cons to old and new construction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the wood is usually stronger which makes for a stronger house - old growth vs. new growth. You can do things like add more studs - every 12 vs. 16

LOL. I hope people don't actually believe stuff like this..

I hope you aren't a contractor. I live in a house built at the turn of the Century. The old growth wood is magnificent, and when we did our renovation and had the walls etc open, all of the construction team marvalled at it.

We live in a 50's house and DIY a lot. There is a huge difference in the wood we have pulled out vs. the new stuff we buy.

No one gives a shit about wood. The best stuff is engineered or steel anyways

We honestly don't know that much about engineered wood durability yet. I frequently go into houses with failing truss systems from the 80 and 90s. The gusset plates are detaching or the trusses were under engineered for lack of testing on new growth wood. Engineered wood products get recalled just like anything else made in a factory.

Steel is king, but it's too expensive for widespread use in the US.

It's no secret that engineered wood structures burn faster when exposed to fire, especially those before 2000 when the I-codes came into existence.

There are pros and cons to old and new construction.

Anecdotally, our brand new addition to our DC rowhouse , essentially brand new rebuilt sleeping porch, resisted catching fire from our next door neighbor's upstairs sleeping porch area fire. Just a small corner caught. Our siding wasn't even up yet, just Tyvek wrap. The neighbor on the other side with the original sleeping porch caught easily and sustained much more significant damage. Or maybe it was the wind. But we think the code that regulated a materials to create a minimum one hour firewall helped.