Are turn of the century homes better?

[mizzou]

Wondering if yall have the same feelings. Ive always looked at older homes as much more "character" and sometimes built stronger then modern homes. I see many new homes that try to replicate past architectural styles...but it often looks fake and cheap when compared to the real deal.

I dont think ill ever see a 50's ranch house and say...damn those were the days! All these new houses (although im sure they are often super efficient) just dont seem like they have any lasting power. If you see a mcmansion from the 90's...they often look like shit unless they are very well kept. Stuff seems "hollow".

I love seeing the old plaster and lathe walls...the heavy use of trim\moulding...thick wood floors...interesting staircases. It all seems so hard to reproduce or replicate. Even the nice new houses with all thr bells and whistles still have that assembly line feel.

Although I have many friends who absolutely hate old arcitecture

From my studies...ive found many old houses were overbuilt or underbuilt...so I wonder if the fondness is based on reality or simply an affection for older styles.

 

[Rakehellion]

Give me new or give me death.

 

[Ruptga]

If something's 100 years old and is still around for you to see it, it's because it was built well. In that one way old houses are better. But fuck plaster, asbestos, ancient plumbing, crappy electrical, tiny showers, all those drafts and insulation problems, and plaster. I much prefer some well-built recent construction to well-built old construction.

 

[skyking]

If the wiring and plumbing are up to date, then I tend to agree. I am in a newer home but my brother had a 1940 craftsman style, and now has a 1920 single story craftsman. Both were custom built homes at the time, and have tons of built ins and woodwork. The exterior detailing is nice too.
He added a big garage and attaching addition to the current house and took great care to match the trims and woodwork, doors, details. It shows.
It had the original wiring and single pane glass. The entire wiring job was about 10,000 including adding all that addition and replacing the wiring.
The new windows are custom made to fit the existing cases. they ran about 5000.

 

[Red Squirrel]

It's a double edged sword. A new house, done properly (not just to code, but above) will be much much more efficient and better. Better insulated, better sealed, better and safer electrical, etc... On the other hand, most of the time they will be built for speed and selling. You see all these subdivisions going up, it's often not individuals buying land and building their own house the way they want, it's contractors/investors mass building houses and selling them. That means that typically they'll want to use the cheapest methods and materials to get the job done faster and cheaper. A really basic house that looks like a box is going to be ridiculously expensive too. There's a bunch of houses that went up near my church, they were all near 300k a pop and look thrown together. They don't even come with all the finishings like foundation parging. That's all extra.

An old home may have more problems like bad insulation/vapor barrier though, but possibly be better built and have more character.

If I had a lot of money and looking for a house, I'd probably want to build new myself though. Maybe not actually do the work myself, but design it and oversee the entire operation. My biggest thing is insulation and sealing. I rather have a house that is extremely well sealed and just have a HRV system to have control over air exchange, and recover heat from the process.

Then there's the little things, like perhaps having outlets in the soffits for Christmas lights, and a living room that is designed to be optimized for a big screen TV and putting the couch in front with a surround sound setup. Too many living rooms are badly designed for functionality and only designed for looks.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

If something's 100 years old and is still around for you to see it, it's because it was built well. In that one way old houses are better. But fuck plaster, asbestos, ancient plumbing, crappy electrical, tiny showers, all those drafts and insulation problems, and plaster. I much prefer some well-built recent construction to well-built old construction.

This. Old houses have character but unless it has been very well maintained they often have too many little issues.

 

[T9D]

https://chaturbate.com/female-cams/

 

[drebo]

I've lived in houses built in the late 90s and early 2000s. They were crap. The house I bought was built in the mid 70s. It's built far better. It's a raised foundation (good luck finding a house built in the last 20 years with one around here) and it just feels more homey.

I lived in a 2001 McMansion for a while...17 foot ceilings in one part of the house, all tile, "modern" kitchen, etc...but it just felt cheap. That room with the 17 foot ceiling was always cold. The tile was impossible to keep clean (it was fucking white with white grout.) But at the same time, the drywall was cheap, all of the bathroom fixtures were fiberglass, and the back and front yards were tiny. It had the feeling of trying too hard to LOOK impressive without actually BEING impressive.

The house I bought has real stone accents on the outside, a stone fireplace, raised foundation, wood trim on the outside, and it looks and feels like real work was put into making it a solid house. And the bathtub is real porcelain. Sure, it could use new counter tops and some paint and new windows and a new set of circuit breakers, but at least I feel like I'm not going to have to do anything major structurally in the next 30 years.

 

[Childs]

When I was looking at craftsman and victorian homes the main problem I saw was the layout. Usually the bedrooms didn't have closets, and there would be a small living room, small sitting room, small dining room, small kitchen, etc. Every time I would see one I would think I'd need to open it up to feel spacious, which is just more money to invest. Probably would also need to redo insulation, windows, electrical, bathroom, etc. And at least half the time the floors would have a noticeable slant, or it would be bowed in spots. It probably wouldn't have bothered me if the price was low, but these were in the $400k to $700k price range in questionable neighborhoods.

The 50-70s ranch style houses were generally fine. Nothing major needed to be done, just remodeling.

 

[lxskllr]

I love old houses. There was more attention put into craftsmanship. That said, old is old. Things wear out, and old houses are more work. You have to be willing to put in the time if you get an old house, but I think it's worth it.

 

[MarkXIX]

A remodeled old home is the best option. But with high quality material. And keep a lot of the old wood floors and certain things.

I'm in the construction trade and new homes are total garbage. Most the house is that crappy chip board. That stuff sags like crap eventually. They use it on the decking (the floor). They use it on the outside under the siding. And then the siding itself is usually junk.

All the trim and baseboard is cheap particle wood. That stuff won't last long. It gets weak fast and breaks down. Get's really flexible and wavy eventually.

Doors these days have cardboard in them....cardboad. And totally flimsy weak particle wood for the main pieces. Old homes have solid wood that last forever.

Some beams are even made with that chip board now. The beams!! It's super thin but with these ends that make it like an I-Beam. No way that will last long. You can't replace all those in the house. The whole house would have to be torn down. And they will go bad and sag eventually. Not last forever like a 2" x 12" solid wood floor beam (joist)

Then you go the roof, more chip board. If chip board ever gets remotely moist it fluffs up and chips away. It eventually does that anyway as the glues break down. And sags really bad.

The windows are vinyl. That stuff eventually just get's brittle and cracks. No refinishing those like old wood ones. And won't last remotely as long.

All that stuff is putting out massive amounts of chemicals and toxins into the air also. All that wood with glue the most.

The fixtures are cheap chinese crap. But if you upgrade you can get some nice ones. But it get's very expensive fast.

Plastic water lines will not last nearly as long as metal. You can get copper but that's getting rare. And sometimes copper goes bad really fast depending on your water. Imagine having to rip out all the brittle plastic lines in 50 years. That being said you don't want old metal pipes like in old houses.

The ductwork now is just fleixble plastic with insulation around it. And duct taped on. Duct tape gets brittle fast. And then it all falls apart. The cheap plastic breaks up and becomes brittle. Not like metal ducting that is screwed on and will last forever.

Tile is laid over thin hardyboard which is screwed down to the crappy chip board. When you get a big fat guy on it or move something heavy over it it sags and cracks. I see lots of cracked tile in new homes after a few years.

Even a higher quality home uses a lot of that junk too. But if you're lucky and pay more not as much. Pay a lot more and you can at least get some thick plywood and maybe some real wood joists, solid wood doors, solid wood windows, but dang that's incredibly expensive upgrades and in very high end houses only it seems anymore. And if you don't pick it out and watch them they will still stick cheap crap underneath where you can't see.

I really see a lot of these new houses having to be totally torn down in 100 years or less. such a sad waste. Where as some old houses back east are already 400 years old even. And still going strong. Old houses also took pride in being very unique to the designer and architect and builder. They took more pride in their work, not simply wanting to slam it out for a quick buck.

With all that said, you'd want to fix all the drafts, put more insulation in, get new wiring and plumbing on an old house. But it will be so much better when done.

I just bought a brand new house and it seems well built compared to most. We got interested in it before they finished it and we toured it and took pictures of it before it was completed.

I didn't get to see the exterior walls go up, but I suspect they used chip board, but they put exterior Hardy board over that which got me a break on my insurance because I guess it is more fire resistant than other types of siding.

The floor trusses are pre-manufactured out of framed and assembled 2x4's. Not sure how that's cheaper or better than just straight up 2x12's, but that's what they are.

Plumbing is all plastic, but my brother who is a plumber says in many ways that's better than copper and definitely cheaper. I'll take his word for it. They did cheap out though on the plumbing he says because they didn't converge all the pipes into a manifold and he says that's part of the problem with losing pressure when more than one line is active at a time.

All the trim work is solid wood in the house. I know because I did an addition and matched the trim from the same supplier.

On that note though, they did do a shitty job on the concrete in my basement. The floors down there have several areas that are uneven, some places by up to 1/2" over the span of just a few feet. You can feel some of those spots though the carpet as you walk over it.

 

[z1ggy]

If something's 100 years old and is still around for you to see it, it's because it was built well. In that one way old houses are better. But fuck plaster, asbestos, ancient plumbing, crappy electrical, tiny showers, all those drafts and insulation problems, and plaster. I much prefer some well-built recent construction to well-built old construction.

This. It was most certainly well built, but lacks all the modern technology that makes it efficient. Unless you or previous owners ripped it down to the bones, put in new insulation, redid all the wiring to code, new windows, etc... It's going to probably suck living in a house that old.

 

[John Connor]

Ever try to get out of a new home sub division? It's like one way in one way out.

 

[gamefreakgcb]

We bought a house built in 1942. The house has no major problems. We put in a brand new kitchen and had to insulate the first floor. We added those fancy thermostat like exhaust ports on the radiators and now the tiny boiler the previous owners put in is working pretty good. Its good for us because my Dad and I can do a lot of work ourselves and that saved us a ton of money. Our next project is replacing some key water pipes inside but so far, it is going pretty good.

My dad is an electrician so we spent an entire month tracing then modifying or adding some new wires to the panel. There was some seriously stupid things where 1 single breaker was covering outlets and switches on two halves on each floor.

 

[TwiceOver]

A friend of mine bought a house built in 190x just recently. The woodwork is nice, the staircase is really nice, the floors are nice. But plaster everywhere, narrow basement stairway, small small bedrooms, questionable electrical. Stained glass windows look nice, but old and inefficient.

That's their "thing" though. They like houses with "character" where I personally like houses that are newer.

To each their own, I'd never buy one.

 

[IronWing]

Around here the new houses are mostly utter crap, stucco ghettos by Casa Piñata® builders.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

1959 house here and its solid. Insulation was another matter, it had essentially none when we purchased it. That was a fairly easy fix.
New houses look beautiful but they all look like something in a home depot display, I think it has something to do with everyone involved in a house is a specialist now so all the part don't flow together as well.

 

[Markbnj]

Older homes often have solid construction and great craftsmanship, while modern homes seem tacked together by a goon squad with pneumatic everything... and that's probably true. However, new homes benefit from a century's worth of advancements in construction techniques, materials, and design. So it's a tradeoff. The best old house, imo, is one that's been gutted and modernized. Otherwise chances are it will be too small (people weren't able to heat a lot of space a century ago), not have enough storage (they didn't have the amount of crap we do), and cost too much to run.

 

[vi edit]

I've lived in cheap throwaway new developments.
I've lived in late 1800's could survive a nuclear bomb victorian homes.
I've lived in late 70's sorta ok built homes.
I've lived in early 90's "premium homes".
I've lived in modern built, upscale custom built homes.
I've lived in late 40's cracker box "war home".

Every one of them had pro's (some far more than others) and each had cons (some a lot more than the others). But the underlying reality is that cheap crap is going to be cheap crap. That comes down to materials and effort originally used, materials and effort in maintaining, materials and effort in remodeling.

It starts with good bones, and continues with good upkeep.

 

[rudder]

Give me new or give me death.

Chinese drywall?

 

[Greenman]

A remodeled old home is the best option. But with high quality material. And keep a lot of the old wood floors and certain things.

I'm in the construction trade and new homes are total garbage. Most the house is that crappy chip board. That stuff sags like crap eventually. They use it on the decking (the floor). They use it on the outside under the siding. And then the siding itself is usually junk.

All the trim and baseboard is cheap particle wood. That stuff won't last long. It gets weak fast and breaks down. Get's really flexible and wavy eventually.

Doors these days have cardboard in them....cardboad. And totally flimsy weak particle wood for the main pieces. Old homes have solid wood that last forever.

Some beams are even made with that chip board now. The beams!! It's super thin but with these ends that make it like an I-Beam. No way that will last long. You can't replace all those in the house. The whole house would have to be torn down. And they will go bad and sag eventually. Not last forever like a 2" x 12" solid wood floor beam (joist)

Then you go the roof, more chip board. If chip board ever gets remotely moist it fluffs up and chips away. It eventually does that anyway as the glues break down. And sags really bad.

The windows are vinyl. That stuff eventually just get's brittle and cracks. No refinishing those like old wood ones. And won't last remotely as long.

All that stuff is putting out massive amounts of chemicals and toxins into the air also. All that wood with glue the most.

The fixtures are cheap chinese crap. But if you upgrade you can get some nice ones. But it get's very expensive fast.

Plastic water lines will not last nearly as long as metal. You can get copper but that's getting rare. And sometimes copper goes bad really fast depending on your water. Imagine having to rip out all the brittle plastic lines in 50 years. That being said you don't want old metal pipes like in old houses.

The ductwork now is just fleixble plastic with insulation around it. And duct taped on. Duct tape gets brittle fast. And then it all falls apart. The cheap plastic breaks up and becomes brittle. Not like metal ducting that is screwed on and will last forever.

Tile is laid over thin hardyboard which is screwed down to the crappy chip board. When you get a big fat guy on it or move something heavy over it it sags and cracks. I see lots of cracked tile in new homes after a few years.

Even a higher quality home uses a lot of that junk too. But if you're lucky and pay more not as much. Pay a lot more and you can at least get some thick plywood and maybe some real wood joists, solid wood doors, solid wood windows, but dang that's incredibly expensive upgrades and in very high end houses only it seems anymore. And if you don't pick it out and watch them they will still stick cheap crap underneath where you can't see.

I really see a lot of these new houses having to be totally torn down in 100 years or less. such a sad waste. Where as some old houses back east are already 400 years old even. And still going strong. Old houses also took pride in being very unique to the designer and architect and builder. They took more pride in their work, not simply wanting to slam it out for a quick buck.

With all that said, you'd want to fix all the drafts, put more insulation in, get new wiring and plumbing on an old house. But it will be so much better when done.

Way to general, and you're comparing the best of older homes with the worst of newer homes. Solid wood doors and windows are available today that are much more durable and tighter than those leaky old doors and double hung wood windows. Quality flooring and tile that will last a lifetime are easy to come by as well. Mechanical systems and energy efficiency are where older homes fall flat. They simply aren't in the same league as new homes.

The primary driving factor in todays homes is cost. Everyone loves solid hardwood doors, few will pay for them. The same applies to windows. The spread between low cost vinyl and high end wood on a 2000 foot house can easily be $25,000.
Exterior siding is another place where builders cheap out. Masonite or OSB siding is garbage, but no one wants to foot the bill for clear Redwood or Ceder, so we end up using Hardi Plank or stucco.

Structural framing on old houses doesn't begin to compare to how they're built today. They simply didn't have the connection methods available, and they didn't have plywood. Plywood, or the OSB that you hate is a God send to builders. Thats the stuff that ties the structure together, it's what keeps it standing in an earthquake or hurricane.

 

[jagec]

The best old house, imo, is one that's been gutted and modernized.

I live in such a house (1910 brick rowhouse on the outside, modern stick-frame and drywall on the inside) and I completely agree. It looks great, won't fall apart, and has all of those modern amenities like insulation, a real kitchen, AC, and enough outlets.

I'll further extend this, and say that the best old house is one that's been gutted and modernized while under the watchful eye of the homeowner (the people who did mine cut some corners).

 

[JM Aggie08]

Modernized older homes are acceptable; gutted and completely redone. I'd still prefer new any day of the week.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

I think the only reason people prefer older homes is that the ones that exist and are livable in are the ones that have managed to not collapse and be condemned in the first place.

The rest were probably 100x worse than mass market homes today. I would fully rather buy a modern home that I know was built well versus a old home that is built well. Construction techniques have come a long way as well as materials.

 

[gorcorps]

Even the better build quality of older homes are going to require repairs and maintenance... plus the old layouts are IMO terrible and don't make good use of your space. So given the choice I'll go with modern