are houses built today weaker than houses built 70 - 50 years ago?

Question

First of all, i much prefer the way contractors work now compared to the past.. much easier and much quicker. But the reason Im asking this is because lately ive been doing a lot of different renovations and a lot of demo.. and certain things have been jumping out at me.

ive noticed that the materials we use nowadays seem thinner.. lighter.. cheaper.. im not sure what but not as strong as the material of the past. for example.. 2x4 these days are not actually 2x4. same goes with other lumber.. everything has been slimmed down.

Also sheetrock as opposed to plaster. Now believe me.. i would choose sheetrock over plaster any day of the week namely because plaster is a pain in the *** in all aspects.. but at the same time, i can punch through sheetrock like glass. plaster walls have laths, wire mesh, blah blah.. much tougher than sheetrock.

also plywood subfloors as opposed to floorboards as subfloor. i understand that plywood is very strong and probably much cheaper than buying twice the amount of floor boards.. but i feel like loosing something.

Aslo, thinking about the structure of a house.. looking from outside to inside of an exterior wall... essentially youve got siding, then plywood, then studs, then sheetrock. thats it. seems very weak. im not sure how they used to build structures but it seem very weak to me.

ive noticed a couple other things but thats all i can think up off the top of my head.

after doing all this work ive got this image in my mind of an old house and a new house side by side, and a huge storm rolls through and cleans the new house down to the studs but the old house is basically fine.

im fairly new at this so id like the opinion of experienced home builders and contractors.. are houses built stronger or weaker nowdays?

thanks... appreciate your opinions.

Answer 1

Dude it really depends on how much money was spent on the older houses, many older house are built so poorly you wouldn't believe, walls 120mm out of plumb, stumps sat in dirt which rot. I've worked on older house and bricks used lime mortar (you can push a wall over with your hands), not a cement mortar which is way stronger. They didn't have things like sisalation and what insulation they did have is generally inadequate.



Yes many older houses are built well compared to some today, but I'd bet my goolies that top spec house of today blow away anything built years ago.



I'd like to add cars of today are built much more flimsier than in the 50's yet you have way more chance of living in a crash today than then, better technology.

Answer 2

I bought an old house the wood used for framing was a full 4x4. I had real plaster walls as opposed to sheet rock. My foundation was a foot x foot log that was under the back door sill. I think the building supplies were much more sturdy but the wiring and plumbing have to go. My subfloors were pine about a foot wide and I had real hardwood in half the house. How can you compare how all those houses were built and look at the woodwork and stained glass windows. I find today's houses are insulated better and that's about it. I just bought some fascia boards and a 1x8 cedar board is just a bit over 1/2 inch x 7 1/8. Just gets smaller and smaller as each year passes. Why not give us the good stuff and the right size and charge us appropriately. I guess it would just be too expensive. Can you imagine what the square foot replacement cost would be for your insurance?

Answer 3

Houses have always been built on the basis of cheap labour and material. Labour has got dearer and timber is not as good as it used to be, but in a country which has sunny weather most of the time,a cheap timber house makes sense.

When they were building new homes locally, (UK) there was a public meeting and I asked "what does it mean, there will be a 50 year storm drain" ? the reply " Well it doesn't make sense to build anything to withstand the worst that can happen in 100, 200, or 1,000 years. So we estimate the worst flood that will happen in 50 years, and build the drains to cope with that. " We had a big storm in 1987, and another this week, 25 years later. So a few roofs blew off. But would you pay 2 or 3 times the price to have a house that could stand against a hurricane and a serious flood that MIGHT happen once in your lifetime ? I think not.

Answer 4

Older houses were definitely built tougher. Partly due to materials used. Old houses were built with trees that had been around for hundreds of years, the rings are tighter causing the wood to be tougher. Houses now are built out of trees that may be 40 years old, grown far enough apart that they grow quicker. To build a house now like they did back in the 40's, would cost you at least twice as much. They were more labor intensive to build.

Answer 5

As you see, mixed reviews.



The materials used way back were stronger and heavier back then then the pressed and engineered crap that we use today. However, the standardization of codes today ensure that what you are getting, is sufficient for the area that one is in.

Back then, you have stronger materials but it was how the builder put them altogether that was the difference. If well built, much better then today's, if not, could be disastrous.

Your can still get actual 2x4's, you get them from a mill, rough stock, before the final planning process.

Answer 6

In hurricane ally the weak link in today's houses is toe-nailed rafters, (Pressure difference, will pop the roof off),.. That's remedied by using hurricane straps,.. and after Hurricane Andrew,.. the majority of failures were Gable Roofs facing the Ocean.. all hip roofs could with stand the wind.

Oriented strand board is a crooks rip-off.

Other mistakes extending a roof for a carport with wooden post toe-nailed, facing the Ocean, or east wind.

not only will it flip the carport roof,.. but it will rip the main roof with it..I've seen it happen in 3 different occasions..

Answer 7

im a builder ..uk ..have built in canada ..and america ...you guys need to come over to uk and see how we do it ..our houses are designed to last hundreds of years ..many houses over here are 5-800 years old ..when i built in canada ..the bungalow arrived on the back of a lorry ..and we put it together like a meccano set .....a few years back i was in florida ..at a little town called seaside ..after hurricane andrew i went back ..in mobile there was a ship 1/4 mile inland and it was hard to find seaside!!..or what was left of ...give me bricks and mortar every day

Answer 8

to build house to day like built as little

as 50 yrs past would be in violation

of most building codes and insurances code.



using those 50 yr old materials would increase

housing cost 75% -100% depending on sites.



present housing is stronger, safer, cleaner than in past.

housing now has a lower trash compsite than

just 20 yrs past.

present housing is faster and more standardized

than b4.