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The thing old houses like that have in their favor is that the timber they are built out of is usually better quality than anything you could possibly buy today

The thing old houses like that have in their favor is that the timber they are built out of is usually better quality than anything you could possibly buy today. Consequently a lot of things could be significantly overbuilt in a way you can't do today. My house is 1880s vintage, and it's sorta post-and-beam, with 10x10 beams making up the frame, and double layers of 12" to 30" wide pine floorboards. You can't even begin to find lumber like that today, unless you've got a stand of high quality timber that's been saved out and not cut already, and a sawmill to do custom sawing.

netzone 9y ago
Well, you could probably find it. You definitely had more of the really large trees in North America as far as I know, historically anyway. Today, building something with massive sturdy timber would likely not be much cheaper (if at all) than just building a concrete box.
- maxerickson 9y ago
  Yeah, there's plenty of big trees left too. Stuff just gets cut smaller because no one wants to pay for extra size. There's really no reason to use huge beams for house style construction. Decent wood is incredibly strong.
ghaff 9y ago
I live in about a 200 year old house that's kinda sorta post and beam but nothing like 10x10s. And some really wide floor boards. When I had to do a major renovation I got some wider floor boards but they're still a lot thinner than some of the ones already in the house.
shimon 9y ago
And conversely, the thing that today's houses have in their favor is that there's a ton more engineering knowledge and testing applied to the materials and construction. They will last a very long time, and they will do better at resisting leaks, staying level, and operating efficiently. Of course, at any time there are many poorly-built houses being made - it's not fair to compare only the old houses that have survived with the cheapest of current homes. And there are probably some "miracle materials" today that will be found to have big problems in practice, from lower-than-expected lifetimes to significant safety risks (c.f. polybutylene pipes, asbestos, lead paint). Personally I enjoy living in a 125yo home. It's balloon-framed, and the joist spacing is inconsistent, and if you replicated this structure with modern lumber it would probably be dangerous. With 1890s-era lumber, it's just a little off-kilter. :)

netzone 9y ago

Well, you could probably find it. You definitely had more of the really large trees in North America as far as I know, historically anyway. Today, building something with massive sturdy timber would likely not be much cheaper (if at all) than just building a concrete box.

maxerickson 9y ago
Yeah, there's plenty of big trees left too. Stuff just gets cut smaller because no one wants to pay for extra size. There's really no reason to use huge beams for house style construction. Decent wood is incredibly strong.

ghaff 9y ago

I live in about a 200 year old house that's kinda sorta post and beam but nothing like 10x10s. And some really wide floor boards. When I had to do a major renovation I got some wider floor boards but they're still a lot thinner than some of the ones already in the house.

shimon 9y ago

And conversely, the thing that today's houses have in their favor is that there's a ton more engineering knowledge and testing applied to the materials and construction. They will last a very long time, and they will do better at resisting leaks, staying level, and operating efficiently. Of course, at any time there are many poorly-built houses being made - it's not fair to compare only the old houses that have survived with the cheapest of current homes. And there are probably some "miracle materials" today that will be found to have big problems in practice, from lower-than-expected lifetimes to significant safety risks (c.f. polybutylene pipes, asbestos, lead paint). Personally I enjoy living in a 125yo home. It's balloon-framed, and the joist spacing is inconsistent, and if you replicated this structure with modern lumber it would probably be dangerous. With 1890s-era lumber, it's just a little off-kilter. :)