50 years ago construction often required individual skill. My grandfather used to tile kitchens back when they still floated countertops using "mud" (dry-ish co

50 years ago construction often required individual skill. My grandfather used to tile kitchens back when they still floated countertops using "mud" (dry-ish concrete mix) which resulted in a solid very level counter top (assuming skilled labor). Nowadays, you use concrete board or similar and hope the cabinets were leveled well (usually off about an inch) for cost. Most things are now some degree of prefab and plug-and-play built by less skilled workers so you can get by paying them less. They often have no experience in building and can't spot details that will cause problems. In some cases the technology makes for an overall better product or reduced waste, but often as not it's just less material resulting in flimsy construction. I'd be surprised if you couldn't get a staircase nowadays that was just a precut aluminum struts with pre-etched holes that you can tap out (or similar). Like an upscaled Ikea part. So that's what contractors use because otherwise they couldn't compete on labor costs with someone who did. Oddly the overall costs for building a house have not correspondingly decreased for the consumer as banks and builders generally take a larger share. Though to be fair consumers also want larger "McMansions" as well so part of the factor is some of the savings do go into giving "more".