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Most of the contractors who like to talk about the good old days are simply spreading FUD. New homes will hold up better a hundred years from now, and have a mu

Most of the contractors who like to talk about the good old days are simply spreading FUD. New homes will hold up better a hundred years from now, and have a much lower chance of catching on fire, collapsing in an earthquake, and are less harmful to the planet since they use a fraction of the energy. - Old windows from 100 years ago were single pane. I grew up with them. My bedroom was freezing cold in the winter and roasting in the summer. And they couldn't seal so they leaked water which rotted out the window frame. Not exactly a great example of old homes lasting longer. - Cedar shake is a fire hazard. Yeah, we don't build houses like that because a century ago entire towns would light up like a match. It was a regular occurrence. - New constructions (At least mine was) built with 2x6, so it has a higher R rating and better soundproofing. My energy bills are a fraction of those for an older house. - New homes are better sealed, and contain air tight vapor barriers. Water can't get in and rot the wood like with old homes. Yes, it's not old growth wood, but it will last longer. Better sealing, air filtration and HVAC will reduce your chance of getting lung cancer from air pollution. - Modern high end LVP flooring is substantially more robust than hardwood. Dogs can't scratch it, you can drop a cast iron pan on it, it's waterproof. If you want to instead spend money on hardwood there's nothing stopping you, but LVP looks great and is easy to replace.

nemo44x 4y ago
> Old windows from 100 years ago were single pane. Yes but you can (and should) weatherstrip them. Fully integrated weather stripping and storm windows will solve the problems you're addressing. Yes still lower R-value but old homes are leaky and putting in modern windows won't save you much in these instances. > New homes will hold up better a hundred years from now Most won't. My home is over 100 years old and I'm 100% positive it will outlast 90% of modern construction put up today 100 years from now. I've seen my house gutted in many places and it's pristine. I've seen many 20 year old homes that are full of mold and rot. > Cedar shake is a fire hazard. Depends where you live. It looks great and there are millions of homes with it. At least where I live where there is a lot of spacing between homes and we don't have forest fires like out West. > - New constructions (At least mine was) built with 2x6, so it has a higher R rating and better soundproofing. My energy bills are a fraction of those for an older house. That's how I'd do a new build. But what does it have to do with sound proofing? I can use 5/8 drywall and use rock-wool or w/e between rooms if I want. It's what I've done when I remove plaster and lath walls. Agree about energy. > New homes are better sealed, and contain air tight vapor barriers. Water can't get in and rot the wood like with old homes. Yes, it's not old growth wood, but it will last longer. Better sealing, air filtration and HVAC will reduce your chance of getting lung cancer from air pollution. Might be. Hope the guy installing it cared enough not to install some flashing wrong or didn't forget to seal something. There's so much bad workmanship and a lot of today's better materials demand it's done very precisely. Saying that, a good contractor will inspect and test, but most won't. Old homes are still standing because water was/is kept away with larger eves (ever notice homes after water barriers came out stopped having large eves or any?) and by virtue of not having great insulation. They literally dry themselves out. God, the number of windows I've seen where the vapor barrier is installed/folded wrong or the flashing is wrong; or ZipSystem walls where the taped seals aren't quite right because of a weird angle. > Better sealing, air filtration and HVAC will reduce your chance of getting lung cancer from air pollution You can install HVAC with whatever filters you want in an old house. I've done it. > Modern high end LVP flooring is substantially more robust than hardwood I think it's appropriate in a basement room but I'd never consider having it in the rest of my home. An old house in disrepair or what hasn't bene renovated is probably a pretty bad thing that isn't going to last long. But if you've put the money into it and renovated you have a home that's setup for another 100 years and simply has gobs of character and charm you'll never get in a new home. But that's all a value call.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  > Most won't. My home is over 100 years old and I'm 100% positive it will outlast 90% of modern construction put up today 100 years from now. I've seen my house gutted in many places and it's pristine. I've seen many 20 year old homes that are full of mold and rot. One of the main problems with modern houses is that they go to shit very quickly if they're ever unoccupied for a while. They need heating and cooling (especially the dehumidifying effect of AC) or they'll require extensive repairs and renovation within a year or two. Saw tons of these when looking at houses after the '08 bust—some of the bigger banks let houses sit for a couple years without even trying to sell them, and they inevitably had major visible mold problems, and probably a lot more going on inside the walls. It's the sealing differences that do it. Modern houses are built to be super-tightly-sealed, but that means they have (at least seasonal) moisture problems without an active HVAC system. Older houses were built to breathe. Modern materials also aren't built or installed with major seasonal temp swings in mind, so you'll get things like badly-cracking drywall seams, buckling trim, buckling floors, fucked-up doorframes, and so on, due to thermal expansion and contraction. Even intricate, tight woodwork in very-old houses was crafted to survive that kind of thing (it had to be). Not that older houses don't get into trouble without maintenance, but it takes longer and serious problems pretty much require a roof or wall breach. Modern houses will fall apart while the roof and exterior walls are totally fine.

nemo44x 4y ago

> Old windows from 100 years ago were single pane. Yes but you can (and should) weatherstrip them. Fully integrated weather stripping and storm windows will solve the problems you're addressing. Yes still lower R-value but old homes are leaky and putting in modern windows won't save you much in these instances. > New homes will hold up better a hundred years from now Most won't. My home is over 100 years old and I'm 100% positive it will outlast 90% of modern construction put up today 100 years from now. I've seen my house gutted in many places and it's pristine. I've seen many 20 year old homes that are full of mold and rot. > Cedar shake is a fire hazard. Depends where you live. It looks great and there are millions of homes with it. At least where I live where there is a lot of spacing between homes and we don't have forest fires like out West. > - New constructions (At least mine was) built with 2x6, so it has a higher R rating and better soundproofing. My energy bills are a fraction of those for an older house. That's how I'd do a new build. But what does it have to do with sound proofing? I can use 5/8 drywall and use rock-wool or w/e between rooms if I want. It's what I've done when I remove plaster and lath walls. Agree about energy. > New homes are better sealed, and contain air tight vapor barriers. Water can't get in and rot the wood like with old homes. Yes, it's not old growth wood, but it will last longer. Better sealing, air filtration and HVAC will reduce your chance of getting lung cancer from air pollution. Might be. Hope the guy installing it cared enough not to install some flashing wrong or didn't forget to seal something. There's so much bad workmanship and a lot of today's better materials demand it's done very precisely. Saying that, a good contractor will inspect and test, but most won't. Old homes are still standing because water was/is kept away with larger eves (ever notice homes after water barriers came out stopped having large eves or any?) and by virtue of not having great insulation. They literally dry themselves out. God, the number of windows I've seen where the vapor barrier is installed/folded wrong or the flashing is wrong; or ZipSystem walls where the taped seals aren't quite right because of a weird angle. > Better sealing, air filtration and HVAC will reduce your chance of getting lung cancer from air pollution You can install HVAC with whatever filters you want in an old house. I've done it. > Modern high end LVP flooring is substantially more robust than hardwood I think it's appropriate in a basement room but I'd never consider having it in the rest of my home. An old house in disrepair or what hasn't bene renovated is probably a pretty bad thing that isn't going to last long. But if you've put the money into it and renovated you have a home that's setup for another 100 years and simply has gobs of character and charm you'll never get in a new home. But that's all a value call.

yamtaddle 4y ago
> Most won't. My home is over 100 years old and I'm 100% positive it will outlast 90% of modern construction put up today 100 years from now. I've seen my house gutted in many places and it's pristine. I've seen many 20 year old homes that are full of mold and rot. One of the main problems with modern houses is that they go to shit very quickly if they're ever unoccupied for a while. They need heating and cooling (especially the dehumidifying effect of AC) or they'll require extensive repairs and renovation within a year or two. Saw tons of these when looking at houses after the '08 bust—some of the bigger banks let houses sit for a couple years without even trying to sell them, and they inevitably had major visible mold problems, and probably a lot more going on inside the walls. It's the sealing differences that do it. Modern houses are built to be super-tightly-sealed, but that means they have (at least seasonal) moisture problems without an active HVAC system. Older houses were built to breathe. Modern materials also aren't built or installed with major seasonal temp swings in mind, so you'll get things like badly-cracking drywall seams, buckling trim, buckling floors, fucked-up doorframes, and so on, due to thermal expansion and contraction. Even intricate, tight woodwork in very-old houses was crafted to survive that kind of thing (it had to be). Not that older houses don't get into trouble without maintenance, but it takes longer and serious problems pretty much require a roof or wall breach. Modern houses will fall apart while the roof and exterior walls are totally fine.