3 ms·

You can't assert this is absolutely false, you have not even in your comment established the criteria to say so. If "older growth wood is more stable and more

You can't assert this is absolutely false, you have not even in your comment established the criteria to say so. If "older growth wood is more stable and more likely to resist moisture" it still stands that any wood can perform well in the absence of excess moisture. I certainly agree that my 120+ year old house made of fir would last much longer with a leaky roof than a house from the 1960's or 1990's with a leaky roof.. but all of those houses would be unfit for occupancy while they deteriorate. 75 years ago is 1957 by my reckoning, you have some example of 75 year old houses deteriorating because of the quality of wood in the absence of moisture penetration? There is no point in having a structure that is uninhabitable due to moisture penetration that still stands except for the purposes of salvaging it.. which I guess has some value.. My personal opinion is that building built to code today will stand for 100+ years no problem, buildings built in the 70's, 80's and 90's to code in many places will also do so if moisture (Rh) mitigations are reasonably executed (lots of mould & vapour barrier issues in that era). Older houses don't face the moisture issues because they are not as well sealed and as with all structures - keep a good roof on them and they are fine. Framing wood quality doesn't matter, how fast that wood rots is a question of every other material used in the construction of the envelope.

ricardobeat 3y ago
Honest question: modern builds seem to have a lot of plastic, rubber and foam materials used for insulation, ventilation, etc. Won’t all of that deteriorate much quicker than 50 years? Things like spray foam and polystyrene seem to be in areas pretty hard to replace (or even notice they are degrading).
- eternityforest 3y ago
  A lot of things like that don't degrade for hundreds of years except maybe by shedding some microplastic when you wash your plastic clothes. Does spray foam have a failure mode just sitting in a wall? If it does, I wonder if they'll have some special robot to replace it one day.
- JamisonM 3y ago
  Well.. I don't really know. I know that the copper drain plumbing in my house was failing and needed replacing and it was a lot younger than many abs installations in the world that are just fine? It certainly could be the case that something like spray foam degrades over very long periods of time.. but you'd have to figure the savings from the enhanced insulation value over that period would more that pay for its replacement.

ricardobeat 3y ago

Honest question: modern builds seem to have a lot of plastic, rubber and foam materials used for insulation, ventilation, etc. Won’t all of that deteriorate much quicker than 50 years? Things like spray foam and polystyrene seem to be in areas pretty hard to replace (or even notice they are degrading).

eternityforest 3y ago
A lot of things like that don't degrade for hundreds of years except maybe by shedding some microplastic when you wash your plastic clothes. Does spray foam have a failure mode just sitting in a wall? If it does, I wonder if they'll have some special robot to replace it one day.
JamisonM 3y ago
Well.. I don't really know. I know that the copper drain plumbing in my house was failing and needed replacing and it was a lot younger than many abs installations in the world that are just fine? It certainly could be the case that something like spray foam degrades over very long periods of time.. but you'd have to figure the savings from the enhanced insulation value over that period would more that pay for its replacement.