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Thread: Old houses

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts
    5,427
    I seriously considered buying a house built around 1960 which is not all that old, but man did it have problems. The plumbing to the water heater was 3/8" copper tubing. The bathtub drain had been done with plastic irrigation pipe instead of a proper trap. It also had asbestos flooring in numerous places. I think one of the worst parts of the house was the basement stairs that were as steep as a ladder. (You had to use the stairs to get into house from garage.) The HVAC was a good 30 years old and was probably on the way out.

    Someone had built about a 10 or 12 foot wide addition on the back with a flat roof. The flat roof had been leaking for some time and the entire addition probably needed to be torn off due to rot. They did a flat roof since they used the roof for a deck/patio.

    I decided after that to limit my search to 1979 and newer to avoid the whole asbestos and lead paint era although there is a chance either could have been used for several years after being banned. I found a 1980 house in need of renovation for the same price as the 1960 house, but the 1980 house had far fewer issues.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    1,209
    It all depends. My experience was pretty much the opposite.

    I owned a late 1970s house that was poorly built. For example, when we decided to insulate the attic, I removed all the old blown in insulation, and discovered a layer of craft paper under it, but only within arms reach of the access panel. Turns out the old code required craft paper under the insulation, and the builder saved a dollar or two I am sure by doing it only within arms reach of the access panel, knowing the inspector would not check everywhere. Noticeably less insulation on the far side of the attic as well. You know if they are trying to save pennies like that, the rest of the construction is not that great, and it showed.

    In contrast, the late 1950s house I own is very well built. A husband and wife had it built for their family, and I bought it from her. The construction quality is excellent, and it has been very well maintained. The electric needs to be upgraded, but nobody has done anything weird in here.

    I think people should pay more attention to construction quality when they are looking at houses, but unfortunately there is poor workmanship in all eras, and the older ones may have suffered poor maintenance as well.

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Neither here nor there
    Posts
    3,831
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nicholas Lawrence View Post
    It all depends. My experience was pretty much the opposite.

    I owned a late 1970s house that was poorly built. For example, when we decided to insulate the attic, I removed all the old blown in insulation, and discovered a layer of craft paper under it, but only within arms reach of the access panel. Turns out the old code required craft paper under the insulation, and the builder saved a dollar or two I am sure by doing it only within arms reach of the access panel, knowing the inspector would not check everywhere. Noticeably less insulation on the far side of the attic as well. You know if they are trying to save pennies like that, the rest of the construction is not that great, and it showed.

    In contrast, the late 1950s house I own is very well built. A husband and wife had it built for their family, and I bought it from her. The construction quality is excellent, and it has been very well maintained. The electric needs to be upgraded, but nobody has done anything weird in here.

    I think people should pay more attention to construction quality when they are looking at houses, but unfortunately there is poor workmanship in all eras, and the older ones may have suffered poor maintenance as well.
    It is my personal opinion that around the late '70's is when construction quality started to go down hill. My parents' home was built in the late 1980's and it is pretty horrible. Nowadays it's all about how fast you can throw one up.

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