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DIY & Home Improvement

steve2470

(37,468 posts) Sat May 23, 2015, 02:44 PM May 2015

question about residential construction in the past versus now [View all]

Through the years, I've gotten the impression that residential home construction quality, in general, has gone down. I have no hard data on that and I've never been in the industry. I know codes in certain locations (like Miami for hurricanes or California for earthquakes) have gone up.

Is this just urban legend-ish stuff I've been exposed to, or is there some truth to that ? Thanks for your patience with my sincere question.

Steve

15 replies

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question about residential construction in the past versus now [View all] steve2470 May 2015 OP

What's the urban legend stuff to which you refer? Architect and builder here. NYC_SKP May 2015 #1

oh, just muttering over... steve2470 May 2015 #2

Frankly, they're correct about thinner walls and some component's ability to last. NYC_SKP May 2015 #3

my condo is exhibit A, sort of steve2470 May 2015 #4

You can put a fist through a modern wall. Don't try that with a pre-war home. NYC_SKP May 2015 #6

the resistance is because the local industry is afraid it will hurt sales ? steve2470 May 2015 #7

Part of it is frontier resistance to big government, and the energy lobby. NYC_SKP May 2015 #9

Thanks for your time with this, NYC_SKP steve2470 May 2015 #10

You're welcome. I now work entirely in the realm of energy efficiency and renewables. NYC_SKP May 2015 #11

she is! steve2470 May 2015 #12

Generally speaking, standardized building codes Warpy May 2015 #5

I think we all know that older homes murielm99 May 2015 #8

I suspect that there are a lot of regional differences Mosby May 2015 #13

To yer question Wash. state Desk Jet May 2015 #14

thank you so much for your input steve2470 May 2015 #15