Measuring With a Calendar

That's what non-inspectors and even some professionals don't realize: Structural collapse can be slow, incremental even.

Modern home are doing the same thing. Just measure some truss joists where squash blocks have not been installed. I've found a suprising amount of 'crush' for the time installed.

Jim, of course you know I totally agree with you about old houses.  If you looked for all the houses that were build 100 years ago you just would not find very many of them---a few a still standing.

Very interesting perspective.  People do think that things were always better in the past but this is a great example of why that is not the case.

Thanks for the informative post. I gathered some useful facts from it. I am sure you are a very competent inspector and people are lucky to have you work for them.

Betty

Hi-  I agree with some of what you say, however I think the tendency to cut corners is greater these days. 

I know for a fact that older homes were built better and still everlasting. The newer homes were not built to last

Yup, just because it was made in yesteryear doesn't mean it was done properly.  While old homes have nostalgia associated with them, they can also have a lot of headaches/issues.

The older homes were build with heavier materials compared to today's standard. Today thing are engineered and floors are not 100% virgin wood. We not can get good quality floor that uses much less timber to produce that same square footage as before. It is done with post manufacturing products and fast growing products like bamboo.

The home of today is more comfortable and more energy efficient then in the past.

James:

I guess my house of 100 years is part of the cream.  At least I hope so.  many of the beams were redwood beams.  Redwoods grew in profusion in the hills where I live and that was the material that used to build most homes in my city at that time.

I think that buyers and sellers of these older homes have to understand what they are getting into when they take it on.  When a new owner decides to open up walls and move things around to make a more open kitchen, they usually find surprises along the way.  Great post!

James -- what a good explanation of a particular portion of building that will cause problems, if placed in the wrong situation.

Great point(s) Jim!  There was just as much make shift stuff in times past as today.  But hey, at least they got that post under the seam in that built-up beam!

I am of two minds on this issue. Seeing photos from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, I would much rather live in a modern home built under current building codes. No amount of craftsmanship can save a home from a serious earthquake if it is not built to stand up to one.

OTOH, I live in a Central CA town filled with homes built anywhere from 1850-1930 (many Victorians). The ones that have been properly maintainted and structurally modernized are glorious and beautiul masterpieces of vintage design...and retrofitted for earthquake protection. The ones that are barely hanging on to life are rented to students who can't afford better and don't care about repairs, etc. Some of these I am literally afraid to walk through.

I completely agree.  Whenever I hear people say "they don't build em' like they used to", I think to myself "yeah, we know what we're doing now.  It used to just be educated guesswork."  

Love your colorful expression "creatively shoddy work" - yes, afraid the practice is universal and scary if remans undetected. We need more good inspectors like you!