Beastie
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Well, where my old flat was in Aberdeen, most houses are built of granite. Very solid, very thick, granite. With simple maintenance these buildings will still be there in five, six, seven hundred years if no one decides to knock down the building to put something else on the site.
Most new houses are, as another answerer has said, timber framed with a minimal amount of brickwork around the outside.
They will not last five hundred years. They are simply not solid enough. |
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entidtil
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Newer homes are not built as strong but they are insulated and sealed better. I prefer an older home that has been "updated" |
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kitkat
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Of course its true. How is it possible to build a new estate in a couple of months. Also I used to work for an architects and they routinely use the cheapest legal products possible to keep costs down - they all do it. The barratt type houses you couldn't swing a mouse in. You can tell how small inside a newly built house/flat is by the size of the windows as well!!!!
Now they make the walls so thin that people have been known to hear their neighbours stirring their tea in the kitchen next door (I kid you not!) Know someone who works in housing who gets these types of complaints all the time. |
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bonshui
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All the new houses round my way are basically wooden frames with minimal brickwork just for decoration.
I live in a stone built tenement built in 1891.
For sure, new houses have insulation built into the walls, but we don't need it - our walls are 18 inches thick! |
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Jenn
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I really feel that older houses were better built. True like others have said insulation is not as good, but 25 yrs ago there was better work ethic by the builders. They didn't do 'short cuts' to save money. Nowadays you can get a house in a 'kit' after the pipes are laid and foundation the house can be up in like a week or less. |
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Madison!
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Yes, it's true. How many times do you see a new house pop up? And how long does it take to build that house? Not long at all. Cheap materials are used. Builders don't care anymore. The companies want to move on to the next project as fast as they can. There are countless factors and reasons why houses built today are inferior.
Some houses today are built with love, but I would much rather spend more money on a house 100 years old than something built today. Realtors will tell you what you want to hear to get you to buy the house, the company who built the house will lie to you to keep their image intact. You have to do your own research. But yes, on the whole, older houses are far superior. |
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Linda S
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Just my personal opinion.
The older homes were built with the buyer in mind. They were constructed to be long lasting and the best materials available were used. Inspections were strict. Buyers did not have to view a home with a microscope a typical home was built with almost everything you needed. It was not necessary
to be on your guard because fabricated lumber was not an issue at the time.
Today everything is extra. If you do not upgrade your windows will leak air and condensate.. Your upstairs bedrooms will freeze you out if you just go with the standard insulation. Quite often a furnace is undersized. Lumber is not what it used to be. Chipboard is used as often as possible.
concrete tends to be a weaker mix than they used to use in the 50s. Plumbing materials have changed. Keep an eye on how many outlets they have for electricity and watch to see if you get decent water pressure in your home.
I feel like new homes are built cheap so people can afford them but If your just buying the standard home your not going to be too happy. Looks are not everything.... |
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DannoREA
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Ever heard the phrase "They just don't build 'em like they used to"? There's a reason for that.
Old school builders actually cared about their craft. they took pride in their work, and were built to last more than a lifetime. Houses these days are built to be cost effective for the builder (READ: Frikkin cheap!) and are made with materials that just don't stand the test of time. Plywood and stucco are not going to last 300 years no matter what anyone tells you. Brick, granite, stone - THOSE will last until you bulldoze them.
An old home that's been updated with modern amenities would be my choice. |
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XxPepper AvengedxX
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I personally don't like newer house. You never know what foundations they've been building on lol. |
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Butternut27
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yes newer houses are not as good..I could go on about how strong, thick walled etc about the old houses but the two basic facts you should know and its as simple as this...facts are:
1.New houses are built by companies out to make money..its all about profit..do not fool yourself into thinking the builders care..coz they don't..its all about profits that is why snagging companies are in business....builders don't give a **** and will get away with doing as little as possible...
2.Old houses eg Victorian are a fixed stock they will never be build again..builders then took pride in what they did...that is why they are more expensive... |
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Leo F
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There is a lot of pros and cons on this subject. Older homes were build with no insulation and have knob and tube wiring, lead pipes and plaster walls that crack, single glazed windows and were built with little or no building codes prior to the 1940. Home built after the 1980 are build to strick building codes and have a high insulation rate but things like doors are hollow core. It all depends on the builder and quality of home you purchase. Old home can be a money pit when it comes to updating the plumbing, wiring and trying to heat or cool them. |
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Jim C
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a new house may be better insulated and cheaper to run but a old house brick or stone built will last longer than to days cheap and nasty buildings and with a bit of money spent on insulation can be just as economical as a old one |
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groovymaude
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New houses are shoddily built, you only have to look at how fast they throw them up! Good insulation in a bad house is not a reason to buy new, buy a solid (straight - they have lost the ability to build straight walls) older house and get it insulated then you'll have good insulation and a good house! I've had 2 from new, one '83 which was pretty good, direct labour and one bought '96 which is crap but looks pretty! |
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C-Squared
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Old houses were less insulated, and so they let in more "fresh air". New houses can trap bacteria and other harmful agents and make people sick. This is one proposed explanation for the increase in allergies and asthma in recent years. |
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sophie d
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When I was a kid we moved in to a newly built barrat house. My brother kicked a football in the living room ( even though Mum had told him not to ) and the ball hit the living room door and broke the door to pieces. There was something that looked like cardboard egg cartons inside the door.
I now live in a stone house that was built 1762 and the doors are made of solid oak, an axe might break it but a kid with a football - never.
I don't really think it is old versus new rather than the amount of money it cost and the quality of the products used to build it. That barrat house I lived in just will not survive for 250 plus years like my old stone house.
Don't get me wrong though I am certainly not knocking new houses or cheap houses - sometimes when it's cold and there is a draft coming through the original sash windows I dream of living in a barrat house regardless of what the doors are like. |
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yallerose
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To make a generalization like that is misleading. You have to consider the builder, and the materials used, and you are comparing homes that had to have plumbing and electricity added later to homes with it built in at the beginning. You are also comparing rooms with tiny little closets to rooms with ample closets for todays standards. If you pick a shoddy builder then you get a shoddy house, if you pick a good builder then you get a good house. |
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Mia xoxo
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Depends how much you like ghosts... |
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Alterfemego
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Good is subjective, like large, well how large?
Yes our homes are better today because they are built to new codes, which protect us from mother natures elements, like hurricanes, they are better insulated that many years ago, the products used to build them is less likely to cause cancer of some kind... |
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