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- May need earthquake retro.
- Old wiring.
- Probably galvanized piping instead of copper (can get plugged up with calcium salts)
- Watch out for work where both copper and galvanized is used (dissimilar metals create galvanic action which corrodes the pipe)
- Possibly real roughsawn 2x4s
- Possibly Lath and Plaster vs wallboard (quieter house, improves insulation).
- Fiberglass insulation standards are not a good.
- Some earthquake retro may be needed.
- Switch from Lath & Plaster to wallboard.
- Construction started switching over to copper piping, watch out for flexible plastic plumbing – it was at its infancy and had problems. Type often used was polybutylene(PB)
- 2x4s no longer 2″ by 4″.
- Slight insulation requirement improvement, windows still a problem
- Start of large scale housing dev, keep an eye on manufacturer defect patterns on developments
- Earthquake retro needs may be limited to how waterheaters are mounted etc.
- Large scale housing dev, keep an eye on manufacturer defect patterns on developments.
- Because of problems of PEX plumbing, fewer manufacturers used it from this point on. Watch out for ‘do-it-yourself-ers’ though.
- Shear-walls went from angled 1x12s to 4×8 plywood sheets, particularly on lower floors of multi-story. Significant improvement on rigidity/shear strength/earthquake resistance
- Starting to see pre-stressed concrete garage floors, prevents cracks but do not drill into them.
- Start of ‘imported’ cheaper labor – with all that it brings.
- Large scale housing dev, keep an eye on manufacturer defect patterns on developments.
- Improved insulation requirements.
- Almost entire outside of house is now ‘wrapped’ as a shear-wall.
- Pre-stressed concrete garage floors, prevents cracks but do not drill into them.
- Improvements in flexible plastic plumbing. Transition to Cross-linked polyethylene (PEX). One advantage of plastic plumbing is that it is more resistant to breakage under freezing conditions. On the other hand, doing it right is an issue – too many amateurs.
- Polybutylene has been involved in several major class action settlements.
- Over a billion dollars has been paid from settlement funds.
- Some hazard insurance companies will no longer insure homes piped with this product.
- Some home warranty companies exclude PB leaks from coverage
1970’s late
1980s
1990s
More info on Polybutylene(PB) plumbing:
There is more.. but gotta get working on some other stuff right now..