Ruminations on construction quality

[briansd1]

I see the houses built before flat screens became affordable. Those drywall TV niches, or those built-in TV cases are so last decade.

Flat screen TVs are not even luxurious anymore. When I see those FAT ones, I just want to rip them off the wall.

Thin TVs should now be extra thin LEDs. Can’t be rich enough or thin enough, hahaha.

[Ricechex]

Today’s construction sucks. I am thinking it is a cheap day laborer problem. You know when you go down to Mexico and how everything looks shabby? No attention to detail.

Let me illustrate:
Rented a condo in Carlsbad for a special weekend. Right on the beach, no street in between. $300 per night. Not cheap, but off season. Initially, we walked in and it was gorgeous–the ocean view was right there. Check In was delayed because the baseboards were getting painted…in between customers. A family was in there having pizza and painting baseboards.

SO….the condos were built in the 70’s but cosmetically upgraded. Granite counters, yep. The kitchen cabinets would not close. Overspray on the baseboards. Horizontal blinds that had broken the holes, turned upside down with new holes punched in. All of the switchplates crooked, with holes visible around the switchplates. Doorknobs oversprayed with paint. Everything was crooked.

Tacky. Tacky. Tacky. But many don’t notice, because it was clean and had a great ocean view. You could see how the owners were using cheap labor to make it look good, but it really was tacky.

[Ricechex]

Today’s construction sucks. I am thinking it is a cheap day laborer problem. You know when you go down to Mexico and how everything looks shabby? No attention to detail.

Let me illustrate:
Rented a condo in Carlsbad for a special weekend. Right on the beach, no street in between. $300 per night. Not cheap, but off season. Initially, we walked in and it was gorgeous–the ocean view was right there. Check In was delayed because the baseboards were getting painted…in between customers. A family was in there having pizza and painting baseboards.

SO….the condos were built in the 70’s but cosmetically upgraded. Granite counters, yep. The kitchen cabinets would not close. Overspray on the baseboards. Horizontal blinds that had broken the holes, turned upside down with new holes punched in. All of the switchplates crooked, with holes visible around the switchplates. Doorknobs oversprayed with paint. Everything was crooked.

Tacky. Tacky. Tacky. But many don’t notice, because it was clean and had a great ocean view. You could see how the owners were using cheap labor to make it look good, but it really was tacky.

[Ricechex]

Today’s construction sucks. I am thinking it is a cheap day laborer problem. You know when you go down to Mexico and how everything looks shabby? No attention to detail.

Let me illustrate:
Rented a condo in Carlsbad for a special weekend. Right on the beach, no street in between. $300 per night. Not cheap, but off season. Initially, we walked in and it was gorgeous–the ocean view was right there. Check In was delayed because the baseboards were getting painted…in between customers. A family was in there having pizza and painting baseboards.

SO….the condos were built in the 70’s but cosmetically upgraded. Granite counters, yep. The kitchen cabinets would not close. Overspray on the baseboards. Horizontal blinds that had broken the holes, turned upside down with new holes punched in. All of the switchplates crooked, with holes visible around the switchplates. Doorknobs oversprayed with paint. Everything was crooked.

Tacky. Tacky. Tacky. But many don’t notice, because it was clean and had a great ocean view. You could see how the owners were using cheap labor to make it look good, but it really was tacky.

[Ricechex]

Today’s construction sucks. I am thinking it is a cheap day laborer problem. You know when you go down to Mexico and how everything looks shabby? No attention to detail.

Let me illustrate:
Rented a condo in Carlsbad for a special weekend. Right on the beach, no street in between. $300 per night. Not cheap, but off season. Initially, we walked in and it was gorgeous–the ocean view was right there. Check In was delayed because the baseboards were getting painted…in between customers. A family was in there having pizza and painting baseboards.

SO….the condos were built in the 70’s but cosmetically upgraded. Granite counters, yep. The kitchen cabinets would not close. Overspray on the baseboards. Horizontal blinds that had broken the holes, turned upside down with new holes punched in. All of the switchplates crooked, with holes visible around the switchplates. Doorknobs oversprayed with paint. Everything was crooked.

Tacky. Tacky. Tacky. But many don’t notice, because it was clean and had a great ocean view. You could see how the owners were using cheap labor to make it look good, but it really was tacky.

[Ricechex]

Today’s construction sucks. I am thinking it is a cheap day laborer problem. You know when you go down to Mexico and how everything looks shabby? No attention to detail.

Let me illustrate:
Rented a condo in Carlsbad for a special weekend. Right on the beach, no street in between. $300 per night. Not cheap, but off season. Initially, we walked in and it was gorgeous–the ocean view was right there. Check In was delayed because the baseboards were getting painted…in between customers. A family was in there having pizza and painting baseboards.

SO….the condos were built in the 70’s but cosmetically upgraded. Granite counters, yep. The kitchen cabinets would not close. Overspray on the baseboards. Horizontal blinds that had broken the holes, turned upside down with new holes punched in. All of the switchplates crooked, with holes visible around the switchplates. Doorknobs oversprayed with paint. Everything was crooked.

Tacky. Tacky. Tacky. But many don’t notice, because it was clean and had a great ocean view. You could see how the owners were using cheap labor to make it look good, but it really was tacky.

[patb]

the thing to remember in older areas, the really cruddy housing long ago rotted away.

the cheap stuff failed leaving only the worthwhile.

[patb]

the thing to remember in older areas, the really cruddy housing long ago rotted away.

the cheap stuff failed leaving only the worthwhile.

[patb]

the thing to remember in older areas, the really cruddy housing long ago rotted away.

the cheap stuff failed leaving only the worthwhile.

[patb]

the thing to remember in older areas, the really cruddy housing long ago rotted away.

the cheap stuff failed leaving only the worthwhile.

[patb]

the thing to remember in older areas, the really cruddy housing long ago rotted away.

the cheap stuff failed leaving only the worthwhile.

[sdduuuude]

I’ll put a different perspective on this.

I don’t see that building non-durable furnishings is bad in any way.

The things you build to last really depend on the resources you have.

Sometimes it is more economically efficient to build cheap stuff that doesn’t last. People want to change how things look from time-to-time. Why build something that will last for 50 years if its style will be outdated in 5 or 10 ?

College kids and young people in temporary living situations don’t have money or reason to buy long-lasting furniture.

Before your parents bought that oak table, what did they have, I wonder ?

Also, keep in mind there is a significant availability bias here. It is easy to assume that stuff was built well when the only things you see that were built 50 years ago were the things that were built to last 50 years or more. I’m sure plenty of cheap crap was built from inferior wood with inferior craftsmanship 50 years ago that is no longer with us. It’s just that we don’t see it because it is gone.

A couple years ago we took the family to a pilgrim village in MA. They said when a family would move, they would burn the house down and sift through the ashes for nails. They would bring the nails with them to build the new house. So, in a way, the whole house was disposable, even in the olden days.

[sdduuuude]

I’ll put a different perspective on this.

I don’t see that building non-durable furnishings is bad in any way.

The things you build to last really depend on the resources you have.

Sometimes it is more economically efficient to build cheap stuff that doesn’t last. People want to change how things look from time-to-time. Why build something that will last for 50 years if its style will be outdated in 5 or 10 ?

College kids and young people in temporary living situations don’t have money or reason to buy long-lasting furniture.

Before your parents bought that oak table, what did they have, I wonder ?

Also, keep in mind there is a significant availability bias here. It is easy to assume that stuff was built well when the only things you see that were built 50 years ago were the things that were built to last 50 years or more. I’m sure plenty of cheap crap was built from inferior wood with inferior craftsmanship 50 years ago that is no longer with us. It’s just that we don’t see it because it is gone.

A couple years ago we took the family to a pilgrim village in MA. They said when a family would move, they would burn the house down and sift through the ashes for nails. They would bring the nails with them to build the new house. So, in a way, the whole house was disposable, even in the olden days.

[sdduuuude]

I’ll put a different perspective on this.

I don’t see that building non-durable furnishings is bad in any way.

The things you build to last really depend on the resources you have.

Sometimes it is more economically efficient to build cheap stuff that doesn’t last. People want to change how things look from time-to-time. Why build something that will last for 50 years if its style will be outdated in 5 or 10 ?

College kids and young people in temporary living situations don’t have money or reason to buy long-lasting furniture.

Before your parents bought that oak table, what did they have, I wonder ?

Also, keep in mind there is a significant availability bias here. It is easy to assume that stuff was built well when the only things you see that were built 50 years ago were the things that were built to last 50 years or more. I’m sure plenty of cheap crap was built from inferior wood with inferior craftsmanship 50 years ago that is no longer with us. It’s just that we don’t see it because it is gone.

A couple years ago we took the family to a pilgrim village in MA. They said when a family would move, they would burn the house down and sift through the ashes for nails. They would bring the nails with them to build the new house. So, in a way, the whole house was disposable, even in the olden days.

[sdduuuude]

I’ll put a different perspective on this.

I don’t see that building non-durable furnishings is bad in any way.

The things you build to last really depend on the resources you have.

Sometimes it is more economically efficient to build cheap stuff that doesn’t last. People want to change how things look from time-to-time. Why build something that will last for 50 years if its style will be outdated in 5 or 10 ?

College kids and young people in temporary living situations don’t have money or reason to buy long-lasting furniture.

Before your parents bought that oak table, what did they have, I wonder ?

Also, keep in mind there is a significant availability bias here. It is easy to assume that stuff was built well when the only things you see that were built 50 years ago were the things that were built to last 50 years or more. I’m sure plenty of cheap crap was built from inferior wood with inferior craftsmanship 50 years ago that is no longer with us. It’s just that we don’t see it because it is gone.

A couple years ago we took the family to a pilgrim village in MA. They said when a family would move, they would burn the house down and sift through the ashes for nails. They would bring the nails with them to build the new house. So, in a way, the whole house was disposable, even in the olden days.

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