Ruminations on construction quality

[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 Why build something that will last for 50 years if its style will be outdated in 5 or 10 ?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.

[briansd1]

[quote=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.
[/quote]

Depends on your definition of quality. Is it refinement or solidity of the product?

Those chunky Mexican pieces of solid wood furniture are very solid and will last forever.

I personally go for refinement. I hate those oak raised panel cabinets, especially in open kitchens. They’d be fine in a Spanish hacienda but we live in modern dwellings.

In the houses that have them, you know that the owners never wipe those cabinets so they have years of cooking grime on them.

I would rather have new modern smooth front cabinets in my open kitchen.

[briansd1]

[quote=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.
[/quote]

Depends on your definition of quality. Is it refinement or solidity of the product?

Those chunky Mexican pieces of solid wood furniture are very solid and will last forever.

I personally go for refinement. I hate those oak raised panel cabinets, especially in open kitchens. They’d be fine in a Spanish hacienda but we live in modern dwellings.

In the houses that have them, you know that the owners never wipe those cabinets so they have years of cooking grime on them.

I would rather have new modern smooth front cabinets in my open kitchen.

[briansd1]

[quote=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.
[/quote]

Depends on your definition of quality. Is it refinement or solidity of the product?

Those chunky Mexican pieces of solid wood furniture are very solid and will last forever.

I personally go for refinement. I hate those oak raised panel cabinets, especially in open kitchens. They’d be fine in a Spanish hacienda but we live in modern dwellings.

In the houses that have them, you know that the owners never wipe those cabinets so they have years of cooking grime on them.

I would rather have new modern smooth front cabinets in my open kitchen.

[briansd1]

[quote=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.
[/quote]

Depends on your definition of quality. Is it refinement or solidity of the product?

Those chunky Mexican pieces of solid wood furniture are very solid and will last forever.

I personally go for refinement. I hate those oak raised panel cabinets, especially in open kitchens. They’d be fine in a Spanish hacienda but we live in modern dwellings.

In the houses that have them, you know that the owners never wipe those cabinets so they have years of cooking grime on them.

I would rather have new modern smooth front cabinets in my open kitchen.

[briansd1]

[quote=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.
[/quote]

Depends on your definition of quality. Is it refinement or solidity of the product?

Those chunky Mexican pieces of solid wood furniture are very solid and will last forever.

I personally go for refinement. I hate those oak raised panel cabinets, especially in open kitchens. They’d be fine in a Spanish hacienda but we live in modern dwellings.

In the houses that have them, you know that the owners never wipe those cabinets so they have years of cooking grime on them.

I would rather have new modern smooth front cabinets in my open kitchen.

[cantab]

I disagree that construction quality is lower now. The building codes have become ever tougher over the past 50 years. I’ve lived in a 60s house and a 70s house in San Diego. The 70s house is clearly more earthquake-resistant, has safer wiring, and more. When we remodeled, the current building codes required insulation, double-glazed windows, and other features that were missing in the 70s.

The same is true in other parts of the US also. A Florida house built now is considerably more hurricane-resistant than a 10 year old one.

And the same is true if you compare a new condo downtown to one that was converted from a bulding built to decades-old standards.

[cantab]

I disagree that construction quality is lower now. The building codes have become ever tougher over the past 50 years. I’ve lived in a 60s house and a 70s house in San Diego. The 70s house is clearly more earthquake-resistant, has safer wiring, and more. When we remodeled, the current building codes required insulation, double-glazed windows, and other features that were missing in the 70s.

The same is true in other parts of the US also. A Florida house built now is considerably more hurricane-resistant than a 10 year old one.

And the same is true if you compare a new condo downtown to one that was converted from a bulding built to decades-old standards.

[cantab]

I disagree that construction quality is lower now. The building codes have become ever tougher over the past 50 years. I’ve lived in a 60s house and a 70s house in San Diego. The 70s house is clearly more earthquake-resistant, has safer wiring, and more. When we remodeled, the current building codes required insulation, double-glazed windows, and other features that were missing in the 70s.

The same is true in other parts of the US also. A Florida house built now is considerably more hurricane-resistant than a 10 year old one.

And the same is true if you compare a new condo downtown to one that was converted from a bulding built to decades-old standards.

[cantab]

I disagree that construction quality is lower now. The building codes have become ever tougher over the past 50 years. I’ve lived in a 60s house and a 70s house in San Diego. The 70s house is clearly more earthquake-resistant, has safer wiring, and more. When we remodeled, the current building codes required insulation, double-glazed windows, and other features that were missing in the 70s.

The same is true in other parts of the US also. A Florida house built now is considerably more hurricane-resistant than a 10 year old one.

And the same is true if you compare a new condo downtown to one that was converted from a bulding built to decades-old standards.

[cantab]

I disagree that construction quality is lower now. The building codes have become ever tougher over the past 50 years. I’ve lived in a 60s house and a 70s house in San Diego. The 70s house is clearly more earthquake-resistant, has safer wiring, and more. When we remodeled, the current building codes required insulation, double-glazed windows, and other features that were missing in the 70s.

The same is true in other parts of the US also. A Florida house built now is considerably more hurricane-resistant than a 10 year old one.

And the same is true if you compare a new condo downtown to one that was converted from a bulding built to decades-old standards.

[scaredyclassic]

nothing lasts.

[scaredyclassic]

nothing lasts.

[scaredyclassic]

nothing lasts.

[scaredyclassic]

nothing lasts.

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