I can say that, on balance, I am very happy with my charming 90 year old house. It definitely needs work here and there, but it's probably one of my favorite homes I've owned.
The problem with new houses is really cheap materials and construction done too quickly. In my old neighborhood I would walk thru the new construction neighborhoods and observe hundreds of homes being built over a year, at various stages. GARBAGE. Terrible worksmanship. Entire rows of nails missing the stud or joist of a wall siding or roofing sheet or flooring. Flimsy materials. The average time per house from poured foundation to completion was under 5 days in mass production. I briefly rented and lived in one of those houses made by that same manufacturer and a strong wind would shake my rental. My washing machine spin cycle would also shake the upstairs. Unreal.
I might have mentioned it upthread but one of the nice things is that with an older house, particularly from that era early to mid 1900s, was a period of high American worker skill and pride in craftsmanship, and true construction knowledge. And over 8+ decades, any possible structural issues would have likely presented themselves. If it hasn't fallen down in that period, an entire human lifetime filled with storms, wind, earthquakes, floods, whatever then it is probably going to last another human lifetime if maintained.
I'd far prefer an older well built house with the wiring, insulation, plumbing, asbestos, etc. issues. These are easy to address with some money and work. The electrical can (and really should be) all torn out and updated. Insulation is simple to add. Plumbing not hard to update or fix. And asbestos for the most part, just leave it alone. It's not radiation.
My 90 year old house has some original lead windows, arch doorways, solid hardwood oak floors, solid bedroom doors, brass knobs, a charming solid wood front door, a dozen beautiful "old world" rose bushes around my garden, a beautiful solid brick fireplace, all probably dating back to before WWII, and just a tremendous amount of character. I appreciate these things.
But with new cheap houses, you can't fix a weakly built house on cheap immature pine boards 1/4" drywall walls, and there's endless other annoyances like flimsy hollow doors and cheap knobs, cheap cabinets, everything is mass produced and has no character at all.
The problem with new houses is really cheap materials and construction done too quickly. In my old neighborhood I would walk thru the new construction neighborhoods and observe hundreds of homes being built over a year, at various stages. GARBAGE. Terrible worksmanship. Entire rows of nails missing the stud or joist of a wall siding or roofing sheet or flooring. Flimsy materials. The average time per house from poured foundation to completion was under 5 days in mass production. I briefly rented and lived in one of those houses made by that same manufacturer and a strong wind would shake my rental. My washing machine spin cycle would also shake the upstairs. Unreal.
I might have mentioned it upthread but one of the nice things is that with an older house, particularly from that era early to mid 1900s, was a period of high American worker skill and pride in craftsmanship, and true construction knowledge. And over 8+ decades, any possible structural issues would have likely presented themselves. If it hasn't fallen down in that period, an entire human lifetime filled with storms, wind, earthquakes, floods, whatever then it is probably going to last another human lifetime if maintained.
I'd far prefer an older well built house with the wiring, insulation, plumbing, asbestos, etc. issues. These are easy to address with some money and work. The electrical can (and really should be) all torn out and updated. Insulation is simple to add. Plumbing not hard to update or fix. And asbestos for the most part, just leave it alone. It's not radiation.
My 90 year old house has some original lead windows, arch doorways, solid hardwood oak floors, solid bedroom doors, brass knobs, a charming solid wood front door, a dozen beautiful "old world" rose bushes around my garden, a beautiful solid brick fireplace, all probably dating back to before WWII, and just a tremendous amount of character. I appreciate these things.
But with new cheap houses, you can't fix a weakly built house on cheap immature pine boards 1/4" drywall walls, and there's endless other annoyances like flimsy hollow doors and cheap knobs, cheap cabinets, everything is mass produced and has no character at all.
