>On that note, houses are unquestionably more valuable today. For one, they are twice the size they were 60 years ago. We can all agree that a bigger house has more value than a small house, at least within reason. You can fit more in it, it is more comfortable, etc. and that is valuable. They are also a lot safer. That too is more valuable.
Keep in mind, demand was higher with the baby boom than it is today. Houses also used to be built to much higher specifications. Old houses were made with tons of premium timber that is still valuable even 50+ years later.
That is mostly survivor bias and cost of materials difference. We’ve used up most of the stores of large timber causing the price of it to go way up. At the same time the price of construction grade metal has come way down. Thus large beam construction has become a luxury.
As for housing quality, post war tract homes were wildly worse. My wifes family still owns the tract home they lived in growing up. It was exposed concrete, exposed roof and no ductwork until a HUD funded remodel in the 70s. It’s also 750 sq feet. A modern double wide trailer is higher quality.
>At the same time the price of construction grade metal has come way down. Thus large beam construction has become a luxury.
Have you ever seen an old 2x4? This isn't "large beam" but it's obviously higher-quality than new 2x4s.
>As for housing quality, post war tract homes were wildly worse. My wifes family still owns the tract home they lived in growing up. It was exposed concrete, exposed roof and no ductwork until a HUD funded remodel in the 70s. It’s also 750 sq feet. A modern double wide trailer is higher quality.
There used to be some homes built to low specifications. But most were built super solid. Ductwork, insulation, and just about anything else can easily be upgraded. Compared to classic European houses, ours are temporary trash.
>A modern double wide trailer is higher quality.
You just discredited yourself there to everyone who knows even a little bit about houses. Go find a 50 year old trailer and see how that looks lol. American houses are optimized for size at the expense of permanence, and trailers are no different. They are cheap for a reason. Although they can be good for some people (no judgement here), it's just not on par with either a new house or an old one.
> Have you ever seen an old 2x4? This isn't "large beam" but it's obviously higher-quality than new 2x4s.
The 2x4 was decreased in size below 2x4 in the 1920s because shipping costs started dominating lumber prices because we’d depleted the forests near the cities where demand was greatest. It was further reduced during the second world war because building of necessity became standardized and again shipping volume was of primacy.
The US forest labs did tons of tests on this in the 1920s fwiw proving there was no quality difference.
Now there are many fine homes left from prior to these changes, but there are many many more crap homes that are gone because they weren’t capable of lasting. These are the homes you should be comparing to the average home built today.
But you mostly can’t. When you can, as in my example, you will find the older homes were built to similar specs as today from a structural stand point but much lower spec on systems, finish and especially size.
This doesn’t even touch on tenement apartments where most of the population lived in cities (the place housing costs have swelled the most).
These would quite literally be considered incapable of being housing now.
I am certainly not an expert on housing but my father was professionally and I did help my grandfather add an addition to our family farm house that was from the 1910s, when it was literally 1 room without plumbing (they’d done a previous remodel in the 60s to add bedrooms and plumbing, the materials from that remodel were not significantly different than the materials we used in the 90s).
>The US forest labs did tons of tests on this in the 1920s fwiw proving there was no quality difference.
Lol if you see old 2x4s and new 2x4s first-hand you'll know immediately that this is wrong.
>Now there are many fine homes left from prior to these changes, but there are many many more crap homes that are gone because they weren’t capable of lasting. These are the homes you should be comparing to the average home built today.
In many cases perfectly salvageable homes were demolished to make room for new stuff. Don't forget about those.
>I am certainly not an expert on housing but my father was professionally and I did help my grandfather add an addition to our family farm house that was from the 1910s, when it was literally 1 room without plumbing (they’d done a previous remodel in the 60s to add bedrooms and plumbing, the materials from that remodel were not significantly different than the materials we used in the 90s).
There is a high degree of variance in the quality of old construction, I have to admit. But from what I've seen, prior to the 70s (and maybe even later) even simple homes were built with materials that would be considered premium today. Hardwood floors, solid wood walls, tongue-in-groove planks everywhere. If it's a brick house, it's actual solid brick instead of a brick facade on cheap trash wood. Very rare to see drywall or plywood, or the other flimsy materials people use now. Even old plywood is premium compared to the new composite crap all glued together.
I’d respectfully suggest you go look at the forest lab reports before just dismissing them. Literally, it’s public domain, we spent tons of money on the research and your vibes about how the lumber looks compared to the structural tests they ran might not hold up.
The “simple” homes you’ve seen that have tongue in groove planks or solid wood floors were the exception in housing. It was literally the very good stuff. Most housing prior to ww2 had dirt floors! Post ww2 it was concrete slab. Solid brick housing was a huge luxury item. Most housing in the US was wood plank.
In cities solid brick apartment buildings were more common prior to ww2, but they’d have aesthetic brick in the front and “common” brick on the sides. Interior walls would just be the exterior wall. Dry wall and insulation was effectively unheard of.
Keep in mind, demand was higher with the baby boom than it is today. Houses also used to be built to much higher specifications. Old houses were made with tons of premium timber that is still valuable even 50+ years later.