Sheldon said:Tell your brother that the vast majority of new house construction is
[censored]... they are often big, big [censored]. Older houses are built much
better, and the cosmetic things like sinks and counters are not any big
deal to replace, easier than new window treatments.
I've told him that for years, but he doesn't hear it.
I bought a new house once, and will never do that again. That was back in
1982. It had a whole host of problems, some very major, almost none
rectified properly by the builder. It was covered by a warranty... by Home
Owners Warranty Corporation, who went bankrupt. No relief there.
I learned one is better off buying an older house in good condition and
dealing with whatever problems it has. It avoids a whole cycle of taking
your complaints to the builder, having him ignore them, or promise to fix
them and then ignore them, and in the end fixing the problems yourself. It's
just a lot easier on the psyche to know you are responsible for fixing the
problems and not dealing with all the endless cycles of [censored] with the
builder.
Then there are all of the issues of quality of materials and construction.
Both houses I've owned are similar in type, size, and construction... from
the surface. But what a difference underneath. Both are townhouses. My
current house was built in 1963. It is of brick and block construction, with
block firewalls between the houses. The joists are all real wood, the
subfloors solid wood planks, the floors hardwood. The newer 1982 house was
frame construction with brick veneer. The floors were wood trusses, the
subfloor plywood, the flooring carpet. At least the firewalls between the
houses were still block back in 1982. Even the firewalls on newer
construction are frame now, with fire resistant drywall on top. And newer
houses have countless other experiments lurking in their walls, too numerous
to mention.
Although I was willing to go back to a 30 year old house when I bought it
(1993), I was not willing to go much older than post World War II
construction. Things like electrical and plumbing systems start to get too
old to service easily, their parts are not commonly stocked, and total
replacements might be in order. My father was in the building business, and
he trained us quite thoroughly in the then current building technologies and
systems... in the 1960s. I'm quite comfortable working with that vintage
house.
--
( #wff_ng_7# at #verizon# period #net# )
