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Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Date: November 27, 2015 10:45AM

Note that I am not looking for houses or whatever, it's just that I'm fascinated by suburban developments.

For the last fifteen years, new single-family homes have pretty much been the same idea: 3,000+ square foot two-story home with a two-car garage, stair foyer, multiple bedrooms, elegant living rooms/kitchens/dining rooms, expansive basements, and other luxury features. Don't also forget to throw in faux-colonial/fancy outside elements, (rather bland) siding across the three sides of the house, and group that together with other mass-produced homes like these about 8 feet apart from each other with little to no backyard or trees, in a(n unoriginal) subdivision with those darned HOAs. Adjust the place and lot size and you get homes almost exactly like these, but at a million a piece.

Compare that to homes built in the past. Even if they are inadequate these days without remodels/expansions and might have looked all the same at one point, at least they were well-done and came in a variety of models and flavors. I might have forgot to mention this, but it's clear that a lot of these McMansions don't look architecturally sound and contain everything from Walmart.
Back in the 40s-60s, ramblers/ranches and Cape Cods dominated the Northern Virginia housing scene. They could have been a lot like our modern day homes here, but you know, the charm. Soon, communities like Kings Park and Dale City down in PWC (while not perfect these days) added what makes them stand out with unique models and neighborhoods to remember.
The later 60s and the 1970s, split-level homes and early 2-story ones were all the rage around here. Not a bad time, we still had dozens of regional-based builders who knew what they were doing and knew how to perfect things. Later on, we saw barn-roofs and more two story houses appear. We still had some communities (KPW, more of Dale City) trail behind with their proven designs. Yes, this was a turning point, but new homes were still fine. 80s and 90s, still same thing, more or less, but they became more boxy and evolved into what we have today.

So, what happened to homes being built recently? Is it because the developers got turbo-greedy and wanted to do nothing but reap in profit? Is it because they are using the same-size lots, they just got bigger to fit in more stuff? Sorry for my little tangent here and all, but developers are just way too lazy and un-innovative these days.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: Bob the Builder ()
Date: November 27, 2015 11:00AM

Developers would be happy to build 1950's homes except that no one will buy them. The people who bought and still own a home from back then have either knocked it down and rebuilt from scratch themselves or gutted and remodeled the inside of the thing to bring it up to contemporary standards. 1200 sqft of small everything (and no AC) just isn't much in demand these days.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: serving the market ()
Date: November 27, 2015 11:04AM

Developers are not charitable organizations. They have always wanted to make as much money as they could as quickly as possible, so they build whatever they think people will buy.

Right now, people buy 3000+ sq. ft. mini-mansions that will fall apart in 30 years.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: dude 456 ()
Date: November 27, 2015 11:05AM

1. Americans dont appreciate craftsmanship because most Americans dont work with their hands anymore. They dont know about building materials etc.
2. People are more transient now in their careers and are less likely to stay in one place for a long time.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Date: November 27, 2015 11:07AM

Bob the Builder Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Developers would be happy to build 1950's homes
> except that no one will buy them. The people who
> bought and still own a home from back then have
> either knocked it down and rebuilt from scratch
> themselves or gutted and remodeled the inside of
> the thing to bring it up to contemporary
> standards. 1200 sqft of small everything (and no
> AC) just isn't much in demand these days.

Yeah, but in this case, I'm mostly talking about modern standards to homes these size straight out of the box and size. Obviously.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: thisiswhy ()
Date: November 27, 2015 11:19AM

When polled most Americans would rather have $50,000 a year, as long as most others had $25,000 a year. Opposed to the choice of $100,000 a year but others have $200,000 a year.

Americans would chose to live in a cardboard box with a crowbar to cook on as long as others got a smaller cardboard box with no crowbar to cook on.

Essentially if you make under $100,000 a year, you aren't to have much in life.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: Bob the Builder ()
Date: November 27, 2015 12:02PM

serving the market Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Right now, people buy 3000+ sq. ft. mini-mansions
> that will fall apart in 30 years.

LOL! 3000 sqft is hardly a "mini-mansion," and there's no reason to believe that a home built in 1986 is about to disintegrate today, nor that one built today will be tumbling down in the 2040's.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: Bob the Builder ()
Date: November 27, 2015 12:06PM

- dA rEaL fArTiAn - Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yeah, but in this case, I'm mostly talking about
> modern standards to homes these size straight out
> of the box and size. Obviously.

Formulate your whining better. Meanwhile, stick-built still has a place, but it mostly just adds cost and not much else. Using quality pre-fab where you can is the only sensible way to go.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: Bob the Builder ()
Date: November 27, 2015 12:09PM

thisiswhy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Essentially if you make under $100,000 a year, you
> aren't to have much in life.

More is better, but it's what you do with what you've got that matters.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: Bill.N. ()
Date: November 27, 2015 12:42PM

Bob the Builder Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Developers would be happy to build 1950's homes
> except that no one will buy them.

I think it is the other way around. There is a demand out there for well built but more modest sized homes. Builders can make more money producing larger but not as well built homes with higher end amenities. So guess what gets built.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Date: November 27, 2015 02:20PM

Bob the Builder Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> serving the market Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Right now, people buy 3000+ sq. ft.
> mini-mansions
> > that will fall apart in 30 years.
>
> LOL! 3000 sqft is hardly a "mini-mansion," and
> there's no reason to believe that a home built in
> 1986 is about to disintegrate today, nor that one
> built today will be tumbling down in the 2040's.

There is a difference between 1986 and today's homes in building quality, remember.

Bill.N. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bob the Builder Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Developers would be happy to build 1950's homes
> > except that no one will buy them.
>
> I think it is the other way around. There is a
> demand out there for well built but more modest
> sized homes. Builders can make more money
> producing larger but not as well built homes with
> higher end amenities. So guess what gets built.

True. People these days are content with their smaller homes and obviously, it wouldn't be bad.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: Yogurt ()
Date: November 27, 2015 03:42PM

Land is too expensive for a developer to place a modest size SFH on it. Thus there are loads of townhouses around here.

BTW, I own an early 60s rambler and it is not really all that well built, just average. For instance, my floors are supported by 2x8s and bounce like hell. I'll take modern engineered joists any day. The the masonite siding is nothing compared to today's fiber cement materials. The insulation is a joke by today's standards. Yes builders today surely cut corners in some places but it's not like 50 years ago was some romantic special period of impeccible home building.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: Winner,Winner, Chicken Dinner ()
Date: November 27, 2015 04:36PM

dude 456 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1. Americans dont appreciate craftsmanship
> because most Americans dont work with their hands
> anymore. They dont know about building materials
> etc.
> 2. People are more transient now in their careers
> and are less likely to stay in one place for a
> long time.

Absolutely correct. Houses built pre-sixties are usually well built and with minimal updating they are comfortable, classy and only require modest upkeep.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: JVNmG ()
Date: November 27, 2015 07:33PM

Maryland, California, Virginia did allot of R&D that ended up changing the "american way of life", (and other states)

Virginia (you can still find pdf on this) is a major lumber producer since before the Revolution. In 80's did R&D on better use of wood, specifically to increase usage of wood (ie, even possible usage in sky-scrapers).

the 2,000 3,000 sq ft / per floor came about when VA decided that using just two i-beams, in a T, under the joists, with ?2 or 3? poles: the sq. footage of a home could be greatly increased using the same ammount of wood. (and for steel earthquake brakets prolly thank CA). unsure if a contractor had idea or found it in a VA r&d document. anyway: the trend caught on and major builders everywhere used it ... including in foreign countries who copy USA while complaining USA should be overthrown

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Date: November 27, 2015 07:35PM

Yogurt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Land is too expensive for a developer to place a
> modest size SFH on it. Thus there are loads of
> townhouses around here.
>
> BTW, I own an early 60s rambler and it is not
> really all that well built, just average. For
> instance, my floors are supported by 2x8s and
> bounce like hell. I'll take modern engineered
> joists any day. The the masonite siding is nothing
> compared to today's fiber cement materials. The
> insulation is a joke by today's standards. Yes
> builders today surely cut corners in some places
> but it's not like 50 years ago was some romantic
> special period of impeccible home building.

You make a good point here, but on another side I'm also talking about the creativity of the houses, their designs, and the neighborhoods themselves.

Some of what we have today may look like a cool place to live, as I may have said earlier, but boy, there sure are a lot of ugly homes designed from the inside-out in their floorplans. I'd like to see some creative uses of the buildings, with other materials than brick/stone/siding or just different color/pattern variations of the aforementioned three.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: euCux ()
Date: November 27, 2015 07:43PM

OH forgot why i mentioned.

because it was in the paper that a builder making homes IN FAIRFAX COUNTY was the first to implement this new building style (anywhere anyone at the time knew of)

it was a bunch of true southern Virginians, never wore shirts (expensive) or gloves (what a waste of material!), who came up every summer to make whole neighborhoods ... and they did ALLOT of them all throughout VA

as for quality: they cut corners some but they were skilled trade carpenters who apprenticed under masters ... wood working was very much more popular in that day

they did hire idiots to do some of the work but major stuff was done by people who did know what they were doing

that was up until the 80's or 90's when there were still few if any mexicans on any worksite (if so, often on cleanup) and they were stll called "lazy mexicans"

---------------------------

today you have one "qualified" (cough) while male (probably from a political family) who merely signs that the work is "ok", has fairfax agree (they always agree with family quick enough), and mexicans do the work

is it good work? i wouldn't think so. perhaps they have stolen plans from ryan homes. but my experience is (for hvac: 5 times attempted repair finally i fixed a few things they caused to go wrong: MYSELF). gutter? installed so water ran wrong way. tree trimming? trimmed only easy branches that didn't need coming down, left a big one hanging over the house that was a real problem. leave me more problems than fixed when they were there.

etc etc etc

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: H4WJ6 ()
Date: November 27, 2015 07:46PM

there was also mostly "southerners" in manassas (they were in the 80's, no northerners were in manasses back then), just behind the mason-dixon line

there there was the union hall who got hired for contracting all over fairfax, including some residential - but also allot of the commercial fairfax like the malls and gov buildings.

(they weren't the southerners up from middle VA i referred to before - those were different groups)

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: dTY4J ()
Date: November 27, 2015 07:49PM

obama and bulova attacked the union hall (because it was southern whites making good money - more than gov workers for their hard work and skill). it was shut down.

BUt ALSO they shut down Truland, flooded Hazel with mexicans (it may shut down)

and the obama "commerce dept." shut down a major elec. contractor by suing them for $1,000,000+ (at gunpoint - meaning - you can't say no). all fucking foreingers working in that evil "commerce dept"

why did they shut them down? claimed that the contractor had too many whites making good money and reason was that "the skills exams were hard and niggas shouldn't have to take skills tests. they steal them that's ok."

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: GLMJv ()
Date: November 27, 2015 07:51PM

^^ that's not it. DC firefighters (ie, the ones that lost their job because they sold all their house fire engines ($500,000 ea.) to South Ameria

they flooded into fairfax making "racist claims" and acting all friendly "we're all firefighters gov workers"

they got their foot in the door. they will SURELY fire all the whites and hire only blacks and mexicans when they first get a chance. happened in every major city that let them. the city gov goes all black over-night. highly racist people don't listen to their race card crap. they're attacking using counterfeit money for a turf war and are the most racist acting group you can documentedly find.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: NwbtJ ()
Date: November 27, 2015 08:26PM

Bob the Builder Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Developers would be happy to build 1950's homes
> except that no one will buy them.

Built a custom house in Mclean in 2014. 6000+ sq ft, completely custom from the ground up. Some observations:

- Never saw saw a single white or black person on site - all trades, including plumbing and electrical are now Hispanic. They bust their ass and do quality work, work weekends, many own their own companies. I do wonder if the white and black tradesman are just home collecting benefits.
- Despite being completely custom, builder tried to slip in builder grade crap on a regular basis. It was whack-a-mole trying to keep that crap out of my house.
- Builders don't know shit about the building products. You'd think if you built with Andersen, Carrier, or Subzero or whatever products, you would master the product lines and know the applications. Not true - they don't read or do research on anything.

Truth is builders don't know how to build well any more, and if that's what you want, expect not only to pay a significant premium for it but also to have to fight to build that way.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: Joke Insurance ()
Date: March 05, 2017 03:45PM

Is there anywhere in the county where they're not building these cookie-cutter subdivisions?

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: Samantha ()
Date: March 05, 2017 04:33PM

Does anybody remember what used to be over there where Tyson's Galleria is now? Was it a farm? Or maybe a quarry? Anybody have pics?

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: slim ()
Date: March 05, 2017 05:01PM

- dA rEaL fArTiAn - Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bob the Builder Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > serving the market Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Right now, people buy 3000+ sq. ft.
> > mini-mansions
> > > that will fall apart in 30 years.
> >
> > LOL! 3000 sqft is hardly a "mini-mansion," and
> > there's no reason to believe that a home built
> in
> > 1986 is about to disintegrate today, nor that
> one
> > built today will be tumbling down in the
> 2040's.
>
> There is a difference between 1986 and today's
> homes in building quality, remember.
>
> Bill.N. Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Bob the Builder Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Developers would be happy to build 1950's
> homes
> > > except that no one will buy them.
> >
> > I think it is the other way around. There is a
> > demand out there for well built but more modest
> > sized homes. Builders can make more money
> > producing larger but not as well built homes
> with
> > higher end amenities. So guess what gets
> built.
>
> True. People these days are content with their
> smaller homes and obviously, it wouldn't be bad.


Houses built in the 60s do not take into account that a lot more americans will be obese and overweigh a few decades later...those floors wouldn't creak so much if the occupants were thinner.

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: DanOstin ()
Date: July 06, 2020 09:27AM

You are absolutely right! New houses are constructed much worse than before. And this is due to greed and dishonesty of the company builder and at the same moment as the incompetence of the workers. Indeed, many builders now are migrants from poor countries who do not own a craft well. I also chose an old house that we found on https://houseseek.com.au/ We repaired and restored it and I'm calm that it is reliable and built by conscience. Once talked with one builder and he said that they are often underpaid for work or not paid at all. So, many of workers steal materials for the construction of an object as compensation for non-payment. You can imagine what the quality will be such constructions!

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Re: Why don't they build homes like they used to anymore?
Posted by: hk6vj ()
Date: July 06, 2020 09:49AM

Samantha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does anybody remember what used to be over there
> where Tyson's Galleria is now? Was it a farm? Or
> maybe a quarry? Anybody have pics?

It was a scrubby open lot known at "the pits" where locals would run their dirt motorbikes in 1970's through early 1980's. It's discussed elsewhere in FFU forum. Don't have any pics to immediately share.

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