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Posted on 08/08/2025 6:46:35 AM PDT by MAGA2017
Kind of random but a glimpse of how things were done back in the day. House being built by American workers.
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When 2 x 4s were actually 2 x 4….
This house was built in that manner. One difference, my Dad was there every day to check on the work and to make sure no corners were cut. The fam wouldn’t wait until Sunday afternoon. We there often throughout the week. We weren’t allowed inside very often as we could accidentally damage the work in progress, but our visits weren’t limited to just once in a while.
2x4’s were never 2” by 4”
It’s a firetrap.
Doing jobs previous governments before Trump told us in no uncertain terms that “Americans refused to do!”
Back when things were built right and to last, not like the shoddy 3rd world construction by 3rd world workers we’re getting now.
Not in the 1960s, those days were already gone.
2” x 4”s were, but they were not kiln dried and surfaced.
Home Depot and Mexican immigration brought home the image that building and construction was merely a physical activity, not a skill and talent, in other words anyone with a pick-up truck and who was willing to get sweaty was suddenly an expert tile man, a landscaper, a roofer, a painter, a carpenter, sheet rock man, concrete expert, roofer, or whatever, and man does it show in modern America.
I salvaged wood from an 1860s house that had actual 2xs and cut nails. Only time I have seen actually 2xs.
which is why rooms aren't square and walls aren't straight.
My wife visited our home as it was being built. One day the the man tiling our bathroom complained about the floor not being level. She went to the foreman to pass on his complaint. The foreman said “Don’t pay any attention to him, you should have seen him when he was really drinking.”
(It turns out the tiler was right).
Yes. My home was built after the war, in the late 40s, quickly b/c there was a housing shortage at that time.
I have a beautiful, original tiled bathroom - some of the tiles were chipped and I wanted to have them replaced - called a reputable tiler that came highly recommended (tiling is a highly skilled craft) - he absolutely admired the tiling in my bathroom, said it was done extremely well, carefully and was very precise - said “tiling like that isn’t done any longer unless you want to pay thousands of dollars for it!”
Unfortunately, I was unable to have the tiles replaced and had to have new tiling installed.
“2x4’s were never 2” by 4”
Yes they were. The house I owned in Nashville was 2x4 Oak, built in 1908.
Rough sheetrock finishing in million dollar California homes, shoddy trim work, cracked concrete, roofing companies that doe well but whose shoddy work shows when Southern California finally gets some rain, and bizarre things seen in plumbing and electrical work, skilled “landscaping” work that is now thought of as someone who mows your yard and uses a trimmer and rakes it up, retaining walls done that bulge within a few years, bathroom tile that shows flaws within a few years or perhaps the sealer was forgotten, house painters that merely know how to use a brush and a roller with no deep knowledge.
Anyone who has looked at the ramshackle building that these third world countries do with their total lack of skilled trades, would know that they are never going to be the equivalent of the skilled American and European craftsmen of 1970s pre-immigration.
You should see the difference of having to cut into tile work from the 40s and 50s versus cutting into this modern work, it is amazing, one is well installed and one is weakly installed, tile used to be seen as practically permanent, we look at a 1920s home and rightfully expect the tile to be perfect and it is, but today’s tile work........
Not really. Our house was built in 1968. Back in 2011 we had a massive oak tree fall on our roof and through the ceiling. The contractor could not use dimensional lumber or trusses for the repair because the original roof was constructed with rough cut lumber. They had to source new lumber from a local mill. The repair took a little longer than the estimate.
Yes. the shake shingles with felt under layment is a poor roof from fire perspective and also on hail storm damage.
I remember the 1960’s construction my father was a residential and commercial contractor. I never remember him putting shake shingles on a roof. He was an excellent contractor/builder. (he was also a farmer, our family has owned/operated that since 1889)
My brother and I helped him beginning in our early teens, until I went to college.
“”””rough cut lumber””””
That sounds like a special case they ran into.
The whole house is built that way
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