There were hacks 50 years ago too

In this video, I am fixing a poorly framed wall in the attic of my cape cod home.
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[@jplum7708]

Been working on my 115 yr old house. Learned that when you buy an old house you become the victim of every bad decision made by every previous owner.

[@bchin4005]

Been gradually remodeling my friends bungalow. We curse the previous owner regularly over dinner 😅

[@Boga217]

Even when you buy a new house you're worse off because it was a lazy sloppy contractor pinching every penny.

[@crazyguy_1233]

That’s the important thing I think this guy misses. In older places it wasn’t the builder that did the shotty work it was the people after doing hack job additions and DIY work to add in newer things.

[@MrBob1984]

After 60yrs of people doing cheapest & easyest ​way possible makes real hard to do right@@crazyguy_1233

[@gamemeister27]

Lord almighty I don't know why the prior owners of my place put pipes in the extension right above the foundation, and they didn't bother with any duct work! Apparently the pipes froze once a number of years ago, and I have to get down there cause it seems like the drain froze up despite the space heater I had going, and the insulation they installed was ABOVE the pipes!

[@MrGregsRnR]

In the process of remodeling 2 different houses that are both over 100 yrs old. I told the owners, "flush or square, pick one" 😂

[@andreacook7431]

My house is also over 100 years old. The doorframe of my bathroom door appears to be level, as does the flat ceiling, but the area between the door and celing forms a triangle. 😂

[@RazDaz74]

Lol thats funny

[@crazyguy_1233]

Old houses will never be square. They have had a ton of time to settle and shift around. Best you can do is make it look square even though it’s not.

[@jonsobieralski6053]

Exactly! You can only have one.

[@feminazislayer]

No don't pick one. 😂

[@nunyabidness117]

I rehabbed an 1895 duplex several years back and if I tried to straighen every wall out of plumb or uneven floor I'd still be there. Still, it is a 135 year old house that I really enjoyed bringing back from basket case status and am proud to own.

[@HavNCDy]

Thank you for saving our history. I know it’s really hard and thankless job that few understand. I just wanted to say thank you and that I hope you continue

[@nunyabidness117]

@HavNCDy Thanks. It has a fascinating history but I think most houses do.

[@thealgonquin5822]

I did the same with a 1894 20' x 20' 2 story box farm house. I always thought it would be easier to tilt the earth rather than straighten that house. Every fastener had to be pre drilled because that white oak was hard as a rock.

[@nunyabidness117]

@thealgonquin5822 Mine had a lot of yellow pine but zero oak. It has been changed and added on to and a window converted into a doorway so I can barely tell what was where originally. The pine floors do have cuts in the floors above the floor below's light fixtures where they ran electricity after it was built and the main foyer still has the original piping for the gas lighting which seems like a really bad idea for a 3 story wood frame house.

[@lisat9707]

Natural materials move over time but it all depends on when it's referring to. War time, Depression, rapid growth or any housing shortage you will find shoddy work BUT no OSB us a win Forever will be!

[@approachingpassive]

"Not perfect but much better." When renovating an old house (ie. pre 1980's) perfection is never the end game.

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

Nothing ruins a project faster than perfection.

[@Network126]

​@@rudolphguarnacci197 👍🏻

[@jungyo8417]

@@rudolphguarnacci197why even bother then Just use some super glue and Lego pieces to build homes

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

@@jungyo8417 Live a long life.

[@cavalieroutdoors6036]

@@jungyo8417 Perfection is the enemy of progress. The reason you bother is to get it done, and get it done well enough that it's livable so you can build and raise a family, rather than spending so much time chasing perfection in home construction that it's too late to have and raise the family by the time it's half finished.

[@NicholasReguin]

Been fixing a bathroom in an 1890 build and can confidently say it’s a good thing they don’t build them like they used to 😂

[@AdvntrWchester]

That house has lived longer than the people that built it probably did.

[@hahahaha-ut6ir]

And yet it still standing. The amount of new builds i have to repiar is insanity

[@patrickancona1193]

NOBODY will be fixing a 1990 build in 2090 because the materials are garbage especially early OSB that came out in the 90’s, I’m already ripping all that garbage out

[@jimcricket8128]

Looser tolerances let those house shift and move without breaking. Unlike houses today that look pretty and straight. But if they shift even 1/4 inch then they fall apart.

[@hi-gz5cx]

They didn't build that bathroom in 1890

[@ryanhogge8]

About to start restoring my great grandfathers home that he built, by himself, after great grandma passed away. Honestly, I have been nothing but impressed by what I have seen in there so far. He built it for himself to live in as a single man, so I'm going to have to expand it to accomodate raising a family in. But his workmanship was top quality. It's been used as a storage shed since the 90s.

[@eyespy3001]

You tend to get better quality builds in a home that was built by the owner. They don’t go up as fast, since the owners aren’t rushing to get to the next job, but they’re built with care. Also, builders aren’t going to rip out and redo a poor fit like an owner would. Builders just cover it up and get out.

[@frikyouall]

Back when the city wouldn't expect a build to go up within 6 months, I'd bet.

[@evilhamsterman]

​@@eyespy3001I've seen it two ways with DIY. You take extra care to do it right because you're the one who's going to live in/with it. Other times they have no idea what they're doing and just get it to work, then a later owner down the line curses your parents. I'm in the later case right now

[@salsamancer]

As somebody who writes code for a living i feel this in my soul. No matter what field you're in, you're always going to have to clean up somebody's "temporary" fix

[@bicivelo]

It’s only temporary unless it breaks 😅

[@robertbeisert3315]

Look, I swear it was temporary. But if you change that log message, we lose database access.

[@flarpo11]

Man, I work at a mechanical design company and I can say with confidence that you are absolutely correct. I am convinced that no one learned how to do anything right until the year 2015, cause every drawing and model I've ever seen from prior to that year was the laziest, most asinine shit in existence. Edit: and also our file management system was running on a virtual machine allocated a single CPU core for ten years and no one noticed, so we just thought our system was crap. Nope, the guy who setup the system was crap.

[@ticktockbam]

​@@robertbeisert3315lmao

[@jimtaylor294]

Nods in cold war era Russian Submarine design 😂

[@Intrepid_Elder]

Purchased a newly built home in Arizona a couple years back. It makes this house in the video look like Jesus was the carpenter!

[@damogranheart5521]

YIKES!

[@kdaltex]

I mean jesus (heyzeus) probably was

[@Warp3326]

Never buy a new house.

[@SCRB1GR3D98]

​@@kdaltex he'll fix up yer house and cut your grass!

[@JM-lk6wo]

Myhouse was built in 1998. If I had been the customer (custom built house, we're second owners), I would have been the builders worst nightmare. I have a thorough background in general carpentry and stronger knowledge of cabinetry and would have totally rejected a lot of the construction and finish work of the house. We purchased at a quite advantageous price and have put a lot of 'sweat equity' into the place over the years. We've at least doubled our purchase price in upgrades and (sadly) inflation and have more upgrades in progress and mind. Fortunately, we're able to do most of the work for ourselves, saving thousands in labor costs.

[@UneducatedGeologist]

I love this! I just remodeled a 1929 house. When trying to fix everything right I discovered it had 3 150sq ft additions over the 95 years. A 450sq ft house added onto 3 times to a now grand total 900sq ft. It had so many walls and floors like this video my brain was zapped every night coming up with "solutions".

[@rattlecat5968]

I own an 1880s foursquare and let me tell you, the surprises never end! 🤣 Been making repairs and renos for decades only to find each project only reveals *more* surprises! I did visit a house, about as old, in a neighboring town that had survived numerous major floods over the decades. One particularly odd finding in that house was how people used what they had to make repairs after one of those floods... It was common practice to salvage as much as possible, unlike in today's disposable mindset. Bricks and flat rock that were once foundations but were later left behind from homes that were swept away in flood waters, were collected... and then piled between studs in homes that only had their interior walls washed away. It was believed that the salvaged foundation bricks would insulate the walls of the houses left standing. It was wild to find old, and I mean *really old,* half bricks and flat rock between the studs beneath the plaster and lath or sheetrock. Some brick was so water logged during the earlier floods that when they dried out inside the walls, they lost their integrity and basically crumbled when we retrieved them. Oddly enough, people keep rebuilding in those areas. But, usually, only the 100+ year old houses survive the more recent floods.

[@Jtondalo]

The difference was back then they plumbed the wall by way of the plasterer. Some parts of the plaster was thicker than others to compensate for the bad framing.

[@harveylong5878]

nothing has changed today.framers dont give a damned if framing plumb.eh,let the drywallmonkeys fix it. drywall monkeys eh, its the mud monkeys problem to get it flat

[@GunGuy258]

​@harveylong5878 only better quality wood was used back then vs now.

[@AndrewB23]

You can make excuses all you want these old house are built just as bad today

[@AndrewB23]

​@@GunGuy258I wouldn't say better quality but if it was a 2x4 it really was 2x4

[@hottractor1999]

Working on remodels there's alway surprises, but the old stuff is straight up interesting to see what was done back in the day.

[@Tgray7909]

Interesting and sometimes shocking what people have done over the years.

[@crazyguy_1233]

Most of the time things were originally solid. But over the years people come in to remodel, add on, or “fix” something and it really screws up the structure.

[@tdotw77]

Yeah, and it was all built by hand too. Hand saw, hand driven square cut nails, hand operated 'drills', hand operated screwdriver, etc. It's crazy to think how much they did with so little compared to today's day & age where literally everything is cordless, brushless, and made to speed up & be more productive and efficient. Most of today's carpenters wouldn't last an hour on a job site from back in the days 100+ years ago. They can't do anything when the batteries are all dead nowadays! 😅🤦🏻‍♂️🧱🛠️🔧🔩🦺✏️📐📏🧰🗜️😂

[@AndrewB23]

Like stuffing newspaper for insulation 😂

[@Tgray7909]

I work on these classic old homes quite often and can say each one holds its own surprise from the last. 100+ yrs and all the different people that have dome things to them is a wonder sometimes they are still standing.

[@tomb816]

Like the exterior wall we had to pull apart, on a 2 story Georgian circa 1796, to find they stacked 2x4s atop one another. The first ~6ft of wall was just stacked and nailed lumber, with a window in the middle 😲

[@Network126]

​@@tomb816 Sounds a lot more sturdy though 😅

[@LKRaider]

We are too cautious nowadays

[@tomb816]

I just ran into this short and it reminded me kzbin.infouSgAb0MvAHA

[@larrynason8716]

I live in a house built in the 1860s, and do my own work. Nothing is straight or square. But it works for me because most of my work is not either. 🤷‍♂️ As my Dad would always say "I've cut this damn thing 3 times and it's still too short!"

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

Bet Dad had a lot of great sayings.😂

[@larrynason8716]

@@rudolphguarnacci197 DAD lived through the great depression, saw LOTS of action in WW2, came home after the war and help raise 6 kids. One of "The Greatest Generation". Truly the best man I have ever known. I'm now 67 and still miss him every day. ❤ 🇺🇸

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

@@larrynason8716 I hear you, loud & clear. My dad was born in 1926 but was 4F because of his vision, eventually going blind at 40. He had plenty of friends who did serve. He heard their stories. Dad passed away 42 years ago and like you i miss him every day.

[@larrynason8716]

@@rudolphguarnacci197 It's good when you love your parents. It hurts my heart when I meet people who dont. Sorry about your Dad that's rough. My Dad died with Alzheimers at 83. He really was my best friend.

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

@@larrynason8716 What i learned over time was he always had me in his heart.

[@franksprecisionguesswork501]

I’ve been remodeling a 1906 built house in highland park CA. I wouldn’t have touched the old studs assuming they were still solid . I’d would have just sistered the entire wall. Lots of fun trying to make things straight when a foundation has sunk an inch over the last 120 years. Love the real 2x4 studs though….

[@tinoesroho]

botique rough-cut mills do full-sized 2x4s, if you don't mind planing them yourselves. i briefly worked at one!

[@Mr1121628]

Looking good! Sometimes you just gotta work with what you have…especially with old houses. Been there, done that too!

[@bryanmatthews2370]

Old remodels are my favorite. I found so much cool stuff in the walls, floors, and ceilings. Old Waltham watch, beer cans, glass motor oil bottle (I thought it was a 40 at first), turtle shell clock, mummified cat, one on them old credit card things (you put the card and paper on then slide the thing over, and boom done), risque charades game, hospital booze decanter, and a pack of cigarettes that looked like they hadn't seen the light of day for 70 years (smoked them)

[@michaelsorensen7567]

Were the smokes any different to today's? And who'd you okay the risque charades with?

[@bryanmatthews2370]

@@michaelsorensen7567 to my recollection they were pretty much the same, the charades I never played. I just thought it was funny so I have it in a storage bin somewhere

[@Tom-y1j]

Smoke em if you got em!

[@GerritADHS]

We‘re currently renovating our house from 1742 in Germany. I found some newspaper from 1942 under the wooden kitchen floor. Took some scans for myself and put them back under the new wooden flooring for the next owners to find and added some newspapers with Covid 19 headlines to it.

[@bryanmatthews2370]

@@michaelsorensen7567 the smokes were the same, to my memory. I didn't play charades, I just have it in a storage bin somewhere

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

A lot of the old stuff wasn't done by experts back then. My parent's house had some wine crates being used for some of the siding and there was one knob and tube circuit that literally went all around the house and was randomly spliced into in places. It's amazing that they somehow managed to avoid the power getting out of phase. The whole house was like that and i'm guessing they were trying to keep the cost as close to zero as possible. But, it seems to have worked, it survived an earthquake and has probably been around for a hundred years.

[@billrobert3226]

Knob and tube by design was a single nuetral for the whole house, but yeah my house is from about 1890 and was built was spare parts as well. One of my beams is a rail, like from a railroad. Not the wood part, the metal 😂😂😂

[@kw6713a]

I think in those days people could buy catalog homes and diy them. We are pretty sure my house is a sears catalog home based on the photos of those and age.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

@@billrobert3226 I was more commenting on the fact that there was a loop that wen around the outside of the house, not that there was a single neutral. It was then spliced in at random spots along the way with circuits randomly connected together. With the sort of low power applications of the day, a single neutral probably wasn't as much of an issue as houses didn't usually feature appliances that required much power. The thing that scared me a lot more was the aluminum wires that would sort of just disintegrate over time.

[@5isalivegaming72]

"Better than it was" is my catch phrase as a maintenance manager 😂

[@mikemcgrath6150]

Ours was, it looks good from my house.

[@patsfaith]

We bought a brick house built in 1942. We have a basement/crawl space so we can see how solid the foundation is. The things that surprise us? At least 3 windows you can see from the outside that have been covered on the inside; paneling over brick, drywall covering built ins… my favorite? A large framed bathroom mirror covering the holes that used to house 2 sconces and a large medicine cabinet… all done by previous owners!

[@seanhall8686]

When my sister moved into her new home, we quickly discovered that the door was just big enough that the latch would gouge the wall. It turns out every home in the neighborhood had the same problem. They were all built back in the 60's.

[@GameAnGrog]

Something I was taught early on in carpentry is if you start with a hack job, you make it harder for the next guys to do a good job, but easier for them to do a hack job too.

[@friendlynerd599]

I think this every time I hear it. People have never been less lazy we’ve just understood physics less. “Big wall make house strong” when you don’t know what specific load capacity is and your society is just coming to grips density being separate from porosity you can’t expect people to under build their house and go “it’s fine”. They were strong cus they didn’t know how to make it weaker but safe.

[@sideprojectqueen]

This is such a good point, you've really given me something to think about today. You lived up to your username

[@seanhazelwood3311]

It was effective. "Weaker but safe" means Unsafe, in every metric.

[@RossMalagarie]

glad to see shoty home construction has not just started 20yrs ago its been going on ever since home construction started

[@kro9703]

My house was built in 1886, and apparently this was before the invention of T squares and levels.

[@crazyguy_1233]

It’s had over 100 years to settle and shift around. Old places will never be square or level because of time. It was probably square and level when it was built but 100 years is plenty of time to shift around.

[@kro9703]

@@crazyguy_1233 No, I assure you it was built this way. I have french doors into the living room, If you measure the top of the trim to the ceiling on one side its 15" on the other side is 18". No gaps anywhere. Don't get me wrong I love my old house but level and even where not priority's back then.

[@mandowarrior123]

Ancient egyptians had plumb bobs and jars of water.

[@mandowarrior123]

​@@crazyguy_1233this isn't the case. Subsidence is very noticeable and doesn't walk nails over several inches or grow studs.

[@kro9703]

@@mandowarrior123 I'm guessing that my house wasn't built by Egyptians then.

[@Redsand2687]

Remodeling my house from 1919. Can't believe this video came in my feed. This is very true.

[@handymancam5787]

Love it, I hate when older people say craftsmanships gone. I’ve DEMOed so many old houses and seen this kind of work. Here if Florida there’s so many codes, it’s near impossible to build a bad house these days

[@chrish42000]

And then the places where 1/8" MDF paneling is code for sheathing a home... A child can punch through it.

[@handymancam5787]

@@chrish42000 we don’t use that crap here in Florida and the minimum thickness is 1/2”

[@handpaper6871]

​@@chrish42000 Dude, there are jurisdictions where 1/16th card (with a plastic film on one side) is OK.

[@runningamok6473]

My house was built in 1930. When I laid hardwood on the second floor I got into the back of one of the bedroom closets and there was 2.5” of runout in 5.5’. And doing any trim work is an adventure. Every corner is a different angle. I gave up on miters and started coping everything. Fun times.

[@Loupgarou21]

“They don’t make em like they used to” is 100% survivorship bias. Most of the stuff that’s old and still around was exceptional quality compared to other contemporary items, it wasn’t the norm. I’ve been cleaning out the basement of my parents old house, and sure, there’s some good quality items, but there’s stuff in like-new condition from the 70s and 80s that I wouldn’t spend money on if it was sold brand new in the store now because of how terribly it was manufactured. One of the things I just ran across was a set of plastic bins of different sizes that used the same lid to fit all the bins. The lid doesn’t fit any of them well, and there are all of these awkwardly placed supporting pieces to try to strengthen the sides of the bins that make it so you couldn’t ever possibly pack anything in them well.

[@rustyshackleford48]

I had a house that was 110yo, and I genuinely believe that they used 80° "square" when framing it. Everything was consistently 10-12° off square. It was also _unbelievably_ solid. It was literally impossible to remove nails from the studs, and most couldn't even be pounded in flush. That old growth wood was crazy hard.

[@krisknowlton5935]

I have news for you. New growth wood can be real hard too. It all depends on the species of wood.

[@Fetecheney]

Good solution brother. Sometimes it can't be perfect, so I have to swallow my pride and make sure it just works how it needs to. This is a good reminder of that

[@timesthree5757]

No more bracing on this old shifting frame means more breakage.

[@Lucas-pv2wn]

Man, I have gutted a couple houses, and figuring out how to get things to work is pure artistry.

[@beglitchery]

1892 house here. Most of the effed up crap I’ve uncovered dates back to the 70s. The only other fun things have been finding all sorts of reclaimed material used in 1927 after a tornado.

[@bicivelo]

I’ve only lived in/renovated 100 year old + homes and the quality is so much better than crap made today.

[@TheRozylass]

Old houses settle and everything gets out of plumb. Plus, workmanship varies according to who was building. The fact that they have stood for so long suggests that they were build sturdily, no matter what the insides show. Did you notice that 2x4's were actually 2"x4", instead of the planed down thin stick we have today?

[@mandowarrior123]

Bollocks. Houses correctly built don't 'settle' and this shit was put in day 1. New builds come with the same wonky walls and bad workmanship.

[@brendanmcculloch2406]

i like how people think the nails have migrated through solid wood in "settling"

[@Townsendcat2]

Hey man, I build houses with my grandpa from the 80s to 2006 when he died it’s called. You do what you have to do young man what you did was great he would approve and he did not cut corners.!!!!!!!

[@brainfloss9710]

I have absolutely no problem with your fix, but you have to admit, it was pretty hacky.

[@CriminalonCrime]

Clearly the opposite side of the house has settled causing the bottom plate to slide out, floor is probably slanty as F. If not then the foundation is bulging out on both sides and this was probably a really bad buy. Definitely a hacky fix, that house definitely has some kind of foundation issue he's ignoring.

[@mandowarrior123]

​@@CriminalonCrimeits against a block wall, i guarantee that didn't happen. You can see the brad placement clearly aimed with intent on the overhang. Nails can't swim through wood. That was always like that, I guarantee it.

[@markclairmont3391]

I bought an old house in 2000 . Walls moved outward at the top of the walls angle cut 2x lumber to make walls straight worked like a charm

[@carlclouseriii8519]

The codes are made for a reason.

[@strjourneys7919]

Money?

[@carlclouseriii8519]

@@strjourneys7919 no usually because someone died

[@seanhazelwood3311]

​​@@carlclouseriii8519No, generally money. You'll notice with research that every building code was written by a board member who invented or owns stock in the new technology; e.g., Arc Fault Breakers.

[@yungblod8975]

Over engineering doesn't matter when ur building materials are garbage new growth lumber

[@seanhazelwood3311]

@@yungblod8975 It's going to be new growth lumber forever; cutting old growth is bad and evil, remember?

[@tosgem]

What you have done is great. In years when somebody else rips it open and sees it won't look pretty, but it will still be standing

[@Sith_dude]

I've got a 1930 Millhouse. Mostly everything is good in it but upstairs there was a wall that was 3 1/2 inches out of plumb at the top. I removed that wall and built a new plumb wall. Easy fix.

[@charliechristian1097]

lol this is 1000% accurate, guys that framed shit back in the day were just as much of hacks as the hacks of the day. The guys who work solid are still in business

[@GW71093]

“Old houses were built sooo much better than new ones” says anyone who has NEVER worked on an old house

[@richardtrejo2398]

Some of the old houses were made of Better quality than houses now a days, not all old houses but there are some good ones … new houses just have plywood on the outside and look cheaply done , I had bought a house from 1915 and the outer wood of the house was literally a few inches thick of some high quality wood (that would have cost soo much to do in the 2020’s and all my 2x4s were true 2”x4” if you go to Home Depot now you’ll see that the 2x4s are actually a little smaller than 2”x4” , and my walls were still plumb , I’m not saying all houses back in the day were like that but I’m sure it’s similar to now a days that some houses are built better than others depending the build location and builder

[@seanhazelwood3311]

Most old houses Are built better than modern ones. At least they had decades to settle/get out of wack. Modern houses are generally junk before the grass starts growing.

[@adammatis5527]

The old wood is harder. Somehow, I can't explain it but it's true. But plaster can suck a fat one.

[@seanhazelwood3311]

@@adammatis5527 Old growth wood is more dense because it grew much slower.

[@adammatis5527]

@@seanhazelwood3311 imagine framing a house by hand 100 years ago. Those dudes were made of iron.

[@Totally_Not_A_Pigeon]

Been helping my dad fix a house from 1972, you would not believe the kind of stuff we found in that house. One of the supporting beams had about a foot of it cut out in the middle with a 2x4 nailed to the side as a replacement. [] []|| || []|| []

[@mandowarrior123]

Steel lintol that didn't bear on either side being held up by the bricks above it is meant to support, brick walls on floor joists, plenty of swiss cheese joists, asphalt floor pour to prevent moisture ingress... with the skirting boards in. Main A frame roof timbers were 75mmx70mm and it didn't fit properly as they had them wide not tall. Fun & games.

[@VKla-js3bd]

It survived a century and will keep on standing with a bit of love

[@georgemarlim6747]

Thats why we send out a Journeyman to do the job .. he can see what needs to be done and makes it work no matter what it takes !! Good job !

[@dommyboysmith]

We gutted an entire older house down to the framing for a full renovation. Floors were slanted, headers either didn't exist or were SUPER slanted. Rock foundation was all janky. Engineer was a friend of the owner and was there for less than 5 minutes. He took one look around and said, "tear it all down, it'll be cheaper. Save yourself the headache" 😂 "They don't make them like they used to" isn't a compliment if you've ever done extensive work on old houses. The builders HAD to have been completely drunk when building this particular house. This was in an affluent neighborhood too. Wasn't a farm house built by Paw-Paw and the kids. It was a legitimate company from back in the day.

[@arstedus]

lol my house is from the 70s and every time I fix something it is full of surprises!!

[@bjkjoseph]

The houses built right after World War II in these giant developments were usually built like crap, there’s some big houses by me that were built in the 20s and they are built really well

[@kenmorrisproducer]

Can confirm. I have a crap box from the 40s.

[@Thalanox]

The 1920s?

[@bjkjoseph]

@@Thalanox the roaring 20s and then it crashed

[@ginacirelli1581]

My house was built in 1939 and she's far more solid than the crap built nowadays.

[@bjkjoseph]

@@ginacirelli1581 my old house was built in 1939 but I lost it in a hurricane, but the wood flooring upstairs there was no short pieces, I think it was 14 feet long the hallway and it was 14 foot pieces of hardwood flooring and the old hardwood floors when they got flooded It was old growth wood so nothing happened to it and then the addition, the wood just buckled and was completely useless

[@ensidfkgnur]

We need a support group. 120+ yrs old house here, we bought into the myth. OTOH we didn't pay a lot and we love the area. Still...I miss drywall, plumb, square.... The mystery fixes others have made have almost killed me.

[@NZKiwiRic]

Just curious... outside fastening on the old stud but you pulled them into the BP? Since you are doubling stud regardless why pull and risk sheeting/roofline fastenings popping?

[@Michaelx92x]

Those studs maybe were supposed to be there and the bottom plate is wrong so that could have been were he got those 2 inches off at the end but the sheeting and that cut on the studs by the stringers may be compromised

[@as48507]

I’m at the tail end of remodeling a house built in 1886 on Mackinac Island, a bit more than 50 year ago, and the same type of stuff is there too.. not all of the house, but some of the additions, just horrid work…. A rough framer and a furniture builder in those days were definitely on different levels… I will say, the hinges on this doors in this house, a freaking artist made! It’s crazy! The door hinges are artwork!!

[@manuelve1998]

Yep! The old houses were built by the owner with a couple of helping neighbours. They didn’t have standards to meet, it just had to work for themselves. And still, these houses are built, almost always, better than most houses today. They may not have studs that are plumb and they have all shifted somewhere, repaired countless times, saw centuries of storms and heat, humidity, neglect. And they’re still standing and repairable. Just the way I like these old houses, full of character and stories.

[@MrSirlulzalot]

"They don't make them like they used to" is something people usually say to sound smarter and more knowledgable than they are. Thank God they don't make them like they used to. If nothing else, that is why houses do not burn down like they used to. ❤😂

[@mikeznel6048]

All about the tolerances. They knew where it had to be right on the money and where it didn’t matter.

[@whirled_peas]

Clearly didn’t matter as it’s still standing

[@johnmartinez7440]

​@@whirled_peas Barely.

[@joshmonaco6170]

​@whirled_peas that's not true at all lol. When something is just barely hanging on by a thread, you get might get lucky and have it last another 10 or 20 years before it collapses, you might get less lucky and only see 10 or 20 days out of it. But the fact that something has managed to not fall apart thus far is absolutely *not* an indication that it is 'just fine' and will continue to hold up. That's an indication that you should thank your lucky stars it hasn't experienced catastrophic failure yet and get it properly supported asap

[@milldawgj9598]

Can get my wife to understand that our 70 year old house is never going to be square. It was very close when it was built. But 70 years of settling is something that is hard to beat!

[@jakeallen7993]

There were actually way more hacks then even you think. there's a reason why they developed building codes

[@Gunter_Custom]

I'll bet you a lot of the houses built by code today won't last as long as many of the ones built 100 years ago ..😂

[@jakeallen7993]

@Gunter_Custom just based off of weather is more intense now probably not

[@Gunter_Custom]

@@jakeallen7993 lol don't know where you came up with that for an excuse..😆

[@benoithudson7235]

@@Gunter_Custom : keep in mind the houses we see from 100 years ago are just the ones that didn't get torn down. In other words, we mostly see the best stuff that was built 100 years ago -- not the bad stuff.

[@Gunter_Custom]

@@benoithudson7235 yes and no. ..my parents neighborhood just north of Chicago has tons of solid brick houses that are in good shape but they are being bought and torn down to build bigger houses on an already small lot.. Most are 2 bathroom 1 bath houses .. so not big enough for today's lifestyle and family needs. These homes are at least 70 to 80 years old ...some even older.

[@tomsreviews238]

I found 4 ft. of tree branch used in a wall in place of a stud in a very old house. Got a great look at "old world" craftsmanship.

[@JosephStalin1941]

My barn was constructed sometime between the 1860s and the 1880s, and you can tell exactly where they lost motivation, because the beams go from nice 12"×12" hand-hewn beams to literal trees with the bark never even removed.

[@Jason-fg4jr]

That house has stood a lot longer than the 5hit you guys build today... I've been in construction over 30 years... get a few more years under chin before you talk 5hit there guy...

[@rfmsr2]

people weren't as picky as they are today. They were happy with what they had. Plus it lasted 50 years you say, not bad

[@user-fl4yw7cd1x]

Yep, own a 1956 tract house 2x3 exterior amd bearing walls with 2x2 interior walls. Drywalled exterior then put up interior walls and drywalled then put up closets . Oh wow how much fun trying to remodel.

[@d2cuadrados510]

Lots of hacks back then too. My family used to rent a really old duplex and the drywall holes were patched with newspaper. They would just ball them up and shove them in the holes and put plaster on top.

[@jacobnauman5801]

On a smaller scale, I bought a 1974 camper. We're facing many, many issues. It's to the point that we've started and are close to being finished a small cabin we're building from free pallets and other reclaimed materials in place of the camper.

[@RetroCaptain]

My place had similar issues. The one wall was fixed the same way as shown. Solid now. Back then the workers might have been putting that together in a heat wave or cold snap and the lumber wouldn't line up so they said just whack it together, I'm freezing and the storm is coming hurry hurry.

[@charleshapner5071]

My last house was built in 1904 and it was framed in oak, solid as a rock, literally 😂 we had to predrill every freaking screw or nail we wanted to put in and sistered all the studs like he was doing to help straighten the walls and also give us wood to put the drywall up that was replacing the old plaster lathe which came off like concrete!

[@tulta3631]

I think that the studs shifted from the lack of ability to calculate compressive loads of the framing (uneven distribution of forces) and we can see that. Today modern engineers can do that easily on a computer.

[@TheWabbit]

I have a 1920s home with 2 additions, the house is great, floors a little squeaky but nice solid oak 2x4 construction, the additions one done in 1943 and one in 1960s are the nightmares, that and steel haulers running down the main road a block away had those foundations in the additions sank about 2 inches ( the whole house would shake when the steel haulers drive by ) my floors went from even to bad in the kitchen and bathroom.

[@ITBubba1]

3 years ago. Bought a house built in 1970 rural southern Missouri. Never seen so much overbuild. Example, double 2x12 headers in interior door frames. All interior walls insulated.

[@shaunsmith928]

A hell of alot better. You may not get rich off that job. But... If the right people see it,you will never run out of work. Well done bro.

[@rinima858]

Have been living in and fixing a lot old houses, and nicest way I could think of to say is that people back then took a lot of shortcuts

[@FolgersCoffee]

My Father has a home remodeling business. Most of his projects are old houses in small towns that are falling apart. We move them to another city and fix em. Most are 50+ years old and everytime it looks like this. The wiring is where the real fun is though

[@user-ct3kp7cb2t]

Working with what you got. Well done.

[@edg8535]

My dad's house was framed in '46. He told me many times that the ones that put it together couldn't have used either a square or level. This has always taken place.

[@user-jb2wm4my1y]

Lol reminds me of remodeling my grandma's kitchen in her house that's over a hundred years old. The construction methods and materials was completely different back then

[@SkillfulScott]

Honestly the best way to fix that nice work bro

[@A-privilege-not.a-right]

Got lucky and bought mine from a military guy who was also a woodworker. Built in 1917, the wood hasn’t rotted or shifted. Denser wood.

[@SkyKing44]

My sister's house was built when George Washington was alive. It's 'new' addition was made when President Lincoln was in office. Not one wall is square. It's floor joists are trees cut in half with the bark still on. During some fixer-uppers some wall studs were found to still have limbs attached. In many cases the branches were used as additional support. The wood was harvested when clearing the land from where the house now sits and includes both soft and hard wood. Over two hundred years of TLC and it's still standing strong. The funny thing is, in her community, the house it considered 'too young' to be historical.

[@johnking6252]

Now imagine 50-75 years from now when someone discovered this fix ?? 🤪🤪🤪 History. 👍

[@prototype_0xD1]

Honestly still better than what Dr. Horton builds these days....

[@Phoenix-rv2kb]

I came across something very similar to this in my 1960s house, studs were nailed flush at the top and bottom, but were either bowed in or out, how I never noticed the old wood paneling was so wavy I’ll never know. I ended up shaving down the ones bowed out and sistering new studs on to all of them so the drywall would come out even.

[@Jack-Daniel.1]

I’ve learned as a tradesman that I hate DIY and doing the “fixer upper” idea when buying your own home. When I teach youngsters; I ask them what would they do: hang the curtain rail level or follow the uneven building? I follow up with why? Because people need to learn not how to do it but why. If you put a curtain rail up level to an uneven building, it will make the curtains uneven. It’s such a simple yet effective question in construction.

[@coppertopv365]

Helped a guy fix the floors an replace a window in this older apartment. We had to add all kinds of wood to help level the floor an square up the wall for a new window

[@josephdillard9907]

After spending the last year and a half rebuilding my own house, i can say i ran into A LOT of that kind of stuff.

[@alexsholto6230]

Bits of my house are from the 9th century. Safe to say throughout the building there are some wild choices. Still its a beautiful building and stood the test of time

[@MatthewKuhns-qx9kk]

That’s pretty good actually, good stuff man

[@elgoog7830]

I had multiple family members who owned remodel companies, and did all sorts of remodels and basement jobs. I helped more than enough to know I want nothing do with remodeling. Especially old homes. An absolute nightmare.

[@SnargleflarpMasetblugp]

My 120 year old house now has a pronounced floor slope that is baked in. We lifted one corner of the house by 8" but it's still out 6" more. But my contractor said that if we lifted it more we'd start breaking things. He thinks it was built that way. There's weird stuff like places where the floor is level but the ceiling isn't. Happily most of the walls are plumb. We just chalk it up to the charm of an old building.

[@AnthonyStouteford302]

That dark wood is so much harder than the white pine we have now. I can always tell when driving a drywall screw if I'm in new wood or old. That stuff is crazy

[@mandowarrior123]

Time does that to timber, it makes a fossil like version of itself that's rock like, especially if exposed to mineral containing moisture. In Britain we laid down timber years in advance to age it ready for ship building, and in venice they stored it under water in their cellars to harden it. They darken over time due to the tannins as well, even white pine will look dark brown over time. That isn't to say it wasn't much stronger older growth of timber, which it was too, but that hardness isn't due to that.

[@robertdavis3433]

I owned a 95 yo house in Sacramento. It was made incredibly well. The exterior stucco is so hard with no cracks. It fells exactly like a rock.The wood framing is so hard i had to leave the attic to go to home Depot and buy another drill bit to get through the wood. It's just the luck of the draw.

[@af186]

Is very funny hearing people say , they don't build home like they use anymore, which always reminds me of the horrors of old I've found over the years thus be glad that we don't build like we use to, even bad building today is much better overall.

[@chadrowlett893]

Oh boy! Yup! I get it! When I have to do something like this, I can only say (it’s way better than before)😂

[@ragingmoderate6791]

I helped my mom do some remodeling of a house built in the 50s about 20 years ago. It had interior walls that had 4 got 2x4s scabbed together with a 2 foot 2x4. Nothing was straight and the insulation I'm almost positive was wet newspapers blown into the wall.

[@mrbippydo]

Yep Renovated my kitchen about a year ago and discovered it used to be an 1800's woodshed. 19th century Good enough carpentry.

[@blueissocool]

You should watch the inspectors point out problems in new million dollar homes. Love inspectors on KZbin

[@foursquarehomerepair]

looks like it's been doing the job for a long time. I wouldn't worry about it. Now you're putting a stress on everything that was nailed to those boards.

[@mandowarrior123]

Entropy, buddy. Stress is the mechanism that holds everything together.

[@captainmo3064]

Old homes moved a ton. Literally. I have worked on a few that were built on land, floated in the bay, built on piers and floated back on land. LOL

[@slater762mm]

do the best you can with what you got, great work!

[@patrickodonnell4109]

Nice job. A big improvement without ripping everything out for a rebuild. We’ll done ✅

[@SSHitMan]

I spent 35 years repairing/rehabbing old homes, sometimes you just have to make it better and not perfect.

[@computersales]

Honestly still better than most new construction so I'd rather have that lol.

[@Speedstack21]

Great video, people like to believe that corners were never cut back in the day or that bad carpenters didn’t exist.