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teaboyjim
Are new build houses put together like lego and is less skill required than refurbishing old properties?
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A house built from Lego would be probably be better than a house built by some developers
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teaboyjim
Has the general house building quality gone down over the past 20 or so years?
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In the case of housing developments where the developer builds and then sells the houses i would say yes quality of build has gone down, several architects have the same opinion, and the decline began more than 20 years ago.
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That’s not necessarily down to the lack of skill of the individual trades but around spec, materials, design, management, quality checking too
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teaboyjim
I've heard stories of some newbuild blocks of flats where the quality has been disastrous yet everything still got passed.
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Refurbishing an old/existing property requires the skills to adapt and work within the constraints of what is already there.
That skill is not required in tradespeople employed on newbuilds.
Generally, house bumping is for making money, fast. So the faster you are the more money you earn and with that comes the inherent quality issues. Everything is geared up for ease and fast production, and less for thinking and quality.
And yes, when you are building square boxes day-in, day-out, where everything is almost identical it's just like a production line in a factory and you become a little institutionalised and robotic. You don't do anything else, you don't know anything else, you don't learn anything else or how to overcome other problems, so yes potentially you are less skilled at non-new build work - although you could be great at your own job.
But that's not to say all refurbishment works are better. They just do stuff different ly and know different things, but can still be totally crap.
You will see say, gangs of site bricklayers throw up a home extension in a weekend and it be a cracking job - which would have taken the "refurb" gang a whole week. But that same site gang may not be so adept at forming new openings or putting in beams or internal alterations.
But quality starts and ends with the management and what they are prepared to accept. And there are many factors which may influence the standards which are accepted.
And yes, when you are building square boxes day-in, day-out, where everything is almost identical it's just like a production line in a factory and you become a little institutionalised and robotic. You don't do anything else, you don't know anything else, you don't learn anything else or how to overcome other problems, so yes potentially you are less skilled at non-new build work - although you could be great at your own job.
But that's not to say all refurbishment works are better. They just do stuff different ly and know different things, but can still be totally crap.
You will see say, gangs of site bricklayers throw up a home extension in a weekend and it be a cracking job - which would have taken the "refurb" gang a whole week. But that same site gang may not be so adept at forming new openings or putting in beams or internal alterations.
But quality starts and ends with the management and what they are prepared to accept. And there are many factors which may influence the standards which are accepted.
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teaboyjim
I've noticed that there are these timber framed flats that have been assembled and haven't got true structural walls.
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Look at https://www.sips.org/
Structural Insulated Panel System
They are NOT framed buildings.
This is a framed building
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teaboyjim
Are framed buildings having steel frames rather than wooden frames then?
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dontbelieveawordofit
bit of a dumb question to be fair and honest.
the two things require a whole host of different skills knowledge and competence and are in reality worlds apart.
the two things require a whole host of different skills knowledge and competence and are in reality worlds apart.
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teaboyjim
This must explain why plastic piping is more popular in newbuilds perhaps
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Some are steel framed and some are timber framed
At one point I refused even to quote any work apart from decoration to all new builts.
Too much trouble.
My friend finally managed to get rid of his £300k one bedroom flat in which the genius who designed it thought it would be a great idea to have an open void behind the kitchen cabinets running from top to bottom of the building.
Rats had the time of their life, it was like being in magaluf for them.
The colony had spread to all adjacent buildings, all built by the same bodgers.
Too much trouble.
My friend finally managed to get rid of his £300k one bedroom flat in which the genius who designed it thought it would be a great idea to have an open void behind the kitchen cabinets running from top to bottom of the building.
Rats had the time of their life, it was like being in magaluf for them.
The colony had spread to all adjacent buildings, all built by the same bodgers.
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