Sometimes I will field a request for my opinion of someone’s prospective house purchase. With only a bit of humor, I tell them to look for a coal chute. If the house doesn’t have one (and/or has endured several “remodeling” invasions), I tell them that person(s) to pass. If it does, and it has endured minimal or no remodeling, it’s old enough to be competently built from good quality materials. I also suggest that the sewer lateral be “camera-ed” prior to purchase, too, even if the prospective buyer has to pay for that work. In my experience original construction work in old houses is competent; but remodeling work, being more difficult, is a 12 lane highway to all sorts of short-cuts and errors and stupid improvisations.
Sometimes I will field a request for my opinion of someone’s prospective house purchase. With only a bit of humor, I tell them to look for a coal chute. If the house doesn’t have one (and/or has endured several “remodeling” invasions), I tell them that person(s) to pass. If it does, and it has endured minimal or no remodeling, it’s old enough to be competently built from good quality materials. I also suggest that the sewer lateral be “camera-ed” prior to purchase, too, even if the prospective buyer has to pay for that work. In my experience original construction work in old houses is competent; but remodeling work, being more difficult, is a 12 lane highway to all sorts of short-cuts and errors and stupid improvisations.