They don't build them like they used to

[Capt Worley PE]

This came from the Walmart thread, talking about the quality of things made nowadays. I think a lot of stuff is actually much better than it used to be. Just from personal experience in comparison with stuff made 35-40 years ago:

Stuff that's built better

Cars used to be pretty much done at 75K in the seventies. Now you expect to get 15-200K out of them, with much less maintenance.

We have two TVs over fifteen years old. When I was a kid, we were lucky to have them last 7-9 years.

As I type this, I'm wearing an eight year old pair of shoes. they're still comfortable and have plenty of life left. I have a ten or eleven year old pair of Reeboks I still wear (albeit not much).

Dryer is still going at 13 years.

Lawnmower (low end Yard Machine push mower) is still going at 13 years, and has had one tuneup.

Stuff that's about the same

Washer went at ten years. That may be a little better, but not much. may be a little worse.

Stuff that is built worse

Houses. I see 'starter homes' and McMansions that look like shizzit after ten years. Vinyl warping, etc. I'm highly suspect of engineered wood products, other than plywood, and I'm not terribly fond of it.

Agree, disagree....

 

[humner]

well, I just put the finishing touches on my house plan. I am going with Intergrated Concrete Forms (ICFs) two stories, spanning almost 20' for most of the 74' long house and I am doing that with open web wood floor trusses. The roof is going to be 7 on 12 attic truss giving me a 16' wide x 74' room upstairs and that is spanning 44'. Yes, I love engineered lumber. I have designed over 70 structures using engineered lumber in one form or another. The main thing is to put the product with the structure you have in mind and stick with the manufacturers recommendations and if you don't know, call them. I went with open web trusses because I am installing radiant hot water heat in the floors as well as return air lines for when I need to utilize my wood stove. I am planning on posting pics when I start.

 

[momech]

Cars...couldn't agree with you more.

TV...I don't know how old you are, but I haven't had a TV that didn't last 15 years.

Shoes...you must not do much walking or running. There's no way I could get a pair of everyday wear shoes to last eight years.

Dryer...My parents still use the dryer they bought 38 years ago. My first one lasted a measly 8 years.

Lawnmower...Small design variations can make a huge difference here. My Craftsman self-propelled is 14 years old, but I've had to rob parts off other mowers to keep it going.

Washer...My parents used theirs for over 30 years. My first one lasted a measly 10 years.

Houses...couldn't agree with you more. One of the things that really irks me is the finger jointed moldings on most wooden windows. There is no way it will hold up long term.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

well, I just put the finishing touches on my house plan. I am going with Intergrated Concrete Forms (ICFs) two stories, spanning almost 20' for most of the 74' long house and I am doing that with open web wood floor trusses. The roof is going to be 7 on 12 attic truss giving me a 16' wide x 74' room upstairs and that is spanning 44'. Yes, I love engineered lumber. I have designed over 70 structures using engineered lumber in one form or another. The main thing is to put the product with the structure you have in mind and stick with the manufacturers recommendations and if you don't know, call them. I went with open web trusses because I am installing radiant hot water heat in the floors as well as return air lines for when I need to utilize my wood stove. I am planning on posting pics when I start.

Engineered lumber, in my experience is fine as long as it doesn't get wet or have heat applied to it. Offgassing is a concern, too, at least for me.

For fire reasons, I don't like truss plates, either.

What can I say, I'm a Luddite.

 

[momech]

well, I just put the finishing touches on my house plan. I am going with Intergrated Concrete Forms (ICFs) two stories, spanning almost 20' for most of the 74' long house and I am doing that with open web wood floor trusses. The roof is going to be 7 on 12 attic truss giving me a 16' wide x 74' room upstairs and that is spanning 44'. Yes, I love engineered lumber. I have designed over 70 structures using engineered lumber in one form or another. The main thing is to put the product with the structure you have in mind and stick with the manufacturers recommendations and if you don't know, call them. I went with open web trusses because I am installing radiant hot water heat in the floors as well as return air lines for when I need to utilize my wood stove. I am planning on posting pics when I start.

As a former truss plant manager, room-in-attic trusses and open web floor trusses are the only way to go.

 

[roadwreck]

Shoes...you must not do much walking or running. There's no way I could get a pair of everyday wear shoes to last eight years.

I can't get but a few months out of a pair of running shoes, but it's not the build quality that's the issue, it's the mileage.

 

[Road Guy]

Ive got a maytag washer / dryer thats 19 years old and going strong

But I have put in three dishwashers at my current house in the last 9 years.. one was a maytag but it was very cheaply built compared to yesteryear...

I have a fairly old lawnmower, maybe 10 years? out of sheer ir-responsibility I left it out in the backyard, the ENTIRE winter, I actually couldnt find it a few weeks ago in the basement and found it behind the kids play house. Put some gas in it and it started on the 3rd pull. I was very suprised. I think its a toro.. I'll buy them again....

but weed eaters, blowers, etc, always seem to have some plastic part that breaks that ruins you..

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Shoes...you must not do much walking or running. There's no way I could get a pair of everyday wear shoes to last eight years.

I can't get but a few months out of a pair of running shoes, but it's not the build quality that's the issue, it's the mileage.

I don't do any running. And, no, I probably walk more barefoot or in flip-flops than in my shoes, which drives my wife nuts in the winter.

 

[snickerd3]

I've lucky to get a year out of my gym shoes which are worn for everyday wear, not running.

Our first dryer lasted about 5 yrs...and that was pumping $20 every other month for about 9 months for a new thermal fuze to keep it going. The washer we got at the same time is now almost 8.5yrs and is going strong.

I have no clue how long our john deer is going to last, but the damn mice crawl into the air intake and if you don't check ahead of time they get sucked in and killed. Then mr snick has to spend the extra time to clean it out and put it back together. They are also eating the stuffing out of the seat, so we are going to have some higher consumable costs with it. No amount of mouse traps and poison are working. They eat is all and still no difference

so maybe theres another not built like they used to. the poison isn't as potent as it used to be

 

[Road Guy]

the preacher who married us actually told us during the "pre wedding meetings or whatever they call those thigns" that if they made tennis shoes out of vagina parts you would only need one pair your whole life...

I am sure there was some sort of message there but it was a little creepy, actually very creepy...

 

[Capt Worley PE]

^I don't understand that at all...

 

[snickerd3]

i'd say clothes in general. the quality was much better years ago. Now if I can get a second year out of a pair of jeans or shirts I am lucky.

 

[roadwreck]

i'd say clothes in general. the quality was much better years ago. Now if I can get a second year out of a pair of jeans or shirts I am lucky.

Really? Jeans will last me several years, shirts will last forever.

 

[snickerd3]

womens jeans aren't built for ruffness, they are built for fashion, so when you try to wear them for ruff, they don't hold up

 

[Supe]

Welding equipment.

I've run pieces of equipment that predate anyone on this board that run like new. With the new inverters, if the boards don't crap out within 5 years, you should probably play the lotto while you're at it.

 

[cableguy]

Welding equipment.
I've run pieces of equipment that predate anyone on this board that run like new. With the new inverters, if the boards don't crap out within 5 years, you should probably play the lotto while you're at it.

Yeah, but which 200 amp TIG welder would you want to toss in the trunk of your car and take to a job? Syncrowave 200 (238 lbs) vs. Dynasty 200 (45 lbs)...

{Unfortunately the "gotcha" is 'yeah, but what about the bottle?'}

But I'll raise you with Plasma Cutters. Old ones were big, heavy, sucked power, and big multi-thousand-dollar ones were barely able to cut 3/8". I have a Hypertherm Powermax 45 that can easily eat 1/2" and weighs about 20 lbs, and is about the size of 2 shoeboxes stacked on top of each other.

 

[Supe]

Welding equipment.
I've run pieces of equipment that predate anyone on this board that run like new. With the new inverters, if the boards don't crap out within 5 years, you should probably play the lotto while you're at it.

Yeah, but which 200 amp TIG welder would you want to toss in the trunk of your car and take to a job? Syncrowave 200 (238 lbs) vs. Dynasty 200 (45 lbs)...

{Unfortunately the "gotcha" is 'yeah, but what about the bottle?'}

But I'll raise you with Plasma Cutters. Old ones were big, heavy, sucked power, and big multi-thousand-dollar ones were barely able to cut 3/8". I have a Hypertherm Powermax 45 that can easily eat 1/2" and weighs about 20 lbs, and is about the size of 2 shoeboxes stacked on top of each other.

New Synchrowaves and most of the transformer machines are fine. It's the inverters that get you. I have a Thermal Arc inverter (AC/DC with pulse capability) that weighs about 50 pounds, and it took a crap within the first 30 seconds of AC welding. So the real gotcha is "I'll take the one that works!"

Old plasma cutters were complete pieces of shit, not to mention most of them didn't even operate on compressed air. There's been nearly as much advancement in the consumables as there has been the power supplies.

 

[DVINNY]

the preacher who married us actually told us during the "pre wedding meetings or whatever they call those thigns" that if they made tennis shoes out of vagina parts you would only need one pair your whole life...
I am sure there was some sort of message there but it was a little creepy, actually very creepy...

^I don't understand that at all...

I means, you would not be able to wear them out. ( I think the creepy message, was that you wouldn't need a 2nd)

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Old refrigerators and freezers seem to last a long time, too. My parents' freezer is from the 60s at the latest. My uncle's beer fridge is an avacado green thing from 1969.

 

[snickerd3]

a couple years ago our big old clunky microwave at work finaly bit the dust...when I turned it around it was from the 70s so it worked for over 30 years. Thats a long time for a microwave