[Hippocrates]

Pretty interesting to see the difference in the grain. I do notice the softness of the wall studs when I hang anything in my newer place. Still "they dont build em like they used to" is a bit... wrong. Nimby's or "old heads" as we call em, badmouth new builds for their quality. I've lived in extremely well-built 18th century homes, and now one that is less than a decade old and I greatly, greatly prefer the latter.

Newer features I appreciate are engineered joists (stronger, less creaking floors and noise transmission), doors and double pane windows that seal out air and noise, good insulation, central HVAC, PEX plumbing, neutral wiring, and the fact that if I need to fix or replace anything, it can be easily ordered if not found at a hardware store.

Yeah, maybe some of these materials are not as "sturdy" to the touch and maybe they have a shorter life-span, but I am positive they work better and are cheaper/easier to maintain.

[eropple]

> Yeah, maybe some of these materials are not as "sturdy" to the touch and maybe they have a shorter life-span, but I am positive they work better and are cheaper/easier to replace.

They are cheaper, they are easier to replace, and at the moment (wood nerd hat on) we genuinely do not know if they have a shorter lifespan. But it's very likely that they do not, in part because of the construction around them. These concerns are not, in my experience, something that you really hear people who spend much time around structural work bring up. It's mostly a "back in the day" thing.

For furniture, on the other hand--things are different. But dimensional lumber as practiced today is a modern miracle.

[Hippocrates]

I'm definitely no wood nerd but, yeah, I wouldn't intuit that a softer, new-growth wood would just disintegrate in 100 years time, or much more, for that matter.

As you allude to the material around it, we now have engineered, weather resistant sheathing, house wrap, and vinyl or metal siding, or some such very weather-proof stuff.

Most of the issues I have had with "old growth" wood in my 17th century homes were just due to water penetrating where it should not, rotting that wood, and then causing me a headache trying replace it with a similar material.