Building Junk

There was a time when products were simple and designed to do one thing well and last for many years. For example, a wind-up alarm clock would keep accurate time and wake you at the correct time. It was not aesthetically pleasing, but it could last for 50 years or more. All it required was for you to wind it regularly. If it stopped because you failed to wind it, all you had to do was wind it up and reset it to the current time.

After World War II, there was a big boom in the economy when those in the military came home. After the war, every factory that had been constructed or adapted for wartime production was switched over to manufacture goods for civilian use. Those new jobs created money for families to buy their first car and to want their own house. The US Government passed the G.I. Bill to help with home financing for those who had served in the military. Across the nation, newly built neighborhoods offered affordable homes to tens of thousands of families beginning their lives together.

They were what I call “cookie-cutter” houses. Hundreds of homes were constructed, each following one of five to eight floor plans, with only minor variations in their front elevations.  Simple but functional, reducing the time required to construct and keeping the purchase price down in the range of the young family. A two-bedroom, one bathroom, kitchen, living room, and maybe a dining room, with square footage of 900 to 1,200, built on a small lot. There were no A/C, built-in appliances, or even a doorbell. Most of those houses remain occupied and have undergone various modifications over time.

While in high school, I had courses in mechanical and architectural drawing that gave me the desire to become an architect. In September 1961, I became a student in the School of Architecture at the University of Houston. In the high school classes, we were taught the code requirements for simple house designs, and we had to draw the elevations that matched the floor plans we designed. What the house would look like from the front, sides, and back, including the roof. The roof elevation was illustrated to provide a view of its appearance from an overhead perspective. All drawings use a quarter-inch scale (1/4” equals 12”) and indicate the actual measurements on the plans, enabling construction to proceed accurately based on these diagrams. The foundation plan included the size of the beams, the location of the beams, and the rebars required.

Two basic roof designs were allowed: gable and hip, or a combination of the two. Our grades were based on the neatness of the drawings, including our lettering, symbols for wiring, location, and sizes of windows and doors, and overall function. I learned that you could have a nice-looking front elevation of the house with a gable roof above to accent nice windows below, but if the gable or hip roof causes large amounts of water to flow down at your front door, changes need to be made to the design.

Earlier this week, I spent several hours in my car on a street featuring numerous recently constructed homes, most of which were likely built within the past one to four years. I was reminded of the house my parents bought in 1952, but a newer version. Maybe a couple of hundred houses built using no more than eight different floor plans with minor elevation changes. Frame houses with brick fronts and different colors. Each had a two-car attached garage for storage, yet there was no evidence that any cars were ever parked inside.  All the roofs were three-tab roofing with three different choices of color. Those houses range from 1,300 to 1,700 square feet, on a 6,000 square foot lot, feature three or four bedrooms, and are priced between $220,000 and $290,000.

It appeared to me, just looking at the houses from the street, that no real architect was involved with the design of the houses. Too many flaws in the design, especially with the roofs. Those houses will need new roofs within 10-15 years or sooner if there are storms of any size. There are combinations of gables and valleys that will cause heavy water flows at front doors and walkways from the driveway. Parts of the roofs where installing new shingles will be next to impossible. All of the A/C units are minimum builder-grade and undersized for this climate. They may not last five years before they need to be replaced.

The concept for the subdivision to build affordable housing is good; however, with a real architect who understands weather conditions and where the houses will be built, better plans could be developed. A few upgrades in materials that should not add more than $2K to $3K could add many years before major repairs, and also reduce monthly power charges.

Cars today have many features that are controlled by computers, which makes it impossible for anyone to do even the most basic maintenance. They are made for quick manufacturing, though they are not intended to be easily repaired. To replace parts like a starter or water pump requires 6 to 10 hours of labor, whereas what could be done on older cars in 1 to 2 hours. A simple repair in the past may send a car to the junk yard today because the repair costs more than the car is worth. Refrigerators and freezers used to last more than 20 years may not last 7 years today.

It is my hope that with President Trump’s effort to build new manufacturing facilities here in America, that effort will include making those products good enough to carry the “Made in America” badge with pride. Products like televisions, appliances, air conditioners, water heaters, cars, and houses should be designed to last and be simple to repair when needed.