The last few months, I've started to really notice how shit the quality of most buildings and infrastructure is in the US. I know a lot of people in the construction industry and grew up in it, and it's really just amazing how everything is built to maximize short term appearance and minimize cost. EVERYTHING, even ostensibly "luxury" housing, is built this way. I used to live an apartment building that was only a few years old but when you looked at the details you could already see the thing was falling apart. I've seen roads get resurfaced only to see a bunch of cracks and pot holes show up the next winter.

So as America enters terminal decline, I fully expect the buildings and infrastructure around us is just gonna fall apart and look hideous. Especially the suburbs. I feel like most suburbs are held together with paper mache and veneer. And of course Americans will deny it's happening and pretend it's totally fine.

  • Thorngraff_Ironbeard [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    God I used to work construction, I worked on “luxury” apartments all across the South installing blinds. It was eye opening how shitty quality this stuff was, I remember being able to look down the walls of these apartments that’s were 3-4K a month and the fucking walls weren’t even straight let alone the goddamn doors being hung right or the windows being the right size for our blinds.

    • LangdonAlger [any]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Just bought a century old house made from old growth lumber and the inspector was talking about how incredibly strong that stuff is and said it was in great condition. Feels kinda cool but also :deeper-sadness: about my inadvertent contribution to last century's deforestation of this beautiful land

      • CarlTheRedditor [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        about my inadvertent contribution to last century’s deforestation of this beautiful land

        This should not weigh on you whatsoever. What you did do is not contribute to current deforestation, which unlike the past is within your control.

        Congrats on the house!

    • Totalscrotalimplosio [he/him,any]
      ·
      4 years ago

      It's good to know that curvy walls are common in both high and low end places. Wonder if it's just poor mudding that creates bows and dips or if it's really the construction of the wall itself.

        • Totalscrotalimplosio [he/him,any]
          ·
          4 years ago

          I mean, not if you have competent carpenters who go off the actual size of their materials rather than what it's called. But that is a super common weird thing with a lot of construction materials and I'll never understand it.

          • MarxGuns [comrade/them]
            ·
            4 years ago

            2x4 are the only weird one, afaik. They're cut wet at 2" x 4" and air or kiln dried so therefore shrink.