: how did people in the past ensure that a building/structure will be structurally sound?

Question

: how did people in the past ensure that a building/structure will be structurally sound?

In: 5150

Answer 1

Also, a bit of an unpopular opinion…

I grew up working on old houses with my dad and his friends that were into historic preservation in a midwestern city. I would generally say that most houses they worked on were poorly engineered, and it was a marvel that most only had minor structural issues with them. Most of this was due to over engineering (i.e. using bigger and stronger studs and joists than would be used today, more nails, more redundancy). Also, I would generally say that most older homes, and especially those built in the early 1900s needed substantial, to major structural and foundation work.