OVERALL STRUCTURAL SOUNDNESS
It’s a mistake to assume that an older house, just because it is older, is somehow sturdier than a newer house. True, they don’t build them like they used to, but that can mean many things, not all of them negative for the newer structures. Today’s home- engineering technology can fulfill a dream of domestic comfort that the greatest builders of the past could hardly imagine. On the other hand, some modem contractors may be more willing to use lesser-quality materials and to take unsound shortcuts with their work than were their Victorian counterparts, The wall is something the inspector ought to notice and explain. In bad cases, problems of this kind can require substantial rebuilding of the whole foundation. That’s not common, but it happens, and you’d rather it didn’t happen to you.
