Houses are built the way they were built when someone paid for them. The decade tells you which framing, which wiring, which pipes and which mistakes to expect, so the age is the first thing we ask about. The timeline below is a general guide to Metro Vancouver. It is not a rule, because every house has been altered.
The timeline
- Before about 1920
Early houses and character homes
Old-growth fir framing, stone, brick or early concrete foundations, plaster over wood lath, and single-glazed wood windows. Most have been renovated more than once. Original wiring was knob-and-tube, supply plumbing was galvanized steel, and drains were cast iron or clay.
On inspection: Foundation cracking and movement, sloping floors, wiring and plumbing updates, drain line condition, and how earlier renovations were done.
- 1920s to 1940s
Craftsman and bungalow era
Smaller, lower houses on concrete foundations with cedar siding, lath and plaster, and a basement or crawl space. Knob-and-tube wiring is still common. Many have had an oil furnace at some point, and some still have an oil tank.
On inspection: Remaining knob-and-tube, galvanized pipes, old oil tanks, foundation cracks, basement moisture and roof framing that has been altered.
- 1950s to mid-1960s
Postwar houses and early post-and-beam
Simple bungalows and the first West Coast modern houses, often with exposed beams, large windows and low-slope or flat roofs. Copper supply pipes appear. Electrical services are small by today's standards, and some panels are brands that have since drawn concern.
On inspection: Low-slope roof condition, small electrical services, older panel brands, single-pane glazing, and materials that may need testing before renovation.
- Late 1960s to early 1980s
Vancouver Specials and 1970s houses
Boxy stucco houses on raised main floors, split-levels, and cedar-shake roofs. Aluminum branch wiring turns up in houses from roughly the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. Many Vancouver Specials have an unauthorized or later-added suite downstairs.
On inspection: Aluminum wiring connections, panel brand, how a lower suite was built, roof age, and flat roof or balcony details.
- Mid-1980s to 2000
The wood-frame boom and the leaky condo years
Large volumes of wood-frame housing were built quickly. Walls in many were face-sealed with no drainage gap, and balconies, decks and flat roofs were detailed in ways that let water in. Polybutylene (Poly-B) supply pipe was widely used from about the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.
On inspection: Evidence of envelope remediation, deck and balcony condition, Poly-B piping, and whether repairs were done properly.
- 2000 to today
Rainscreen era and new construction
Rainscreen wall assemblies, PEX piping, heat recovery ventilation and tighter envelopes. Newer homes in BC carry home warranty insurance, with different coverage periods for defects. They still have construction deficiencies, and the first years are when many of them show.
On inspection: Ventilation, window and door installation, drainage at decks, warranty status and what has been claimed or fixed.
Reading the timeline
Dates are approximate and they blur. A house built in 1962 may have wiring from 1925 in the attic because the builder reused part of an older building. A 1998 condo may have been fully remediated and be better than a 2005 one that was not. A renovation can move a house forward a generation in some systems and leave others as they were.
What the timeline is good for is a list of questions.
Questions by decade
Older than 1950. Has the wiring been replaced? Are there remaining knob-and-tube circuits, and where? What are the supply pipes and the drain line made of? What condition is the foundation in, and has it been underpinned or lifted? Was there an oil tank? See oil tanks and old wiring and panels.
1950s to 1960s. What brand is the panel? How big is the service? What is the roof, and how has it been repaired? Are there original windows, and has anything been added to the structure over the years?
1970s and early 1980s. What is the wiring, and is it aluminum? Is there a basement suite, and what is its status? Are the stucco, decks and balconies sound? See Vancouver Specials.
Mid-1980s to 2000. Is there Poly-B? See Poly-B plumbing. Has the building been remediated, and when? What is the condition of the deck and the flat roof? See the leaky condo era.
2000 and later. Is the home warranty still active, and for which coverage? Are there deficiency lists from the builder? How does the ventilation work? Are there any recurring leaks at windows or decks?
The ground matters too
The era is half of the picture. The other half is where the house is.
- Slopes on the North Shore and in parts of Burnaby and Coquitlam change drainage, retaining walls and foundations.
- Low-lying ground in Richmond and along the Fraser has a high water table and soft soils, so floors, slabs and crawl spaces behave differently.
- Older neighbourhoods have older sewer lines, laneways and mature trees with roots.
The areas pages describe the local mix in each city.
What the timeline does not say
It does not say that old is bad or new is good. Plenty of 1920s houses are straight, dry and sound, and plenty of new ones have defects. It also does not say what is wrong with any one house. That takes an inspection.
Using it as a buyer
Write down the era, and read the matching paragraph before the inspection. Tell the inspector the year if you know it, because the date affects what we focus on. After the inspection, check the report against the timeline: if the report is silent about something the era says to look for, ask why.
Using it as an owner
If you own a house from one of these periods, the timeline suggests what to watch and what to budget for. A 1960s house will probably need a panel upgrade for a heat pump. A 1990s house may have Poly-B. A 2000s house may need its decks and windows looked at before the warranty periods end. See new construction and warranty-period inspections.