You have probably heard the phrase repeated, “They don’t build them like the used to.” in the context of homes and other durable goods. Often it’s used to describe a decline in quality over decades or a decline in the skill of the craftsman.

If you drive down one of the old streets in your town, you may see large homes from the 1800’s or early 1900’s and it’s easy to believe that they came from an era when builders had incredible skills and built homes with real materials like wood and brick instead of vinyl and particle board. But consider that these are the homes that are left standing. Most of the homes of that era either fell down or were torn down long ago. I’ve heard some people call this a survivorship bias.

These homes do often reflect excellent craftsmanship in their design and the skill of the builders. But hidden beneath the surface are many factors that may influence our perspective. Most walls were covered with materials that were extremely leaky, and left homes feeling very cold in the winter. Many carpenters used basic rules of thumb when sizing structural elements. Sometimes these elements were undersized and led to sagging floors or roof lines. And the products available for painting, flooring, and insulation were often very limited in selection and contained products like asbestos and lead that were unknown hazards.

So what does it mean to offer craftsmanship as a service provider in our present era?