IMM wrote:

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
et...
Really ? You ain't seen the joists in this 100 year old tenement we now
live in. They're almost like someone has just slightly squared off the
trunk of the trees and laid floor boards over them.

I'm not familiar with tenement houses. However, round here, Victorian and
Edwardian terraces are common. The joists certainly don't look
substantially
thicker than that used in modern construction.

Having installed heating in many types of houses, new homes I find have
better timbers than Victorian houses. Many Victorian houses were Jerry
built, as the recent Grand Designs TV programme highlighted.

"Jerry" must have been doing something right though, since they are
still standing a century later