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When we did our restoration / renovation of our 1928 apartment we quickly learned that you have to fight against the cheap stuff, the cheap work, the cheap materials tooth and claw. Everything today is geared toward cheapness.
From fake wood floors to what feels like styrafoam molding, we fought with contractors, sub contractors, suppliers, etc. to use "real" materials like they did in '28.
We won most of the battles, the parts of the moldings we had to replace are real wood - not styrofoam, not particle board and the one door we made is solid wood and heavy as heck. Also, we got reclaimed glass for our cabinets and reclaimed wood for the kitchen floor. All look and feel great.
We also found a company in Chicago that makes tiles as close to original "1920s sanitary movement" tiles as current safety standards allow - and those tiles look and feel great versus the "sheets" of tile they tried to sell us. But I couldn't win the "don't use dry wall" battle and one bathroom ceiling that had to be replaces and a few parts of walls here and there are dry wall not plaster. At some point, you just can't fight anymore even if you're right, even if it's your money, as the time, energy and effort needed work against you
It drives me nuts when I'm cleaning the walls to go from feeling the heavy, solid, dense plaster walls of '28 to the cheap, garbage, "I could push my hand through it" walls made from dry wall - I hate that stuff.
Overall, we won about 80% of the battles and are happy we did as living in the apartment we can tell the difference. But we learned that every thing is oriented today toward cheap quality and quick installation that will look good at first, but won't last. The entire home renovation / restoration industry is so oriented that way - and to be honest, most of the clients want it that way - that we were outliers that "irritated" those who dealt with us.
And, yes, it costs more to do it our way and I assure you, we are not rich, but do believe that - in most cases - the extra money will pay off in the longevity of the materials. And beyond that, as noted, the real stuff looks (most of time) and feels better.
An old friend in Seattle sunk a bunch of work and money into a 1902-built house that had suffered greatly at the hands of remodelers. Among the craftsmen he hired was a fellow who made new walls look and feel like old walls. Yes, he used drywall, which he perforated and onto which he applied a plaster-like compound. On a curved wall in the corner of an upstairs room he added dyes to the compound which left a lovely streaked effect. Dude knew his stuff. He did walls and walls only.