You are so right, Jack. I see it every day. I once did work in a 1980's townhouse. If someone were sitting on the 1st fl. toilet, they could actually feel it move when someone walked across the livingroom floor. NONE of the floor joists was attached at either end!
In a 100+ yr old house this summeer, I found, in the corner of a 2nd floor room, "a" 6 x 6 post that was actually 4 randomly dimensioned pieces, aboout 20-30" each, just sitting on top of each other. Not one toenail.
A mid-high-end architect house from the 50's. New addition to the kitchen. Where the new ceiling met the wall, NONE of the drywall had been attached anything. The whole side of the ceiling/wall joint was free-floating.
Far more common and worse: deferred maintenance.
