I do not yet own any hotswap boards, partly because I haven't really bought/built any of the fancy hipster boards to begin with. I see their utility in testing switch types, and especially mixed switch configurations between types and weightings. I very much want at least one for these purposes in the future, although it appears that box jades and navies will do it for me anyway, as far as modern switches are concerned. They're at least good enough to have 4+ boards configured with them and ready for use.
With these boards, I want them all to be bomb proof. With all 5 (so far) I used existing boards that at least had thick aluminum or steel plates, many of which had additional metal reinforcements to the casing of some kind, then 3 of the 5 even had either aviator jacks or 5-pin din jacks modded directly into the casing as well (one is a Unitek K-151L, which already came with beefy 5-pin cables). I desoldered the original useless (to me) switches and soldered the box switches in, because I want them to work for the next 20+ years without any repairs. I'm not sure what concern there would be for cold solder joints ... if you use good quality solder, and solder properly to begin with. I learned early on, with the unpredictability of solder-less original Xbox mod chips, that anything socketed can be toppled by either corrosion over time that eventually impedes electrical conduction, or whatever is connected shifting in its mount in use/transport.
If you know how to properly solder, and have a decent temperature-controlled iron/station and good tips, damaging components should be practically impossible. I can't think of a single time that I have damaged anything by way of heat when soldering, and I have done quite a bit of soldering, for quite a few years before I even got into modding keyboards.
That's it, just clearing the misconceptions/fallacies. Both have their obvious advantages/purposes, and soldering isn't for everyone (although keyboards are amongst the easiest places to start, that are still relevant). If I want something to last, however, and don't plan on ever swapping the switches, I go soldered all the way.
I've wondered this as well, but it seems Pixelpusher's answer covers it.
I somewhat enjoy soldering, but I hate that my initial choice of switches is locked in. Every board I have has different switches because each one was an experiment. The couple of times I've desoldered an entire board, I've ruined a pad. Desoldering isn't very hard, but when you do it to 120-208 pins, you're bound to screw one of them up. It's possible to buy a spare PCB and a spare plate, but that's expensive, and it's really not very convenient to switch out the PCB/Plate assembly in most keyboards.
Basically the only reason I joined the Rama U80-A GB was to have a nice TKL that I could try different stuff on, not because I particularly liked the design itself.
120-208, or 1,000, you should not be lifting pads with the proper technique. Keep any pressure when the solder is not 100% melted to a minimum, and make sure that all solder still fused with both the pins and the pads on the board simultaneously is removed before even attempting to pull the switch. Moderate temperature, you want just enough heat to do the job, and apply it only as long as is necessary. In 5 keyboards, I have lifted a single pad so far. That was with the K-151L, because the Taiwanese board is of the lowest quality I have ever yet seen in a keyboard, even down to the original soldering quality control. I don't think that pad even left the factory fastened at all to anything other than the trace itself.
