Does anyone know why they left half the basement not dug out?
I want to dig out a section and see how deep the foundation goes. I’d like to poor a slab and semi finished the space
It’s 200 sqft in the front of the house that would be nice if finished.
Am I wasting my time?
I'm trying to reglaze and repair this original 1904 window. While doing so, I noticed that there's a huge gap between the 1980s era storm windows and the sill, probably from the house settling. It's a pretty narrow gap on the left, but gets worse to the right.
What's the best way to resolve it semi-temporarily, and preferably before Friday afternoon (because reasons)? Is using some of my glazing putty a dumb idea?
Additional context:
We just had everything in the basement reinforced and (slightly) leveled, so there shouldn't be any further settling.
I intend to get new storm windows eventually but that's a project for the future, I just spent all my money on the basement (see #1).
This is a third floor North facing window.
It's a historic home, but the preservation society only cares about the aesthetics and not the materials. (I assume the storms were grandfathered in or something)
Has anyone dealt with a historic commission denying a renovation/addition primarily over massing?
We’re renovating a historic home and proposed a rear addition. The plans comply with the applicable guidelines/code, but the commission denied the proposal based largely on concerns about the overall massing/scale of the addition.
I’m curious if anyone here has been through something similar. If so- Were you able to get approval by revising the massing without completely redesigning the project?
10 is fucked. Previous owner did the addition himself. How would one cover this up?
This is in a Brooklyn brownstone. This would be in the master bedroom. If we preserve it, the upper floor hallway would only be about 29” wide (for floor plan reasons). Otherwise we’d have a 36” hallway. I’m very torn about this! Last photo is another house on the block with the same design - they decided to keep their arch so something like that is what we’d have.
EDIT: here is a link (https://imgur.com/a/ne506WQ) with floor plans and such, including our drawings of different alternatives. Also a photo of a house interior hallway on the same block that would be the same width as our hallway if we keep the arch. Keep in mind that we’d like a side ‘hotel style’ entrance for the en suite bathroom which is also affecting our decision a bit. I’ve also added a photo of an original (I think) fireplace that would be in our master bedroom but that the architect says we should get rid of because it messes with the placement of the furniture. Any thoughts as to how to keep it without it being awkward? Its placement is in the floor plan pictures.
My wife and I bought this 1920 house in Everett, WA, a city on the I-5 corridor 30 miles north of Seattle, in 2014. We purchased it with the intent of remodeling it. The house needed a lot of work. Didn't really know what we were getting into.
is arson difficult to prove asking for a friend
I’m renovating my bathroom and the irregular spacing of the studs is driving me bananas. The studs are 2” wide and the spaces between each ranges from 2-14”
Blue painters tape marks the studs
The pain we experienced trying to find studs to hang the new kitchen cabinets now makes sense.
Does anyone have any experience with this?
Also, any intel on the general era of the shower and floor tile? (See photo in comments). I do not believe the current tiles, beadboard and medicine cabinet were original, while the cast iron tub seems like it is. I want to go back with some more traditional hex floor tile, subway walls and keep the tub.
cost:
- ~12k for 39 windows shipping incl.
- 8.5k for installation where they removed the old storms, scrapped the window boxes, primed with lead binding primer, painted and then installed the new windows
The new storm windows replaced the rough looking 70s(purely guessing from how bad they looked) storm windows.
Besides Quantapanel I also got a quote from Mon-Ray. Their quote was out of my price range. I also briefly looked into getting European style tilt & turn windows but the cost and logistics of getting them installed was more than I wanted to handle.
It was very easy to order directly from Quantapanel. I’m not too far from them which probably kept the shipping cost low. I got the quote about a year and a half ago and finally pulled the trigger after one price increase. The windows were manufactured within the lead time they told me and were delivered a week later.
After installation, I’ve noticed reduced noise level and they seem to keep the west-facing sunroom at a bearable temperature when it used to become an oven every afternoon. Now I just gotta teach myself how to restore the wood windows 😅
Anyways, I figured I’d give my review since i was looking for them when I was looking into replacing my old windows. If anyone finds this post in the future, feel free to dm me to ask questions.
I know this isn’t the best picture - sorry! About to move into our new home, built 1913, and the landlord mentioned this nook in the kitchen was previously meant for the fridge. I’m having trouble finding what it’s called online, and wondering what others would do with this space!
I have a 1920s craftsman in Texas. The house sits on its original mesquite log piers, original wood floors, and has thick shiplap behind the wall drywall and ceiling drywall. The attic is so cool! Minus the lack of insulation 😂, I’d love to convert this into a finished “storage” space. The height is 6 feet from top of floor joints to bottom of roof rafters at its highest point, so I know it won’t meet the minimum code height as a habitable space. It already has electrical outlets (modern). The attached photos show most of the space. Has anyone ever done this type of conversion? Thoughts? Would love to use the space (even if just the central part) and I think it could be really cozy, especially if I built a ladder or spiral staircase up to it.
Edit: As others have mentioned, floor joists would need to be upgraded to meet weight load. Adding that and floor plus the loss of height at the ceiling would probably make the vertical space closer to 5’. Thanks y’all for the comments!
We are in the middle of our mostly DIY kitchen renovation and I was just starting to feel burnt out when my house offered up this little gift! A much needed reminder as to WHY we’ve made the commitment to a century home. This was found behind the lath in one of the kitchen walls.
I just spent some time with my mother diligently organizing, cleaning, and repairing this home which has been in our family for 4 generations as we prepare to sell it. It was originally built during the roaring Twenties, when cars were transforming American life and Smithfield was emerging as a thriving commercial center.
Later after becoming a part of my family, it became known as the Sanders-Stallings House. People in the town call it a storybook cottage. 😁 We are sad about selling it, but none of the younger generation of my family wants to live in this area. It feels bittersweet to see it polished up after all of our work.
Our house is from 1924 and still has the original wood siding. Every few years, we fix a few bad spots, repaint it, and then eventually find more boards starting to rot.
I really like how the original siding looks, but I’m getting tired of constantly repairing it.
For anyone with an older house, when did you decide it made more sense to replace the siding instead of keep fixing it?
Hi folks,
I have a 1923 Dutch Colonial Revival and am looking to insulate the the roof of a semi-finished walk-up attic. The basic facts:
The rafters are not to modern thickness, so batting will not provide sufficient R value. Everyone we've talked to says closed cell spray foam. I don't love _adding_ more plastic to my house and I especially don't love how it's effectively impossible to undo. We're a BIFL/low-consumption/energy efficient household and care more about doing things "the right way" than short-term gain; sometimes these goals work together and sometimes we need to compromise. I'm finally coming around to CC spray foam being the right call, but wanted to get a sense of any issues people have had with it, especially if you have a similar setup.
Thanks!
EDIT: I'm looking for your specific stories for CC foam directly on the roofdeck of a century home with similar characteristics, not advice about CC in general (there's plenty of that available on the internet at large). The specific combination of factors is unusual in my area.
TLDR, sorry for the wall of text, I'm bad at summarizing my thoughts on here. But there is probably lead paint in my house and I want actual advice on how to remove it or test it without hurting my pets and hurting my chances at selling in the future.
I've searched every thread and article about this and I'm sure people are sick of talking about it, but I feel like every thread just keeps saying the same thing.
"Well if its not peeling leave it alone and don't eat it"
Every thread is just people giving absolutely no real advice and I would like some help if anyone has ideas.
Just moved into a 1926 home with landlord special paint covering every surface. We are grateful that most of the house is in good condition and we would love to try and renovate and get it back to its historical charm, which means getting the white paint off the walls, doors, hardware, trim, and baseboards. I'm not great at making these posts concise so I'm gonna try to list my questions below.
Thanks for the help if you made it this far.
Hi all, I just moved into 106 years old house and there are lot of spots where paints are peeling.
What are my options? If you have experienced this issue please let me know if you found affordable way.
Thanks
This past winter I bought an 1889 Greek revival in zone 5b (heavy winters). First time homeowner and I am in love with the house. These wide plank wood floors are possibly original and aside from a few splits are in good shape. But there is nothing underneath them. Literally can see the basement floor through a knothole. Since I moved during the winter I just closed this room for the season and focused on the rest of the house.
This summer I added the wood burning insert in the photo and plan to use the room this winter. But all the heat just disappears through the floors. Contractors and handy folk are hard to come by here and the good ones stay booked. It’s very very rural so there just aren’t that many people to begin with.
I could use some advice or suggestions on ways that I (with just basic skills/common sense) can add some insulation under these floors. Thanks in advance!
