Old houses

[Michael Weber]

100 year old house, multiple water supply updates. While downstairs powder room is gutted I was tracing the latest copper pipe upgrade with the idea to at least replace some of the hot water lines to speed deliver to sink taps probably with PEX. Downstairs powder room hot supply to sink is 3/4 inch main trunk, up one wall, across ceiling where it's reduced to 1/2 copper, down the opposite wall and then down into the crawl space :confused: after branching off to the sink. Couldn't figure out why it went back down to the crawl space so investigated this morning. It makes an immediate 90 degree turn back to the main COLD water supply trunk :eek:. Old houses are fun.:rolleyes:

[Doug Garson]

If it has old knob and tube wiring that can be interesting also. Don't forget to be on the outlook for lead in paint and asbestos in insulation in old homes.

[Matt Meiser]

I grew up in an old house. Our first house was also an old house which had been updated a good bit, but still, an old house. I'll stick with new. They "don't make em like they used to" is a mixed bag but the 2 newer houses I've at least had a decent idea what I was getting into on projects.

[Michael Weber]

If it has old knob and tube wiring that can be interesting also. Don't forget to be on the outlook for lead in paint and asbestos in insulation in old homes. Doug, Interesting you should mention knob and tube wiring. Been rewiring with Romex to new circuit box bit by bit, but still had one fuse circuit to the downstairs powder room and hallway/porch light. Got it replaced as part of the powder remodel and spent this morning in the crawl space cutting out most of the old knob and tube. Lots neater. Now to remove the old water lines, some of the gas lines and abandoned ductwork. And yes, I have both lead paint (under other coats) and asbestos paper (since wrapped with fiberglass by PO) lining the original heating ducts that were adapted to the central heating system. I'm removing those as well.

[Jim Becker]

If you can go all PEX, that might be a wonderful thing. Many areas have acidic water and that tends to cause pin-holing with copper pipe a lot. I wanted to do our major addition here with PEX back on 2008 because of this, but at that time, there was an actual local ordinance that required copper. It's since been repealed, but there's no going back now.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

That's what makes old house remodels interesting, and often expensive. You don't know what you are going to find until you open it up and begin!

[Nicholas Lawrence]

I dealt with copper corrosion in a prior house. After looking at all the options we went with CPVC.

[Brian Henderson]

Used to own an old house, built in 1926. Had the knob and tube wiring in the original part of the house, but more modern wiring in the addition put in sometime in the 60s. It was always an adventure to get anything fixed. Some of the walls were plaster and lath, some were drywall. Getting to anything was always a hassle.

[Michael Weber]

Yep, keeps one busy. Not likely to ever finish at the rate I'm going. Plaster and lathe, what a mess to remove. Heavy beyond belief. We have great water here so not worried about corrosion, just want to get hot water to the sinks faster. To help with that I'm thinking of doing a 3/8 PEX direct run to each bathroom sink instead of 1/2. Surely that's big enough for a single bathroom sink.

[Mel Fulks]

And the "we the people place" is no exception. The work on the USA Capitol dome that was recently completed was the
SECOND redo in my lifetime. Haven't heard in mentioned in the news but they did a big one when I was in grammar school. Next one will probably be a complete replacement made of PCV.

[Stephen Tashiro]

. Old houses are fun.:rolleyes:


What was in people's minds in the 40's when they stuck down linoleum floors with now-dreaded black tar "cutback"? Was the idea that any new floor would be laid on top of the old one?

The same question could be asked about mental processes in the 60's when vinyl-asbestos tile was set with black mastic.

Of course, I'm just assuming modern adhesives are less of a challenge for remodellers - maybe they aren't?

[Jim Becker]

The scariest things in "this old house" for me has been how some contractors hired by the previous owner cut away things that could impact structural integrity. I ran into that recently when I was renovating the bathroom upstairs that my older daughter uses. (originally the "master" bath when we moved in here prior to our addition being built) The amount of joists cut away for previous plumbing to the shower that I had to correct was amazing...

[Malcolm Schweizer]

My house was built in 1836. It is solid as a rock. Actually- it IS a rock! Made of stone. My drain pipes were lead- and I do not mean lead soldered- I mean the whole pipe was lead. Beware of any copper that it might be lead soldered.

[Matt Meiser]

The house I grew up in was built in 1860. It was abandoned by 1960 and in a serious state of disrepair. Someone restored it at that time so all the systems were to 1960's standards--grounded copper wiring and all copper, even the sewer lines. Since 2000 my parents did major renovations to put in an updated kitchen and first floor master suite and turning the old first floor bath into a half bath and laundry room, added a mini-split AC system, updated the windows and doors, and more so its not a bad house. But for example putting in the shower they found the floor sloped almost 3" in the area of the shower, in the WRONG direction for any practical approach to drainage so that got messy quick. And there's some funkiness in wiring due in part to it being legal in the 1960's to steal a 110 line from an 220. Recently fried mom's older washing machine that she'd kept around since it still worked and her alarm system which were off 110 outlets tapped off the dryer circuit just taking a broken cover off an outlet that, it turned out, also had a loose wire. You just can't put that smoke back once it comes out.

[Shawn Pixley]

I grew up in an old house. Our first house was also an old house which had been updated a good bit, but still, an old house. I'll stick with new. They "don't make em like they used to" is a mixed bag but the 2 newer houses I've at least had a decent idea what I was getting into on projects.

I agree with you to a point. I hate undoing other's bad renovations / remodels. An old house with good bones that hasn't been mucked up is a good thing, though. Yes, you'll need to re-do the electrical and other elements but you won't have 2-3 scabbed together systems with poor cut-outs for routing through the house.

For our first house, we were lucky to find a 70 year old 1-1/2 story Craftsman Bungalow that hadn't seen but a kitchen remodel in the 60's with solid design, carpentry and plaster work - good bones. It was a lot nicer to restore / rennovate than the others I had done as paid help. Balloon framing is unfun though.

[Brian Elfert]

I seriously considered buying a house built around 1960 which is not all that old, but man did it have problems. The plumbing to the water heater was 3/8" copper tubing. The bathtub drain had been done with plastic irrigation pipe instead of a proper trap. It also had asbestos flooring in numerous places. I think one of the worst parts of the house was the basement stairs that were as steep as a ladder. (You had to use the stairs to get into house from garage.) The HVAC was a good 30 years old and was probably on the way out.

Someone had built about a 10 or 12 foot wide addition on the back with a flat roof. The flat roof had been leaking for some time and the entire addition probably needed to be torn off due to rot. They did a flat roof since they used the roof for a deck/patio.

I decided after that to limit my search to 1979 and newer to avoid the whole asbestos and lead paint era although there is a chance either could have been used for several years after being banned. I found a 1980 house in need of renovation for the same price as the 1960 house, but the 1980 house had far fewer issues.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

It all depends. My experience was pretty much the opposite.

I owned a late 1970s house that was poorly built. For example, when we decided to insulate the attic, I removed all the old blown in insulation, and discovered a layer of craft paper under it, but only within arms reach of the access panel. Turns out the old code required craft paper under the insulation, and the builder saved a dollar or two I am sure by doing it only within arms reach of the access panel, knowing the inspector would not check everywhere. Noticeably less insulation on the far side of the attic as well. You know if they are trying to save pennies like that, the rest of the construction is not that great, and it showed.

In contrast, the late 1950s house I own is very well built. A husband and wife had it built for their family, and I bought it from her. The construction quality is excellent, and it has been very well maintained. The electric needs to be upgraded, but nobody has done anything weird in here.

I think people should pay more attention to construction quality when they are looking at houses, but unfortunately there is poor workmanship in all eras, and the older ones may have suffered poor maintenance as well.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

It all depends. My experience was pretty much the opposite.

I owned a late 1970s house that was poorly built. For example, when we decided to insulate the attic, I removed all the old blown in insulation, and discovered a layer of craft paper under it, but only within arms reach of the access panel. Turns out the old code required craft paper under the insulation, and the builder saved a dollar or two I am sure by doing it only within arms reach of the access panel, knowing the inspector would not check everywhere. Noticeably less insulation on the far side of the attic as well. You know if they are trying to save pennies like that, the rest of the construction is not that great, and it showed.

In contrast, the late 1950s house I own is very well built. A husband and wife had it built for their family, and I bought it from her. The construction quality is excellent, and it has been very well maintained. The electric needs to be upgraded, but nobody has done anything weird in here.

I think people should pay more attention to construction quality when they are looking at houses, but unfortunately there is poor workmanship in all eras, and the older ones may have suffered poor maintenance as well.

It is my personal opinion that around the late '70's is when construction quality started to go down hill. My parents' home was built in the late 1980's and it is pretty horrible. Nowadays it's all about how fast you can throw one up.