From: sjackson@medicus.com (Steve Jackson)
Subject: Re: Renovating a 100 yr old home, what's involved?
Organization: Medicus Systems Corporation, Alameda, California
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 23:40:45 GMT

rwc70@duts.ccc.amdahl.com (Robert W Creasy) writes:

>Hello all,
>  I have questions for anyone who has renovated a home that is older than
>60 years of age.  My situation is as follows.  My wife and I are looking
>into purchasing a house that is approx 100 yrs old in the San Jose Ca area
>and are trying to determine what we may be getting ourselves into.

My wife and I bought a 100 year old house in Alameda, CA.

>Specifics:
>- The house seems to be sound structurally, but is rough cosmetically.
>- It has a full concrete foundation and the house is already bolted to it.

You lucky duck.  We're replacing our old brick foundation.

>- New roof.

We'll need a new one soon.

>- No updates have been made to electrical or plumbing systems.

When we bought ours, a DIY had attacked the electrical and plumbing; we have
done some of the plumbing.

>- Very minor termite damage, tented in June 1992.

None for us.  Our mudsills were pretty well rotted, though.

>- *One* window opens.  All others are painted or "settled" shut.

Finally!  One area our house is in better shape than yours.  Of the 17
double hung windows, 6 open, one per room.

>Questions:
>- The Plaster/lathe walls have minor cracks and layers upon layers of wall
>  paper that is peeling in copious amounts.  Would the standard method of
>  repair be to lay drywall over the existing plaster or does this present
>  other problems?

It might change the look of any molding/baseboards.  Our house has 6" wide
molding around the doors and windows, about 1/2" thick.  In the kitchen
they put sheetrock over the old plaster.  Now the molding is almost flush
with the wall.  Looks kinda funny.  We'll undo it.  

We'll either strip off the plaster and put sheetrock on top of the lath,
or take the lath off too, or put up 1/2" plywood and then 1/4" or so
sheetrock (this last one for our shear walls for earthquakes).  Haven't
thought that far ahead, actually.

>- What potential electrical problems might I face?  The existing system
>  has exposed cloth insulated wiring strung between porcelin posts.  How
>  many amps are these systems typically able to handle?  Because the house
>  has a full basement I would be able to rewire the house fairly easily if
>  necessary.

Expect anything and everything.  Hidden junction boxes.  7 sets of wire all
taped together and shoved up into a joist space.  Splices in places that
you wouldn't expect.  Outlets outside, under a sink, right smack at floor
level with no ground.  Lines coming from a fuse box that just... stop...
inside a wall.  No ground.  All the outlets coming from 1-4 circuits.

>- Any idea how much per sq/ft a garage would cost to build as a DYI'er.
>  How about a contractors price?

No idea.

>- Are windows that are stuck closed a real problem to get working again?
>  I know some windows would require replacement of the entire unit.  Some
>  may just need a new window frame built or lots of scraping/planing.

Let me know when you find out!  I have heard that they're easy to unstick.
They sell round, serrated knifes just for this purpose; looks like a
serrated pizza cutter (you know, the ones with a handle and round sharp
wheel you wheel across?).

If you have double hung, expect rotten or non-existant cords.

>- The plumbing seems to be in pretty good shape although it would need to be
>  updated when the kitchen is remodeled.  Here again the basement makes
>  access a breeze.  Anything critical I should worry about?

Venting.  Properly sized supply pipes.  Copper pipe brazed to galvanized
pipe (we had about 4 of these DIY specials!) without a dielectric union.

>What do I need to know and/or worry about that I haven't mentioned?
>All suggestions and answers are greatly appreciated! Either respond to
>the Net or direct.

Is your house level?  Our chimney sank and pulled the house with it.

There are two books put out by some agency in Oakland; they're called
"Retrofit Right" and "Rehab Right".  One is about what energy saving
steps are cost effective, given various scenerios.  The other is about
general fixups (can't remember which is which).  You might want to look
at them.  For general fixups I'd recommend Michael Litchfields book
("Renovation", or something like that).

Finally, (This is my editorial), don't buy the house and try to make
it a modern looking house.  Nothing wrong with updating the mechanical/
structural elements, just don't make it LOOK modern.  If you want a modern
looking house, its easier (and probably cheaper) to just buy a modern
looking house.  It's an old house; respect it.  If you don't, someone down
the line will curse you for ripping out the molding, rearranging the walls,
and removing the little extras!  You probably don't want to live in a
museum (you'll LIVE there, after all, so it has to be useable), so strike
a carefull balance between restoration and updating.


Steve Jackson
sjackson@medicus.com