I must be INSANE!!

I just bought a 105 year old house! : I got the loan approval, then lowballed the owner...and they bit! Now I have a house that needs ...just a little ( seriously) work ...really...not much, and this place could be an absolute showplace!

Here is a front pic of my old-new "nut house." Good structure...sound. Clean walls. Original windows, stair rails, fireplaces (4) all intact with original masonry--they have been copper capped, so no fire. There was a remodel in the 80's when the second owner\family re-plumbed and rewired, so that all seems to be working properly too. I need to "complete" a half bath to full. The entire house has new carpet,so that is coming out eventually...I'm hoping there is some good hardwood underneath; the porevious owner said there was...Oak? Maybe American Chestnut even!
How crazy am I for buying this house!?!? I bet I get certification papers soon. But in the meantime, I will be asking questions about replacing the porch ceiling, installing gas logs, new kitchen counter tops, COMPLETE bathroom makeover, etc.....

Really nice looking house. I'm looking forward to seeing your projects.

You might be nuts but so are the rest of us here so you will feel right at home.

Place looks to be in great shape. I bought an 1875 charmer a couple years ago and we love it after a solid year of work that is. Yours looks move in ready with just some projects so it shouldn’t be bad at all.

Welcome to the forum.

I really do not think it will be a bad remodel...paint mostly. I want to get some good hardwood in OR reveal the original hardwood. The first project will probably getting some window inserts; the house still has the single pane original glass, so ...not wintertime friendly. And the other stuff I will get too in time with a HELOC. ie: bath remodel, kitchen countertops. I got a steal on the house...and I mean a steal....so my biggest worry right now is making sure I can keep the utilities low...this place is 3300sf...combine that with the single pane and my consumption could get out of hand fast. All in all...this house is in fact, move in ready and habitable...I could stay here for years without doing a thing....well, I do want a car port/storage...the house has no out buildings at all....

I found this out building on line, and really like the functionality ( painted white of course) I wonder what this might run in materials ? $5000?

All I did pretty much for the last 15 years before I gave it up was work on 100 plus year old houses.
We had a saying, "Only thing that works in an old house is the owner."
Sounds like you got lucky on the plumbing and wiring being redone, that can get expencive real quick.
Some things that I would be looking into is how much insulation is in those walls, and the attic.
Have they been air sealed?
Is it balloon wall constrution, if so have the walls been fire blocked top and bottom?
Check out those window sills and trim for rot around the area where the porch roof meets the walls. The splash back and lack of flashing in that area is often a big issue.

joecaption said:

All I did pretty much for the last 15 years before I gave it up was work on 100 plus year old houses.
We had a saying, "Only thing that works in an old house is the owner."
Sounds like you got lucky on the plumbing and wiring being redone, that can get expencive real quick.
Some things that I would be looking into is how much insulation is in those walls, and the attic.
Have they been air sealed?
Is it balloon wall constrution, if so have the walls been fire blocked top and bottom?
Check out those window sills and trim for rot around the area where the porch roof meets the walls. The splash back and lack of flashing in that area is often a big issue.

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the insulation is a biggie for me...I work for a utility company and see nightmares from old home owners. Luckily Georgia Power has a rebate program for new insulation...I think it is about 100% too, so Iwill be looking into the insulation pretty quick.
I know ZERO about the definition of balloon construction and fire blocking on the walls. Saqme with air sealing. I am pure green brother. I just know enough about flooring to get into trouble
Windows seem to be in great shape, and same goes for the roof on the porch and main roof. New shingles ( less than 5 YO) and new tin roof on main roof...so I think I am in high cotton there.

Balloon framing is likely what you have. The studs are full height of the building with the floors hung off of them in some fashion, much different than todays houses which have a floor built on top of walls and then the next walls sit on the floor. The new stykle is called platform framing.
Anyway the fire stopping is an attempt to slow a fire from traveling from one floor to the next. In balloon framing there is an open hole between the studs in the basement so a fire there can run up inside the wall to the next floor and depending on how they build the ceiling on the top floor it may be open to the attic.
So if you have access to any of these holes in the basement, attic or if you open walls in the main floor you always want to include plugging holes in any work you are doing there.

If we have to do this in new house we just but in a block of 2x4 before the drywall goes in but in your case the 2x4 will actually be closer to a full 2" so you have to get bigger wood and rip it to fit .
Hope that is helpfull.

Not only fire but the walls act like a natural chimney.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Bal...qoMXatsgCFQUYPgodKUUK1A#imgrc=oAysJ9N_s1BtBM:
You'll feel cold air coming out of the outlets if there's no fire blocking.

I will have to inspect it a little closer once we get in. The house does not have a basement,so I can't work from the bottom...I will have to check from the attic I guess. The other concern I have is the subfloor, or lack of one...I would be willing to bet there isn't much of one and I know that would/will lead to more air coming in...I wonder if I can kill two birds with one stone so to speak and fireblock the second floor while updating the subfloor? I have one room that has a good bit of floor bounce that HAS to be reinforced with new joist-sistering, so I may be able to check the fire blocking when I update that......I am really starting to turn this house into a construction zone quick...I might ought to slow down some.:rofl:

You do want to develope a plan. List all, I wants, I needs and I have to do even if I don't want to. And then try to put them in order and if you can plan on when you open a wall or floor for something there may be home work that can be done for something else on the list.

You do have to be carefull of upgrading without understanding how things work. Like if you have no rot around the windows and we can be sure that they have been wet over the years, they have dried out because of venting and as we bring things in to newer practice we sometimes cause problems.

Mostly what you want to do is a whole lot of inspecting and when you own the place you can cut holes in things ands have a look and take guess work out of jobs, instead of surprizes that take more time and money than was planned for.

nealtw said:

You do want to develope a plan. List all, I wants, I needs and I have to do even if I don't want to. And then try to put them in order and if you can plan on when you open a wall or floor for something there may be home work that can be done for something else on the list.

You do have to be carefull of upgrading without understanding how things work. Like if you have no rot around the windows and we can be sure that they have been wet over the years, they have dried out because of venting and as we bring things in to newer practice we sometimes cause problems.

Mostly what you want to do is a whole lot of inspecting and when you own the place you can cut holes in things ands have a look and take guess work out of jobs, instead of surprizes that take more time and money than was planned for.

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Good advice for any new homeowner. Worth repeating.:beer:

slownsteady said:

Good advice for any new homeowner. Worth repeating.:beer:

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I forgot to mention the book of photos and permits and inspection sheets. A complete history of what is being done and why is a great sales aid when so many people flip houses only fixing what you can see. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to go thru that book and see what has been done be preveous owners.

nealtw said:

I forgot to mention the book of photos and permits and inspection sheets. A complete history of what is being done and why is a great sales aid when so many people flip houses only fixing what you can see. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to go thru that book and see what has been done be preveous owners.

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I really like the idea of this. But unless you do everything by code and to Mfr spec, it could be a liability.

You would be more carefull on how you do things and you could demand more for the house.
Two houses nice and fixed up, one with a good story and one with a good book, even with a few built in mistakes, which would you buy?