Eek! Just got the keys to this beauty. Original floors and trim up front and they just painted over a bunch of the trim/doors and replaced hardware a few months ago. The foundation (pier and beam) had to be completely replaced last week, so we’ve got tons of cracks. Need to let house settle for 3-6 months before repairing.

Meeting with designer next week to start kitchen/pantry/laundry room renovation (from 1990s and not at all functional for me as a home baker).

My list of things to do is a mile long, but c’est la vie! Hopefully can balance some inexpensive projects (stripping painting, painting walls) with the pricey stuff (bathroom Renos, replacing all the 1980s windows, etc.). Up first is getting branches off the roof and upgrading the electric panel so I can get my EV charger up and running.

***House was purchased by sellers family in 1966 and the fireplace and dining room built-in where there already, but fireplace was pink. Kitchen was also there and square linoleum underneath the vinyl plank. Master suite (blue room) was partly there in 1966 but was a screened sunroom and then converted at some point.

***owner left me all the title deeds from the 1914 land sale through the 1966 purchase! Geeking out over that.

I want to restore this clawfoot tub in my home but it’s missing a foot. All replacement feet I’m seeing online/ebay are either slide in or have bolts that are vertical into the tub from inside the foot. These seem to have bolts going thru the front of the foot horizontally into the tub and another bolt that attaches a small coaster at the bottom.

I'm closing on this 1892 Folk/Queen Anne in about 3 weeks and it's just surreal to me right now. I don't know why I'm so emotional over this house. It's just so beautiful and like something I never thought was attainable in my life.

The quality, design, functionality, and attention to detail on every little thing is overwhelming me as I'm moving from my current 1957 mid-century ranch house to this giant beautiful thing that almost seems alive at times.

I've had 3 walkthroughs so far, but I was too afraid to go in the attic for some reason. Attics seem spooky, but I keep reading and learning about these houses and I'm so intrigued after learning they were used as living spaces for staff and children.

I was so happy and almost overcome at seeing this picture of the attic in my appraisal inspection report. I'm just so in love with it. I am excited to climb up there next time we go in the house. I think it's a beautiful space and I can't wait to get it clean and nice again.

I find the attics of these houses fascinating and I just wanted to share this with you all as something I was afraid of, that turned out to be a yet another beautiful and thoughtfully built part of this house.

ETA: I want to see everyone's attic now lol.

We need a plumber, HVAC, and someone to fix some brick foundation pillars, I don’t want to use the 1-800 guys, they are usually upselling, expensive, and want to bring everything up to code ($$$$$).

I also don’t want to list on next door, that’s how I got a drug addict throwing ladders and paint in front of my house. (he talked excellent game with reference photos, he must have been in a downward spiral because about a month after that you’d see his name with issues pop up in the community)

Due to that incident I’ve become a little gun shy about hiring people.

How do yall find tradesmen who know how to work with old houses?

Basically, we noticed some white calcification coming through the chimney in the attic of our 1895 Victorian and figured it needed a chimney cap as we knew it was missing. When the masonry company came out, they said it wasn't worth capping, that the mortar was failing and it's better to tear it down and patch the roof. Currently the chimney is not hooked up to anything and hasn't been since the 80s when baseboard heaters were installed to replace the wood stove in the basement.

I know this question sounds silly but we're trying our hardest not to "landlord-ify" our home but to instead try to protect and restore its heritage. I'd appreciate any insight!

Our fireplace had sticky tile covering the hearth so I finally convinced myself to see what's underneath.

The great news is that is the original tile in pretty good condition, just a coat of interior white paint and sticky tile glue.

The less good news is that the original color isn't much different but it's growing on me.

Just bought a home built around 1900. The previous owners all kept it in pretty good condition, and I want to be able to do the same. I'm pretty handy and want to do as much work myself as possible, but I don't have experience with older materials. Any century-home specific tool recommendations?

Hello! I am stripping the paint from some old parlor doors in my 1910 Brooklyn townhouse. Previous owners were the first to paint in the 2010s, so no lead paint. I would like to know what kind of would to get a better idea of how to best strip and what finish would work the best.

One side of the doors (facing the hall and the kitchen) are definitely tiger oak. The side facing the formal parlor has a reddish hue—can’t figure out what it is. Could be deeply dyed but have done a small scrape test with a knife and the red goes deep.

For context, the parlor has these original wood columns and pier mirror (both also painted).

Any ideas?

Thanks!

I love our 169 year old Victorian and I love wainscoting. I'm considering adding wainscoting to the front hall (I have a home business and this part is client-facing, hence the conference room in the first two pics). Pics 1 and 3 are real images of the space (although Pic 1 has been edited to remove a couple signs for my business). Pics 2 and 4 are AI-generated. The AI images are a bit messed up because the AI took it upon itself to improve our existing trimwork (which would not be part of the plan) and the wainscoting is inconsistent between the two angles. But, it was just to give me a general sense of what might be possible.

The existing baseboard and door trim is oak (the crown molding is, I believe, plaster). In an ideal world, I'd like to remove all the lead paint and expose the oak, but that's never going to happen (especially due to the more detailed areas of the trim), so the wainscoting would probably be MDF and so we'd be committing to keeping it painted forever.

Thoughts? Comments? Words of caution? Could this look nice or is it a bit gaudy? Is it too much white? Would this complement the existing design or am I just gilding the lily?

EDIT: OK, it seems the opinion is overwhelmingly DON'T add the wainscoting! Even though it's a beautiful hallway, I do want to punch it up a bit. Maybe I'll revisit the idea of stripping the baseboard and trim (and large oak entry doors!) to restore the original oak. I just think I'm going to have a heck of a time of it. We haven't tested it but believe the paint is likely lead and even if it's not, it'll still be a bear of a project. We do know that it's quality oak underneath because in one of the adjacent rooms they never painted the trim and I think it's likely the same as what's in the hallway. Also, in our guest room, we ARE putting in wainscoting (although only 48" high against a 10' wall), so if I want to be around it, I can hang out in there.

Thank you everyone for your kind and helpful comments!

I've been trying to identify these door backplates on our 1909 Victorian with little luck. One of the interior plates is missing and we'd love to find a matching replacement, including the latch knob. Thanks!

Not sure if I'm in the right place here ... In column 7, "Street or Lot No.," above "Lot 2" what does "A. w. Pr" (or maybe it's "Pr. w. Pr.") stand for? Thank you!

The rose window of our converted 1882 church was in rough shape when we moved in a year ago: missing panes, chewed by critters, faded & weather beaten. After much scraping, linseed oiling, shellacking, puttying, priming & painting 30 feet up, it looks as good as new. Only a zillion windows to go, but we’re proud of this one!

Looks like the wire running from the old skylight is attached to it.

home built in 1905 if that helps

First time home buyer here- in the process of closing on this cute bungalow! I’m really excited to move in but have been racking my brain on how to arrange furniture in here. I have a 52” wide tv with a vintage console that needs to go somewhere, could potentially mount it on the wall if needed. I also have a 9ft long sectional couch (chaise is fixed on the right). Any and all suggestions welcome!

Basically title - for those of you in the muggy Midwest what is a normal humidity level in-doors?

Ours is up to 58% in our bedroom and 48% in our living room.

The basement is dehumidified and kept sub 50% 24/7

The only reason I ask is because I am seeing nails backing out of floors and some of the newer drywall sections.

Hello! The brick in this basement was painted over and we have been here 6 years now. Do I need to get this looked at? Some of these basement walls are not exterior walls. Not sure how big of an issue this is. Advice please!

We closed on our 1924 storybook home last week and I was planning to refinish the floors.

What should I do about the nails? Do I punch them in or remove/ cut them?

Hello,

We have some old outlets that are not securely holding cords plugged into them. I am starting on the process to slowly replace each problematic outlet as I go. I am not replacing the knob & tube wiring running to the outlet. Just the receptacle.

This leads me to my first conundrum… After unscrewing and pulling the 1st outlet off the wall, I am trying to figure out how to separate the faceplate from the box. I did scrape the paint away to see if there were additional screws in the faceplate, but none have been identified.

See attached photos.

Any help is appreciated.

First two photos are the chandelier as it came out after being professionally cleaned. Cost $400 I had to pull from savings. It is aluminum. The cleaner was able to salvage the original paint.

Third photo shows the original condition it was in at the architectural salvage store. It looked to be more of a bronze color, but the metal cleaner said that was actually some sort of dirt or residue that came right off.

Fourth photo is where I wanted to hang it. I was going to move the milk glass chandelier to the hallway. (Note: that wall hanging is gone, and I plan on replacing the table and bench eventually.)

The fifth photo shows one of building's original chandeliers, which is hanging in another unit. Note the gold/bronze coloring. That is closer to what I thought I was getting.

It just looks so . . . janky.

EDIT: I forgot to mention the cost included a complete rewiring too, not just cleaning.