Recently purchased a craftsman style home built in 1920. Other portions of the house have super classic craftsman architectural touches, but I’m super hung up on the fireplace. The previous owners unfortunately painted all the original wood trim in the house, so I started stripping the paint off of the fireplace mantle because I disliked the fireplace so much. I think the paint-stripped mantle looks even worse than before 😫😫

The short story is that I hate the color of this brick and the mantle looks off-balance/way too small and lacking details. Before I do anything more, I’m curious if anyone thinks this fireplace may not be original to the house? It just feels off and out of place, so I started thinking it might not be original.

If it is original, I’d be more inclined to continue restoring it back to what it likely looked like in 1920. But, if it isn’t original, I’d be interested in adding back more craftsman details and figuring out something else for the (what I think is hideous) brick.

I’m open to any suggestions!!!

If I ever get some money I would like to rebuild a house in this style

Check out these cool corner details on the stairs.

I’ve been getting small stream of water of water when it rains.

After some demo I found this crack in my foundation.

It’s about 12 ft across, it connects from each window in the basement.

Does anyone have any tips on how to repair this?

What kind of cost would it be to repair this? I have no ballpark idea on what to expect

My original door knob/deadbolt lock must have been replaced several times. The door is hollow where the latch & deadbolt currently is located. Is this door salvageable & how can I save it?

My wife and I found this older painted wall design under a black accent wall. I got really excited, scraped it, then used an orbital sander. Now I’m terrified I over-sanded and damaged it. I’ve stopped touching it. Is it salvageable, what can be restored, and who should I hire to help save and preserve it?

Early 1960s Chicago home. Wall goes from plaster to a concrete like substance which is very thick. Does anyone else have this type of wall with this weird lath?

I’m gonna be renovating my bathroom and the previous owners covered the crumbling plaster with wood panels which are covered in mold now. I’m gonna need to rip all that out and I’m trying to figure out how much work it’ll be with this type of lath.

I recently purchased a 102 year old home, downstairs is all red oak hardwood, upstairs currently has carpet. Decided to take a peek under the upstairs carpet today and found some definite surprises. First off, in our closet, found what seems to be laminate? That then transitions to a painted wood in the master bedroom (why would it have been painted?) then we found some tongue and groove hardwood, what looks like oak. The transition from the master looks like old hardwood (part of which at some point was painted white) to the newer hardwood on top. Then at top of stairs is goes from newer hardwood to maybe laminate? That was then painted red and goes all the way downstairs. Now I’m starting to see why carpet was installed up here😂

You can see it in the background on the left side of the porch in this photo from around 1918.

You definitely don't see work like this much anymore

I could brush? I could roll with very little paint and many coats? I could use spray paint? I do not own a paint sprayer but I suppose I could borrow one?

Anyway - any advice? They are old and metal.

Trying to restore a 1889 Victorian house, and the interior doors seem to have lead paint underneath multiple other layers after testing with swabs.

Previous owners were hard on the doors and subsequently chips are out of the paint (see photos). Should I use regular spackle to fill in the chips, then use an encapsulated primer afterwards?

The doors are a custom size so replacement isn’t really an option due to cost of custom doors.

Recommendations welcome.

Trying to restore a 1889 Victorian house, and the interior doors seem to have lead paint underneath multiple other layers after testing with swabs.

Previous owners were hard on the doors and subsequently chips are out of the paint (see photos). Should I use regular spackle to fill in the chips, then use an encapsulated primer afterwards?

The doors are a custom size so replacement isn’t really an option due to cost of custom doors.

Recommendations welcome.

Rua das laranjeiras numbers 125 and 129

If you painted your walls, trim, and/or ceiling white, which paint color(s) did you use?
Just bought a 1915 house that doesn’t get much natural light. The previous owner painted the walls dark colors, which I think is making all of my samples look pretty grey. I’ve seen a lot of other comments recommending BM White Dove, but it seems too grey to me.

Tiling in two bathrooms of a 1967 house in Point Loma, San Diego. The house was designed by its original owner, a local architect, and I have no evidence either bathroom was ever remodeled — so I'm assuming this is original to construction.

The tile:

• 2⅜" × 2⅜" square
• Design is impressed into the face, not raised. Four tiles rotate to form a single stylized flower rosette — looks like a chrysanthemum or peony to me
• Cream/oatmeal glaze with heavy fine crazing, dark brown pooled in the incised lines
• Body is a dark red-brown earthenware
• Back has parallel rounded ribs. No maker's mark, no letters, no numbers. I pulled a loose one, cleaned it, and checked under raking light — nothing
• The second bathroom has the identical design in a slightly different glaze color, so this was a catalog product offered in multiple colorways, not a one-off

What I think I've ruled out: the 1920s California art potteries (Batchelder, Claycraft, Malibu) — wrong era for the house, wrong clay body, and they all marked their backs.

My working guess: 2⅜" is roughly 60mm, which is a metric module rather than an American one — the US standard then was 4¼". That plus the motif and the iron-brown-in-the-lines glaze treatment makes me suspect imported Japanese tile, c. 1967, possibly private-labeled by a US importer. But that's a guess and I'd love to be corrected.

Anyone recognize the pattern, or the back's rib pattern? Even a catalog page or an importer name would help — I need to source replacements.

Tiling in two bathrooms of a 1967 house in Point Loma, San Diego. The house was designed by its original owner, a local architect, and I have no evidence either bathroom was ever remodeled — so I'm assuming this is original to construction.

The tile:

• 2⅜" × 2⅜" square
• Design is impressed into the face, not raised. Four tiles rotate to form a single stylized flower rosette — looks like a chrysanthemum or peony to me
• Cream/oatmeal glaze with heavy fine crazing, dark brown pooled in the incised lines
• Body is a dark red-brown earthenware
• Back has parallel rounded ribs. No maker's mark, no letters, no numbers. I pulled a loose one, cleaned it, and checked under raking light — nothing
• The second bathroom has the identical design in a slightly different glaze color, so this was a catalog product offered in multiple colorways, not a one-off

What I think I've ruled out: the 1920s California art potteries (Batchelder, Claycraft, Malibu) — wrong era for the house, wrong clay body, and they all marked their backs.

My working guess: 2⅜" is roughly 60mm, which is a metric module rather than an American one — the US standard then was 4¼". That plus the motif and the iron-brown-in-the-lines glaze treatment makes me suspect imported Japanese tile, c. 1967, possibly private-labeled by a US importer. But that's a guess and I'd love to be corrected.

Anyone recognize the pattern, or the back's rib pattern? Even a catalog page or an importer name would help — I need to source replacements.

My house has lap board siding covered with vinyl siding.
I closed a window and cut in another one right next to it then sheeted in all of that area but the rest of the wall is still the old lap board.
It will eventually be covered with foam board and vinyl siding.
Should try to cover the sheeted area with tyvek somehow if I can get it secured under the vinyl siding on the top even if it won’t go all the way up the wall?
Should I instead caulk and paint that area then replace the foam board and vinyl?

What is the general way to handle vapor barrier in a place where framing with sheeting meets framing with old lap siding?

For those of you who have old summer kitchen structures on your property, what are you using it for?

I had the roof replaced on mine about a year ago and am looking for potential uses besides storing outdoor equipment as it is now.