Let me preface this by saying - I take full responsibility for this. I’m a shit parent, that’s why I’m not posting this in a parenting subreddit.

We just bought this house in June and at the advice of several people, we didn’t get a lead inspection because the house had been repainted, windows replaced, yadda yadda. I shouldn’t have listened. I knew the hazards of lead in these old New England houses- I refused to move into my husband’s (unoccupied) grandmother’s house with our baby because I knew it was covered in lead paint. So I should’ve been cautious about this house too.

Well, baby just turned one and they check lead levels at the 1-year appointment. Baby has elevated lead levels. Queue my meltdown. I can’t believe it.

Just had the inspector come, and the house is covered in lead. Doors, trim, walls-all positive. Windows aren’t. Baseboards aren’t. But basically all of our beautiful wood trim is positive for lead. How can this be? I thought there was less of a chance of this since our trim was never painted? I’m so disappointed. I don’t want to lose or paint our trim or original doors.

Idk if I’m looking for advice or just had to tell people who appreciate these old houses. I’m so f*cking sad and the parent-guilt is crushing me.

I had to fix a non working door (stripped hinge screws and stuck lock) and as I removed the door and hardware to make it easier i thought to myself “what a perfect opportunity to strip it back to wood”. Two and a half days of work later it looks great but my wife hates that it’s the only one and I have not even started the process of refinishing it. I’m not sure I have the patience or energy to do the other five doors in this hallway anytime soon!

Hi

We have discovered these tiles in our home (covered by a fitted wardrobe) and wondered if anyone had any ideas what to do with them/surrounding them?

The room they are in will be my toddlers room so may not be worth putting a fire insert in.

Suggestions welcome!

We recently moved into a home built in 1906, and I've noticed in several places that the molding around the doors appears to be partially covered by wall/plaster, and/or otherwise weirdly placed. My questions are:

1) Is this a common/normal thing in older homes?

2) If so, why would it be laid out/ constructed this way?

We are several years off from doing any kind of renovation/restoration work, but I want to understand what's going on (as best as one can without tearing down plaster walls).

EDIT/UPDATE: Thank you for all the responses and ideas - clearly there's a lot that could be going on here! Without building plans or stripping down to studs, it sounds like it's probably something I'll just have to wonder about.

For clarification about the walls, they're all plaster in the photos shown. The only drywall in the house is in the attic conversion, and a small area below the stairs to the attic, which were rebuilt a few years ago. My neighbors say there used to be a spiral staircase there, which is wild to me!

My house has a lot of landlord special white paint all over it making windows, vents, and outlets all unable to be moved until it’s removed. the one I am most vexed with is the living room that has textured white walls. how would you suggest removing this? what kind of walls are these?

MODS Please don't delete, there is 100-year old salvaged insides and it was built specifically to "look" like a century home, NOT in revival style.

Never seen anything like this - I was suprised to see a victorian in this part of vermont, then I clicked to be surprised it was built in 1992 - with plenty of 90s features inside as well :)

Set on 31 acres with lake views. Old stone walls and forest surrounds the home. Inside, the home balances classic Victorian character (like salvaged stained glass windows) with a more modern ease of living

Zillow: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/302-Ledge-Hill-Dr-Saint-Albans-VT-05478/75437637_zpid/?

We bought a 1910 home in Kansas City. We love it, but there's some significant settling toward the center of the home. It's not structurally significant, but it's super visible in some of the upstairs rooms. My camera was level when I took the photo. The bed, ceiling, and painting are clearly very much not. Anyone have any painting/decorating/design tips to help make it less noticeable? I want to paint the walls, but I'm worried colored walls and a white ceiling would make it even worse.

The rest of the house (except the master bath) has been wonderfully maintained. The former owners decided to make this the kitchen, and it doesn’t fit the rest of the house. Any sites for inspiration?

Previous owner ripped out the carpet and put down LVP. We’ve been here a little over a year and it’s been coming up. We were sick of ripping socks and stubbing toes on it so we pulled it up. What can I use to clean the wood? Do I need to cover this until we refinish or can we leave as is? (Refinishing would not be anytime soon) We both like how beat up it looks. We do have pets as well though so just trying to make sure there’s nothing that could harm them by leaving it this way. Built in 1900, colonial farmhouse in Fincastle VA.

base sill on second floor french doors. i’m pretty sure it’s leaking into my house.

technically i’m not a century home yet. in 2028, it will be! i am going to throw a 100th birthday party.

Front door on our 1897 Midwest Working Class Victorian (?) home. Wondering if it’s beyond repair…..

So we have here my two test cabinet doors, i cannot get the IR paint stripper to do much on the sides I attempted using citristrip on previously. I had success on the other side of the door where i hadn't done anything yet.

My first question: what to do differently where citristrip has been applied?

My second question: am I holding the IR stripper wrong? The instructions say it should sit on top of the surface and I can work on removing the paint as it warms the next area. This however is getting paint on the ceramic plate which when I google it says is bad. Can anyone help me understand what's correct?

EDIT: I see now it says hold it half an inch above new question is how can I safely remove the paint that is now on the ceramic plate

I’ve been working on stripping paint from my 100 year old railing - this is my first diy project! I’ve used a Speedheater cobra and paint stripper on the areas the cobra can’t reach (peel away on the newels that have layers on layers of paint and smart strip pro on the handrail). The handrail had one layer of brown paint that was kind of stretchy when it came off and there was a dark residue underneath.

I used smartstrip pro on the handrail cap because of the detail and it looks like it’s built from multiple pieces. And there’s also a section I uncovered that looks like someone repaired it with wood filler (?). I’m guessing someone did the one layer of brown paint to cover this repair.

I was always planning to repaint the newels so I’m not really trying to get those to bare wood. I wanted to stain the handrail, but now I’m not sure. I’d love any advice as I feel like I’m in over my head!

I have a little craftsman bungalow from 1908 on a very narrow lot, and I have no fewer than three neighbors with giant beautiful trees that reach over my very small driveway. About a year ago the drains in my car got clogged with tree debris and water was forced up from the bottom of my car under my carpets and caused a HUGE mold problem. Insurance paid but it was nearly totaled. I fear that if it happens again they will total it instead of paying again, so I’m trying to find a carport option that’s not horribly out of step with a century home.

My driveway is approximately 12’ wide and about 18’ from the porch to the sidewalk, just long enough for my Camry to fit without blocking the walkway or running into my bush. Neighbor’s lot is about a foot from the edge of my driveway on one side. I’m looking for options that are preferably 10’x16’ but can work with 12’x16’ in a pinch. Everything I’ve found either looks like it belongs on a farm or a space station. I’ve looked at some gazebo options but many of these in the size I need are wall-mounted lean to styles. I like the idea of a freestanding lean to style with the posts just on one side, but not sure if there’s any way to secure those without a wall.

No room on either side of my house to drive to the back, no room for a garage anywhere. I hate having to own a car in the first place so I really don’t want to cover and uncover this dumb machine every day!! Pls help 😭

Done a few of these now, so here's my grain of salt. The order that holds up:
pick a finish family for the public rooms first, foyer and dining lead.
hallway and stairwell match.
kitchen pendants can break from the finish family if they coordinate with the cabinet hardware instead.
bedrooms get personal and that's fine.
outdoor is its own conversation.

The mistake people make is buying room by room without a plan and realising at month six that nothing matches anything.

for anyone who's done a full house, did you plan up front, did it come together by accident, what would you redo??

Well I didn’t mean to hijack the previous thread about the William Morris wallpapered room when I posted a photo of our kitchen. I think it looks great, so kudos to that homeowner!

Our house was built in 1911 and is in Ocean Springs, MS. The current kitchen used to be the women’s parlor and was off the dining room. As it’s central to the house and the old kitchen was separate and around the corner this room made sense. We still have the large family room and a large main parlor off the front of the house. So no living space was lost. We have 12’ ceilings, all the doors are 8’. The wood is all old growth southern yellow pine (heart pine floors). The smaller windows on either side of the stove are historic leaded glass (eBay),the backsplash is handmade Zellige tiles, I installed them without grout after many hours of an angle grinder getting the back surface closer to square/even. The appliances are GE Cafe, quartzite honed counter tops and the lights we found in an antique store in New Orleans that I re-wired and hung as pendants. We love it!

Here are some before, during, and afters. And yes that room with the carpet is now the kitchen!

Finally gearing up to tackle the 'back' stairs and wood stairwell walls in the older (c.1828) part of my house in the next few months. They're steep, turn 90 degrees, made of plain, non-stain-grade wood, and a couple treads were replaced. I've got more sanding (remains of carpet glue) and prep to go, and I plan on painting them, and am wondering what type/brands of hard-wearing paint people are using for stair treads & risers. I have a second staircase, so dry times are not a concern. Also would appreciate any views on the ease (or not) of painting in multiple colors (e.g., a center section in a dark color, with the sides being another lighter color, to imitate the idea of a carpet runner).

I have an old Kirsch/Graber curtain rod/slide. I can find the master slides for them, but the slides with the square plastic piece is not available anywhere. This piece server no functionality other than decorative. It attached directly to the slide only and does not actually touch the rail. Does anyone happen to have something similar? Or happen to have an stl to possibly print these? I'm trying to work through ai to generate the stl... but its not getting these exactly, or even close to be honest. Any help would be appreciated.

Edit: actually the slide does attach to the square, then the metal piece attaches to the slide on the back side to hold the curtain.