Buying an OLD house...pros, cons?

[kimthebride]

And when I say "old", I mean built before the 50's.

The towns I am looking in are mostly old houses from say 1900-1930's. I LOVE the look of these Victorians and Colonials, but what are the downfalls - or things to look out for - with these old houses?

I have so far been told:
- Lead paint (I won't move into a house with this)
- Small closets
- Oil heat (what is so bad about oil heat? Does it have to be changed out?)

If you bought an old house, what was your experience like? Things maybe that you liked, that you thought you would but needed to change out, etc.

Thanks!

[SweetRed]

Our house is a post-WWII ranch house, built to house returning GI's to Massachusetts. Over the years, owners have added on to the original house, changing it from 800 sq. ft. to about 1400 sq. ft.

The biggest problem, which DH was aware of when he bought the house (while we were in the early stages of dating), is the old electrical in this house. No one in the 60-year history of this house has updated it. DH didn't think it would be that bad to work with and/or eventually replace. Instead, we would need to tear down all our walls to the studs to replace everything. So in the meantime, we live with no grounding on our electrical outlets and short power outages about 2-3 times per week. :mad:

The ways the previous owners have added on to this house are mind boggling. Part of it results in a horrible layout for the house. (I instantly recognized this when DH was moving in, but he didn't when buying it. This is why you bring someone else along when you buy a house! ;) ) Just as an example, our dining room is centrally located to the house. And all seven... yes seven... doors off of that room swing INWARD. We can't put a dining room table in our dining room! Also, when one owner added another bedroom off the back of the house, they didn't bother to connect the heating from the rest of the house. Instead, they put in an electric baseboard heater. That heater is SO expensive to run every winter.

Anyway, that's just our experience with an older home that hasn't had enough TLC over the years, but it's all DH could afford when he was single and living outside of Boston. Now that we're married, we've just decided to tear this place down and rebuild a modular colonial. Sad... but there's really nothing redeeming about this house to keep.

With that said, I'm sure there are LOTS of older homes that have had lots of care over the years. And I hope you find yours soon! :D

~ Kay

[craftyT]

Hi Kim,

Before we bought our house we rented a house built in the 1930's. It had a lot of charm (claw-foot tub - hardwood floors throughout - ornate molding - original built-ins with original hardware, original lighting, etc.) but we quickly discovered reasons we wouldn't do well purchasing an old home for these reasons:

Not only small closets - but there were only 3! There was an attic but I was too afraid to go up there on the pull down ladder.

There were areas of the home that were impossible to clean! I knew under the kitchen sink (which was one of those old trough style sinks that had a counter to the left and right but otherwise stood by itself with about a 2 inch gap underneath) there was 70 year old dirt that I couldn't get to - it grossed me out. But that's was particular to this house - for the most part homes that are old though do have remnants of all those that have lived there in the past. :rolleyes:

Windows - all original but they were are sealed shut... and still inefficient. The house was stuffy in the summer & drafty in the winter.

Electrical - we had difficulty getting renters insurance in this house - the electrical unit was intended to handle 1930's power. There was 1 small electrical pipe going into the home and due to all the things we have today there was a risk of fire. In fact, in winter I had a small electric heater I was trying to use in the living room but I couldn't plug it in near the TV - the power would simply turn off and I'd have to flip the breaker to get it back on.

1 Bathroom - A lot of older homes only have 1 bathroom - it's hard (in this area) to find historic homes with more (for reasonable prices).

General Upkeep - to replace or repair fixtures and details - it's sometimes hard to find these items and can be expensive.

Hope this helps - I did enjoy the house for the time that we were there but I don't think I could manage it for the long-term. If the house was updated a bit more I think I could have been more comfortable.

Forgot to mention - the walls - I think they were plaster which was hard to penetrate for hanging artwork/shelves/etc without cracking. And in some locations in the house the plaster cracked on it's own... we didn't try to repair this (mainly b/c I didn't know how) but just wanted to mention you can't simply take a nail and hammer to these walls. ;)

[notkk]

You're going to have to clarify what you mean by:
- Lead paint (I won't move into a house with this)
Because every pre-1950s home is going to have lead paint somewhere. It might be covered up with other paint, but it will be there. That being said, millions of people live in homes with lead paint, and renovate houses with lead paint (including me), and as long as you take the appropriate precautions it is fine.

Old houses also have asbestos - another material that is not dangerous if it is in good shape and that is managable if you take the necessary precautions. Asbestos can be found in siding, linoleum and insulation (there may be other places, but those are the three big ones that I know about).

Another big downside of older homes is that there has simply been more time for previous owners who didn't know what they were doing to screw things up. We have had to repair a few things that we weren't anticipating because of dumb previous owners.

Previous posters have already mentioned the electric and plumbing upgrades that are required - but this is one of those things that might have already been replaced. If you can find a home that has most major systems (electrical, heating/cooling, plumbing) replaced, you'll be in pretty good shape. Our house has 95% new electrical and new heating/cooling. We had to replace 10% of the plumbing when we moved in, but we were able to do it ourselves (my H is very handy).

That being said - we love our (1940) house. We have mature trees in our yard - which are beautiful and provide a lot of shade in our warm summers. All of our old fixtures are in great shape. We love having wood floors and more substantial molding than you find in new construction. There is just some kind of atmosphere in old homes, a sense of life, I guess - that you just don't get in newer home.

[Sevilla]

The bad thing i have heard about oil heating is that it is horribly expensive--i know some people who spend several thousand per winter on heating oil!

You can get the house tested for lead paint when you get it inspected (though you might have to pay extra for this). Remember that lead paint, just like asbestos, is only dangerous when it's exposed. If it's covered up it's not a problem at all. So you don't have to worry much about lead paint on your walls since odds are they've been painted over since then and it's 'sealed'. What you want to watch for is windows (since the movement of raising and lowering them can release lead paint dust) and around doors for the same reason.

Our house is from 1940 and we love it. It has gorgeous original hardwood floors. There are some things that aren't cool--like the wood windowsill in the shower that we need to replace, and some cloth-covered wiring original to the house. But the majority of things here have been updated over the years by previous owners. We have upgraded electrical, new heater and hot water heater, and all new vinyl windows which are much more energy efficient. We also lucked out and have 2 bathrooms. One on the main floor and one (new one) in the basement. And we have central air which i just love.

The upside to our house is that it was *so* well-built. We've never had an issue with basement flooding b/c of how the house and lot were graded--all water runs away from the house and out of our yard too. The foundation is 3x as thick as foundations poured today, and we have really cool original wood doors and nice baseboards and built-ins.

Really, a lot depends on the particular house. The only thing i would absolutely steer clear of is the oil heating (ask to see heating bills from someone who uses it if you can).

Oh, about the small closets. Storage is somewhat of an issue in our house. We only have two closets--one in each bedroom. They are a decent size to me, but then again i grew up in an old house so their size looks 'normal'. Not huge or anything. But we have a partially finished basement, as well as an attic, that we use for long-term storage of things. And our kitchen has plenty of cabinets so there's no storage issue there. The only thing i really wish our home had was a coat closet, we have to store our shoes and jackets out in the open in the living room instead.

[nuhmah]

We bought a 1906 Craftsman this past summer... the one thing that would have been the dealbreaker for us was the foundation and basement. If the foundation is structurally unsafe, find a new house. You will spend thousands of dollars fixing it.

Oil heat is not that bad - older homes use up a lot of heat, and can cost lots of money to fill the oil tank.

Older Victorian homes have a layout that included lots of doors, and all the formal rooms up front. We also have a room that has lots of door - it doesn't have seven! :eek: - but one room has 4. It eats up a lot of wallspace.

Most older homes also don't have the insulation that we have today, making the home ineffficient in holding heat. We are in the process of ripping down the original plaster and lathe (something else to watch/look for), replacing the electrical, adding insulation, and then putting up sheetrock. In one room, we kept the plaster and added 1/4 inch sheetrock over top of it, and put in blow in insulation, instead.

The house may have little to no water pressure - that being from the galvonized water pipes in many old houses - we are replacing ours. The difference it makes is amazing! :) The water is no longer a rusty color!

There is only one bathroom - we are taking on bathroom upstairs and turning it into two, so our house will become a 2 1/2 bathroom home. It is difficult adding plumbing to spaces where there was never meant to be plumbing - the ceiling is *just* low enough to hold all those black drain pipes, so we do not have to drop the ceiling.

The kitchen is non-existent. It was a "closet" with a stove, sink, and fridge. We are expanding to make it 4 times as large.

All that being said - we LOVE our old house, we wanted this to begin with!

[Sevilla]

Oh i forgot about the plaster walls! Those are obnoxious. Makes hanging things more difficult. But oh well, in the long run you just make it work.

[colz85]

I live in a house built in 1926. I grew up in a "modern" home. I love older homes, and wouldn't think of living anywhere else.

The biggies have been touched on...electrical, plumbing, and the foundation. MAKE SURE you know what the situation with the basement is. I had a water problem and spent a good chunk of change getting the basement trenched and sump pump put in.

RE: the lead paint, you will have some in an older home. But if it's not flaking, which makes the lead airborne, it's really not an issue.

IMO, they just don't make 'em like they used to. According to my insurance company, the house I spent 55K on would cost almost 200K to rebuild exactly, with wood floors and crown molding and plaster walls. That said, there's always something in an older house (usually in the basement rafters) that makes you wrinkle your brow and go "huh. What the heck is THAT?!?!"

I love my old house. LOVE IT. I love the neighborhood....so much so that we may very well buy our next house in the same neighborhood. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have a house that has everything all new and shiny and modern, but really, down deep, no. I love older homes. I look at the wood floor in the room that I'm redoing, and think "wow. if that floor could talk". But I'm a history dork.

[amorey]

We live in 1926 craftsman bungalow. We bought it two years ago.

Our house had an upgraded heating/cooling system, some plumbing, and electrical. These can be difficult to upgrade, but around here houses without upgrades often have deeply discounted prices, so you can afford to upgrade them after you own the house.

Older houses are often smaller. This can be bad or good, depending on your prospective. We like the small size of our house, because it was affordable, and we don’t need much space for just the two of us. The plus is, even though old houses are smaller, they’re often much better and much more thoughtfully laid out, and they tend to have more windows. Our house feels spacious airy, even though it’s a tiny 850sf! We do only have one bathroom, but we haven’t found that to be a problem for just the two of us. Our house has closets- a coat closet, a linen closet, and a closet in each of the two bedrooms. Our bedroom closet is really small, but we resolved that issue with some awesome wardrobes from Ikea.

Our house is pretty drafty. The windows are original to the house, with hideous 1950’s aluminum storms on the outside. This winter we’re going to use plastic wrap stuff on the windows to see if it makes a difference. There are actually pluses to having a draftier house. Newer homes can be sealed up too tight, and can get mold and other health hazards because of that. Our windows are really beautiful and I’d never replace them.

I really like plaster walls. They seem more durable to me, and the definitely block sounds better. I’ve had no problems hanging photos and mounting things on to them. Sometimes you have to use a masonry drill bit and a toggle bolt.

Like Sevilla, our home is really well built. When we remodeled the kitchen, we were just amazed at the quality of the craftsmanship. Corners were completely square! Older homes tend to be built with materials that aren’t available today. The studs and wood trim in our house is old growth fur, which is like iron! We also have beautiful tiger maple floors, which we could never afford to have put in today.

You can find older homes that are completely updated. They are a little more expensive, but the work is done. So many of the pros and cons of an older home depend on how much or little the previous owner screwed it up or improved it.

[suzubeane]

The only thing I have not seen mentioned is the lack of an open space plan in an older home. These houses were built before television, and it is often difficult to lead a "great room" lifestyle in them. Not that there is NO place for a TV, but if you like oversized furniture and oversized electronics and having both open to the kitchen, then an older home might not be for you.

We moved from one 80 year-old home to another, and in this one, we won't have a TV on our first floor at all. We opened up part of our kitchen to the dining area during our remodel and expect that to be the heart of the home. But we're not fans of the "great room w/TV" as the central focus, so an older home fits us perfectly.

[colz85]

The only thing I have not seen mentioned is the lack of an open space plan in an older home. These houses were built before television, and it is often difficult to lead a "great room" lifestyle in them. .


Ooo. Good point. The thing I find interesting about an old home is that I'm so often reminded about how lifestyles have changed. Steve and I complain about not having enough space, but then I think that people raised FAMILIES in this house, and we're two people and three cats whining about not enough closets. Women cooked thanksgiving dinners in the little kitchen w/o enough counter space. Everyone got ready for school and work sharing the ONE bathroom. And as for closet space....well, they didn't have as much crap to store as we do.

You really have to figure if the layout of the house you're looking for will work for how you live your life. In our case, this house works great. The house is bright and airy, there's good flow between the rooms, and we've managed a party or two and found it worked fine.

[dana b]

our house was built in 1925. i love old houses, i really don't think i could ever live in anything post 1930's. in addition to some of the things already mentioned, my advice would be to look for a house that has already had a lot of the major work done to it -- copper plumbing, updated electrical, chimneys repaired, etc. there is so much money to spend on cosmetic, fun things like paint, bathrooms, kitchens, furnishings, that you won't want to spend money on these things. i hate having to spend money on rat proofing, drainage work, roofing, etc. we have a lot of major, expensive things that need to be done to our house -- both chimney's need replacing, still have knob & tube wiring, foundation issues, etc. we won't stay long b/c we're not interested in dumping that much money here. we'll still look for another old house when we move, but one that is in much better shape.
i don't know if most agents recommend this with older homes, but we hired a lot of inspectors to look at the house during escrow -- basic inspector, chimney inspectors, structural engineers and a roof inspector. the fees added up fast, but it was worth it to know what we were getting into.

[BTB]

We live in the top floor of a home built in the 1920's - it's a "two-flat" type arrangement, with basically the same floor plan above as below. Sure, it has 'charm', but I personally won't be looking to live in a home this old ever again.

We don't have a single floor that's straight - drop something round and it rolls away. The closets really are tiny, and when we moved in they had hooks and rods, but not all had even one shelf each. And despite new windows and new roof insulation, it's still drafty. But my biggest beef is that, since we still have the original wiring, there's just one electrical outlet per room, none of them are hooked to the light switch, and you can only have so many things running at once. The dishwasher's going, and I want to blowdry my hair? DH has to turn the tv off.

We're renters now, so while these issues might have fixes we're not interested in dropping any cash on the house. When we move, though, we'll be looking for something at least a few decades newer.

[Sevilla]

But my biggest beef is that, since we still have the original wiring, there's just one electrical outlet per room, none of them are hooked to the light switch, and you can only have so many things running at once.
I've often wondered about this at our house. We have lots of outlets per room, like in a newer home, unlike a typical older home. Those must have been put in sometime, but i don't know when.

The more i see people talk about their older homes, the more i wish i had a 'history map' of our house so we could know what was updated and when.

[kimthebride]

Wow - you ladies are GREAT with all this info.

But then again...YIKES! :eek: do we have a lot to look into! Holy shnikeys.

DH is Mr. Technology, so we definitely need the upgraded electric. And on a related note, we definitely need sturdy walls to hang the plasma on. God forbod that thing comes crashing to the ground, he'll have a heart attack.

Two pet peeves of our (newish) condo is:
a) Drafts - so this makes me worry about old houses with drafty windows & not having insulation
b) Hot water lacking upstairs - which not only makes me want to ensure they have new plumbing, but also multiple bathrooms. When we have family come in, it's 4-8 people at a time so we need at least 2 full baths.

Man, WTH am I gonna do? I have been looking at listings from a realtor for a few weeks now, and will start the 'active' hunt in January. But literally all the towns we are looking at break down like this:
- 80% of listings are very old houses
- 10% are split-levels (which I don't like)
- 5% are newer with the old 'look' I love BUT have pools (which I don't want)


Anyone mind if I throw in another question:

If you DID NOT want a pool, but found the perfect house with it...did you buy it? What did you do with the pool?

We're not big pool people and am so not ready up for the safety concerns one needs to address when owning a pool and kids. I'm finding some of the newer houses in the Colonial style that I love have pools....so frustrating!

(I think I'll make a seperate post for this in case some newer-home owners don't see this one)

[smartgrrl]

I bought and old condo built in the 1930's and I love it. The great thing about buying an old place is that is has much more character than your average house. I have no regrets (knock on wood!)

[Sevilla]

Hmmm..i definitely would not want a pool. Both the safety concerns and increased insurance cost.

In terms of hanging the plasma--even with drywall i'd think you'd need to hang it from the studs and not just nails in the wall. Same with plaster--there's studs behind it that you could use to anchor the plasma. My DH is Mr. technology too and we're doing just fine with 2 outlets per room, though 3 in the living room. We have a few high quality power strips to manage that issue.

One thing that (in hindsite) told me our house, though 'old', was a good one, was that it was listed at more expensive than others of the same size we looked at. At first i wasn't sure why that was--but now i compare what was in those homes with what is in ours and i see why the difference--the upgrades are *so* nice to have already done.

If i had an old house the one thing i'd make it a priority to do is replace the windows with energy-efficient ones, that will save you SO much over the years in energy costs.

And you'll probably find yourself doing lots of home tours since what you need is more specific. I found www.realtor.com was really helpful in narrowing down our search, wayyy more helpful than our realtor (we eventually just said 'these are the homes we found that we want to see--take us to them' and ignored the listings she sent us b/c they were crappy).

[suzubeane]

And on a related note, we definitely need sturdy walls to hang the plasma on. FWIW, no matter the age of the house, you must always find a stud to screw into for attaching anything heavy. So the age of the home would not make a difference. The comments here about walls referred the plaster and lath use to finish walls in older homes vs. the drywall you find in a modern homes.

However if you have a plasma TV, I'm guessing it's big, and that you want to back up from it considerably to watch it. That might indicate you want a newer home – see my previous comments re: open space plan.

b) Hot water lacking upstairs - which not only makes me want to ensure they have new plumbing, but also multiple bathrooms. I'm not sure if you're talking about lack of hot water pressure or just hot water upstairs, but if it's the latter, you need to be concerned about the capacity of the hot water tank - not the age of the plumbing. But there are ways of dealing with this, too. Three people shower each morning in our one bathroom here (DH, DS and me) and we never run out of hot water in our relatively small tank because I installed a water saver shower head.

[dana b]

another thing to think of -- once you start going to look at these older homes for sale, you may realize that a lot of this stuff isn't even an issue. i'd say 90% of the homes in my area were built between 1900-1935 and it's pretty rare that you see them in their original form, most have remodeled kitchens, baths, new plumbing, etc. some of them even look completely new inside, we wanted something that hadn't been touched too much and it took us a long time to find that.
i wish we had all plaster walls, but most of them are drywall, i'm thinking that was done with the new plumbing. also, we have a big water heater and have never, ever run out of hot water, so that's easily fixed.

sevilla can you get copies of permits? i've always been dying to know what our house was like when first built. i didn't think we had any add-ons, but just happened to discover one last week that wasn't supported into the ground. so i'm going to get copies of the permits next week, our city keeps them back that far and they'll also give us any historical info on the house.

[Sevilla]

I don't know about getting permits. Nothing's been added on to the house since it was originally built, but do you need to get building permits to do things like replace windows and do electrical updating?

[chefker]

We live in an 1820 colonial that was formerly a family farm. And, we have an inground pool, which was installed sometime during the 1970's. It's fenced all around, but of course I have concerns about safety, especially now that we have a little one on the way! I think we'll be investing in a pool alarm (this goes off when something or someone falls into the water), and locks for our gates leading to the pool.

Regarding our house, pros: there's just some features that would cost $$$$ to replicate in a brand new home, such as wide beam floors; hand hewn wood beams & supports; built ins (bookcases, pantry cabinets, hutches, etc.) I love the look and feel of our home....considering the house was actually moved off one foundation, back a few hundred yards onto a new foundation, and hasn't fallen apart, I'd say it's pretty solidly built!

Another pro: SOLID WOOD DOORS. Every single one. My mom's house, built in 1978, has those hollow doors. Several of them got holes in them quite easily. My doors have dents here and there, but no gaping holes!

Had the previous owner NOT added extra closet space, this probably WOULD have been a huge problem. In the MBR there was one TINY closet (which we currently use as our linen closet). The previous owner added two his & hers closets. Also, the nursery has an extra closet as well.

Cons: I'll second what someone else said about no open floor plan! My kitchen has no 'flow' to it. I've adapted, but in a few years I do want to hire a professional to reconfigure everything in our kitchen. Also, the plaster bugs me in certain rooms, where you can tell it was poorly done. Most of the rooms, it looks fine. Again, in a few years, I'll probably be putting up sheetrock or doing skim coat in the guest bedroom, which has the worst plaster job.

Fortunately for us, a LOT of work was put into this house. About 10 years ago, the electrical was all upgraded; the floors were all refinished; the yard was completely re-landscaped; a portico was built over the walk in door to the basement (which is great as it prevents water from entering the basement that way).

There probably IS lead paint all over the place.....at least underneath several layers of new, lead free paint! I painted over three of the rooms myself last year (guest BR, breezeway, and downstairs bath), so I know those are fine and lead free. The previous owner had painted the kitchen, living room, downstairs bath, and dining room in 2002. So I think we're good as far as that goes.

All I can advise is to get a GOOD inspector. Ours was terrific....he let me follow him around as he did his thing, and called me over to point out various things he was checking for. Also, if any work has been done, ask the realtor if there is an available list of capital improvements. We were able to get such a list, telling us when the electrical was updated, as well as other mundane things as the last time the septic system was pumped out, that sort of thing.

Whew! That was long. Hope it helps though...I love talking about old houses! :)

[dana b]

sevilla in our city you're supposed to get a permit for everything, replacing a water heater, painting, everything! i don't know if people really do though, i know we don't :o

[amew]

Our house was built in 1946 (so definitely not as old as some). We have been here a little over a year and have had no major problems. We have plenty of outlets, plenty of hot water, and good water pressure, thanks to updating by previous owners. Most (maybe all?) of our house has updated electrical wiring, and the last owner installed a new water heater, A/C, and roof just a couple years ago. Our house was also added on to about four years ago, so we have the benefit of a new master suite with a much larger bathroom and closet than would typically be found in an older home. I love older homes. The last house we lived in (a rental) was buily in 1937, and my parents have always lived in old houses. When we were looking to buy, we looked almost exclusively at homes built before 1950. That said, here are some of the downsides we have seen in our house or the other old homes we looked at:

*small rooms -- we live in a three bedroom house, but bedroom #3 is tiny
*small closets and lack of closets -- we have a closet in each bedroom, but no coat closet, linen closet, etc. other than the laundry closet
*no laundry room -- we have a stackable unit in a tiny closet off the kitchen. None of the old houses we looked at had actual laundry rooms.
*often no two-car garage -- we have a one car detached garage. We looked at lots of houses with one car garages or no garage at all.
*an old house is never going to look as pristinely clean as a brand spanking new one -- I am totally okay with that, but people have different standards
*things generally break more often and often cost more to fix when they do break (especially old plumbing, in my experience)
*we don't have a garbage disposal and have been told that our old pipes might not do well with one if we were to install it. Similarly, we looked at lots of old homes without dishwashers. But we also looked at lots of old homes with entirely updated kitchens, so I would bet you will find a range.

As far as lead paint, I am sure we have it, as it my understanding that all houses built before a certain age do. But it isn't really an issue unless you are remodeling and therefore exposing the old lead paint or creating lead-filled dust. Otherwise, it stays covered up by the (presumably several) layers of new non-lead paint.

[spps]

Our house was built in 1937. It is a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom side hall colonial. The bedrooms are all decently sized, the closets all have hanging rods as well as built in drawers so we are not lacking the storage space. The things that we miss the most are having a master bathroom and den. The previous owners updated the electrical systems, put in a new water heater and boiler, had the roof recently redone, expanded the kitchen and remodeled the full bath before we moved in. They also hadn't done any shoddy home improvements. Our house also still have 3 of the original stained glass windows which have been sealed shut to keep out drafts. Most of the houses in our neightborhood were built betwenn 1930 and 1950.

[kimthebride]

Is there a timeframe that I can be assured if it was built then, it has good electric & plumbing? (Say, 'oh in the 40's they made suh-and-such advances...')

[MrsSmith]

My home was built in 1910. It was completely gutted and redone in 1992. So, except for the main features and size, you would never know it was almost 100 years old. The electrical, plumbing and heating have been redone. I have several new windows. Walls were ripped out to create more openness. My point is that a LOT of older homes have been remodeled. So, the age alone doesn't necessarily say what features you will find. I still have more perks that someone who just built a new home. I didn't have to pay for any of the upgrades because they were already done. That, to me, is a pro for buying an old house.

[amorey]

Is there a timeframe that I can be assured if it was built then, it has good electric & plumbing? (Say, 'oh in the 40's they made suh-and-such advances...')

My parent’s house was built in 1961, and they still have fuses instead of breakers. I do know my dad improved the electrical in their house- he’s an electrical engineer so he just did it himself. When they first bought the house in the late 70s they had a lot of problems with fuses blowing.

The original plumbing in our 1920’s is still serviceable, but you can’t run the dishwasher and take a shower and do a load of laundry all at one. You have to pick one.

I think by the late 50’s most homes had forced air heat, at least in our area. My grandpa’s house was built in 1948 and it originally had a coal burning gas furnace.

[dionysia]

Is there a timeframe that I can be assured if it was built then, it has good electric & plumbing? (Say, 'oh in the 40's they made suh-and-such advances...')Not really.

Houses built in the 1960s could have fuses and never have been upgraded to circuit breakers.

Houses build before could still have knob & tube wiring.

Our 1890s Victorian has knob & tube, fuses, and circuit breakers. Lucky us. :rolleyes:

Plumbing-wise, copper is best, but it wasn't used as a standard until fairly recently.

Here's a list of improvements that we've done or have had done since moving into our 1890s Victorian 2 years ago:
- replaced the windows (all 36 of them!!)
- new boiler (the original, asbestos-covered one cracked our first winter in the house)
- ceramic tile installed in the kitchen (after we had a flood that ruined the original wood floor)
- ceiling in garage ripped out (see flood above)
- lead paint removal (exterior & interior)
- took down wallpaper and repainted our living room
- took down wallpaper and (currently) repainting our upstairs bathroom
- painted the front porch

We still have to at some point:
- replace the gutters
- have the chimney lined
- repoint a part of the foundation
- have the roof on the turret re-done
- have Ground Force come to fix our backyard

Di

[isaacsmommy]

Okay so I didn't read all the posts just skimmed so some of this may be repeats-

If something breaks or gets worn out you can't always find what you need (ie a doorknob broke so I thought fine I'll just get another one, wrong the hole in the door it nothing like the one needed for newer doorknobs, so we still have the old knob, until i get a new door.

Furniture made now doesn't always fit well through doorways cut way back when. Be sure to measure everything.

layout is not very open or spacious

Things just break more :rolleyes: period.

although the charm of the old places can be great,
maybe one day I'll build a home with an older style but everything will be new and work properly.

Jennifer

[boyzmom]

Our house was built before 1930. It is a four square. A box. I love the house we could use a little more room.

Cons
Pier and beam: house has to be releveled every so often.
Little closets: enough said
Old windows: drafty during the winter and it makes it hard to cool during the summer.
You have to paint the outside every other year. We are in Texas so it just gets hot and peels the paint off.

Pros
Open kitchen and living room floorplan.
10 foot ceilings
Great cross ventilation (the windows all line up with each other)
The house has history

[artist]

I do love our 1880 house but...

CONS
-tiny awful basement (very low cieling, EXTREMELY small, really creepy)
-awful water pressure (and you can really tell if you are trying to take a bath while the dishwasher or washing machine is running)
-no air conditioning which just sucks in the summer (ceiling fans can help though as can window units)
-sloping floors
-trying to find plumbing fixtures can be a challenge
-very steep stairs
-due to the steep stairs and awkward cielings upstairs, we couldn't get our super awesome bed upstairs, so we have a mattress on the floor
-you have to bleed the radiators each winter
-there is always a project (but don't ALL homeowners have that problem anyway?)

PROS
-we actually do have 2 bathrooms
-we actually do have a decent sized kitchen (not huge, but it feels spacious)
-radiators are actually kinda neat
-the wood floors and other details are neat
-we are part of a neighborhood history group
-we do have about 1600 sf which is big enough for us
-Maybe you'll see a ghost!:D (Just kidding!)

I'll probably think of other pros and cons that I am not remembering. If you don't mind having to do handiwork, it could be a good thing.

As for the swimming pool, I'd wait until you find one without.