The Historic District

Welcome! Your house is interesting. I'd definitely call it a vernacular - almost a cross between a traditional farmhouse and a "shotgun" style house. It almost reminds me of houses that were built by coal and lumber camps for their employees. Dating a house like this can be a challenge. City and cou...

I'd consider bringing in a chimney specialist to take a look and give their assessment. I would steer clear of general brickmasons or stonemasons for this job. Not knocking those trades at all, but I've observed that chimneys seem to be their own specialty.

They make extensions for switch boxes to bring them flush with the surface of the wall. Or, you could get longer screws for the faceplate.

As with anything, common sense applies. Heat guns are excellent for stripping paint, but don't hold it in one place for very long. Just like you'll burn your scalp if you hold a hair dryer in one place, you'll scorch wood if you hold the heat gun still. I've never heard of anyone actually burning do...

Looks like I'll be putting off my porch project I was hoping to do this spring for a while. I went to a couple of lumber yards this week and prices have gone from insane to just plain ludicrous. All because of a supposed shortage related to Covid and an increase in home projects. To give some idea, ...

Interesting that Vancouver is forcing people to go all electric with water heaters. It's been my experience that gas water heaters normally last twice as long as electric ones, though I did once see an electric water heater from the late '50s still in service around 2005, so there are exceptions. Wh...

Wow, Phil. Your inspector must have been worse than Deputy Barney Fife. I've had an inspector here twice - once after I upgraded my service to 200A. He was in and out in 5 minutes. Didn't even look to hard, just asked what was done and did I run a ground to the cold water pipe, plus to a plate in th...

I'd think restoring the existing fixtures should be a lot cheaper than buying restored ones - unless you hate the old ones and want to replace them anyway. This times a thousand. Antique fixtures can be restored for only a few dollars in materials each. All you really need is some wire, wire nuts, ...

Welcome! Believe it or not, I can still see a 1920s cottage underneath of all those additions and changes. Will be interesting to see what you're able to do with it. As an old house veteran, the only thing I can say is don't expect it to come together overnight unless the budget is unlimited. Work o...

Welcome! It's quite possible that your house started out as a small cottage in the 1780s and was then drastically expanded and remodeled in the 1830s or 1840s to what it is today. A look underneath in the cellar (if it has one) or crawlspace would tell the story. Anything built before about the 1790...