1900s American Foursquare

[chocolatepot]

Hello! My name's Cassidy, and I'm in the process of house-hunting - I've found one I like and am preparing to make an offer. It's a fairly plain nineteenth-century box (the listing says it was built in 1875; I'm not sure if it's earlier or just unfashionable) with aluminum siding and an enclosed porch and other remuddling¹. It'll be a wrench to leave my apartment, which is in a gorgeous Victorian and has gigantic original windows and doors, but I'm really excited to have my own space that I can make my own.

I have no real budget for restoration, but I love history (I work in a museum! which is why I have no budget) and working with my hands. Can't wait to get started very, very slowly!

1. 1960s galley kitchen, removal of downstairs walls to create a big space, vinyl windows, probably the removal of windows and the shifting of the front door to one side, some panelling, surface electric lines ...

[Gothichome]

Well hello Cassidy, welcome to the District I certainly hope you get the old home of your dreams. If the roof and foundation are fine and the structure sound you don’t need a lot of money to restore an old home, just time, and a willingness to restore.
Working as a curator you certainly have the correct mindset.

[chocolatepot]

Thank you! I've read through your entire thread in Construction Zone in the past couple of days - it's very inspiring.

Here's a picture of the little piece of heaven I'm after:



(And a link in case the embedding didn't work.)

All I can think about is taking off that siding and seeing what's underneath!

[GinaC]

It is so cute! Wow, they really did take all the character out of it when they modernized it, didn't they? But that's also the value of a clean start -- you can get as fancy or as simple as you want as you go along.

[chocolatepot]

Yes, I didn't even like it at all when I first saw it. The nice thing is, though, that it's all in generally good condition (apart from perhaps the garage roof, which has some bumps in the shingles) - so I can kind of pick and choose what to work on to make it beautiful.

[Gothichome]

Yes, all that aluminium does make the home look like a monolithic white block.

[chocolatepot]

There is unfortunately some controversy in my family over the possibility that what's underneath is in bad condition ... but the only way this house will ever have curb appeal is if it comes off.

[GinaC]

There is unfortunately some controversy in my family over the possibility that what's underneath is in bad condition ... but the only way this house will ever have curb appeal is if it comes off.

This has always been my fear as well, about anything to do with renovating or restoring anything! The turning point came when I was fussing over a fear of something or other, and my realtor just said, "So you fix it." She wasn't trying to just sell a house -- she owns several older buildings in this town that she rents out. She's not renovating or restoring, she's just shoring up, but her point still stands.

Granted, "fixing" can come in a variety of price points, but yes, if what's underneath is in bad condition... you fix it. But if you haven't decided to buy this house yet, make sure you factor in the largest price scenario.

[T. J. Albrecht]

Welcome!

I second what Gina said. On my house they had put vinyl siding on in the 70's, then blew in insulation from the outside in the 80's covering the holes with little plastic covers that did NOT seal. When I took the vinyl off the backside of the siding was wet. My poor house was suffocating. There were indeed things that needed to be fixed behind the vinyl, but leaving it on would've been worse in the long run.

[chocolatepot]

That's my perspective! If the wood siding is rotting away underneath the aluminum, that's not exactly a good situation whether or not I can see it ...