New to the district

[jhartrx]

Hi Folks!

I own what could best be described as a venacular interpretation of a greek revival cape in northeast Connecticut. Date of build is something of a conundrum. Existing hardware and design elements appear to be not prior to 1830 generally. Town says it was built 1789 - possibly an anticedent structure in this man's opinion. In their defense the visible sills contain what appear to be scribe ruled mortises. That's about it if true though. Posts and rails are cut with a broad axe and flattened on two sides. Floor joists and what modern builders call studs were executed with a reciprocating saw. Nothing I have yet seen in the framing bear pit or circular blade marks. Plan is to restore home to an 1840s appreance
With allowance for things my wife insists on (heat, electricity and some sort of AC solution which I haven't found yet).

Anyway I have a plaster problem I need help with. Does that get posted here or somewhere else on the board.

Best,

John

[Gothichome]

John, welcome to the District. Your home sounds to be a bit of a conundrum as you mentioned, a lot of homes from that time period (at least in our area) are a bit of a mystery as to build date. Records are scarce or non existent, styles and types of construction vary as well as the way the building materials were processed. The further out into the country (at that time) you got the more regional differences you get. As far as the mix of dimensional lumber and hand hewn would also change, the further from a saw mill the more likely the wood be hand sawn and hewed. If there was a saw mill with in a reasonable distance you could get a mix of both dimensional and hewed. The larger beam and structural lumber may be hewed but the walls, rafters ect could be mill cut. Here a bit of a read about early mechanized saw mill saws that might help you pin down some answers.

https://www.farmcollector.com/equipment ... z16julzhur

As far as your plaster issues you can either post here, in the Craftsman section or the construction. You will get responses no matter were you post. We are a pretty flexible bunch.
We like pictures here the more the better, it helps us understand your questions, and we do like old home pics, no matter what the condition or age of you old home.
Ron

[Manalto]

Welcome, John. I really like your quiet corner of the state. I'm in Connecticut, too (Hartford area), at least for the moment. I'm putting my parents' house up for sale and when that's done, will be permanent in Mobile. In the meantime, I look forward to your posts and, as Ron mentioned, plenty of photos.

[phil]

welcome to the Forum John. looking forward to your details, questions and hopefully pictures. Sounds like you found a really old house so it will be interesting to hear about.
Phil

[Manalto]

...some sort of AC solution which I haven't found yet...

An architect friend of mine told me to get window units. His rationale was that, when a window unit fails, it's much cheaper to replace than a central A/C unit, plus the technology keeps improving and your new window unit will probably be more efficient than the one it replaced. You can also isolate the room you're cooling, saving on energy and its cost.

The downside is, of course, cosmetic; there's no hiding a window unit, especially when it's cranking away and dripping condensation. (This is particularly true of the South, where window A/C units are considered a little trashy by some.) I think my friend makes good sense. I'm willing to put up with the imperfectly beautiful thing in the window (and the scorn of the Mobile elite) rather than rip my walls apart installing ductwork. I'll build a wooden sleeve for the unit to slide into, to avoid damaging the window trim. And my landscaping will be so much nicer than my neighbor's, with his fancy-schmancy central A/C.

[Manalto]

...some sort of AC solution which I haven't found yet...

An architect friend of mine told me to get window units. His rationale was that, when a window unit fails, it's much cheaper to replace than central A/C, plus the technology keeps improving and your new window unit will probably be more efficient than the one it replaced. You can also isolate the room you're cooling, saving on energy and its cost.

The downside is, of course, cosmetic; there's no hiding a window air conditioner, especially when it's cranking away and dripping condensation. (This is particularly true of the South, where a window A/C is considered a little trashy by some.) I think my friend makes good sense. I'm willing to put up with the imperfectly beautiful thing in the window (and the disdain of the Mobile elite) rather than rip my walls apart installing ductwork. I'll build a wooden sleeve for the A/C to slide into, to avoid damaging the window trim. And my landscaping will be so much nicer than my neighbor's, with his fancy-schmancy central A/C.

[phil]

I put mine in my attic space in a big plywood box clad with alunimum.
I put a blower on top of the box so it collects hot attic air and blows it through the box and then outside. that cools the fins and I dont get a lot of condensate but i did make a tray with a hose and Ive seen it drip a few times but mostly it just gets evaporated by the blower. maybe that adds to the cooling like a swamp cooler.

I made a baffle for the box and some tin to route the cool air into the room and a second blower to collect fresh air to enter the cooling section.
I pout a window in the box so the remote control can see it and that works ok to control it.
all this so I dont have to move the thing in and out and block my attic window. I sort of copied ideas from the portable units but used a more common window rattler which was cheaper. the rest wqs just cobbled together parts. it is nice and cool but I have to turn the blower on for a while otherwise the attic air can be so hot it blows the breaker. once the blower runs a bit it clears out the super hot air from the dead space in the attic. its quiet, almost silent because the thing is in a box and on the other side of the wall.

the idea worked but it was so complex that I really couldn't recommend it as a viable option. probably easier to just get a portable unit with a hose that can go out the window. I guess you could hide that instead.

some of the new super insulated houses have heat exchangers so the heat isnt; lost because it transfers the heat to the incoming fresh air, then they have fresh air hoses to each room because they are sealed up like a ziploc bag. I guess that would work with AC too , it could cool the incoming air using the exiting air which is already cooled by your AC. some of our houses are so leaky the last thing we need to worry about is how to get fresh air in

we smoke so I dont even want to change the window strips. I need the leakage living in a plastic bubble would probably be even worse for my health.

[nhguy]

Welcome to the group.
Looking forward to hear more.

[1918ColonialRevival]

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 1790s will have nails that are entirely hand-forged. The heads will be very crude-looking. The first machine cut nails appeared around 1790 in England and looked flat with a pyramid-like peak on the head. Not sure how long it took those to come to the US, but they were definitely in use by about 1800. Also around the first decade of the 1800s is when the familiar "square nail" appeared. This would maintain a similar appearance through the 1880s, when the modern wire nail appeared and became a nearly overnight success. For your house, it should be easy. If you have 1780s construction, you'll see hand-forged nails in the oldest part of it. If it's all 1830-1840, it will be all square nails. There's another possibility that the records were created decades after the construction and the date is merely someone's guess.

Plaster work is something a lot of us have dealt with. Probably the best place to post your questions would be in the Craftsman's Guild section, as you'll likely get more hits and more replies there.

[Lily left the valley]

Adding my belated welcome.

Hope all is going well with your discoveries and path towards communing with mortar.

(Ditto on pic requests. You can make your own gallery here if you don't have a place to host images.)