Doorknobs- old to new to old again

[JacquieJet]

As always, you guys give awesome advice and insights. Thanks everyone!
As an aside, my house just received an official heritage designation this week! Woohoo!

That's something to be proud of. How will affect the value? Ive wondered about doing the same but others near me say dont because it limits the potential and thus the value. on the other hand it could save it from destruction at some point. there was a local story where a neighboring city near me was trying to give a house away free, with the condition it was moved. The house already had heritage status but new owners still bought it for the lot. It made me doubt the integrity of the program and the financial sacrifice the original owner may have made to assign such status. In some cases cities have funds they can offer I think they would paint the outside of my house but then if I wanted to change the outside color at anytime or do modification that are visible,I would need the city's permission. You kind of do need that permission to pull a permit anyway. I have a friend that has the designation and lives near me , he said dont do it. he bought the house with the designation already assigned and just lifted it so it is possible. It probably just had to be passed by council first.

There is a lot of misinformation out there about what designation does/does not mean (and do!). The one I hear most often is “will I have to ask permission to work on my house?”. Around here (Ontario), designation only protects the exterior of the house, not the interior (unless an interior feature is specified in the designation, which is rare). Things like putting a fresh coat of paint on your house is fine, and actually encouraged (it falls under “maintenance”, and does not require permission from anyone). Now, if you were to paint the house neon orange, as an example, someone might make a complaint, and if there is a bylaw against it then you would get a slap on the wrist (but, that’s not a designation thing, necessarily. It depends on your city’s bylaws).

The biggest negatives to designation is if you either plan to drastically change your exterior (like with a front-facing addition), or you want to toss your original wood sash windows in favour of vinyl. Both would be “no-no’s”. If the hypothetical proposed addition was side or rear facing, then you’d have to submit your intent in writing to your local heritage committee at the time of your building permit application and wait for comments. Again, this isn’t designation-specific, as usually this process applies to any century home, designated or not. (Again, this is in Ontario, but I’m sure BC likely has similar rules).
Basically, every home owner requires building permits to do structural work. A designated heritage house just has the potential to be turned down for major changes if the intent is to majorly alter the features that are deemed heritage. It’s typically a short list.

The perks are a substantial tax break on your property taxes (around here our taxes are very high, so it’ll save us about $2000 a year in automatic rebates!), demolition protection (this isn’t perfect but it IS an added layer of protection and hoops to jump through for a prospective builder, and acts as a deterrent), and also it helps the house maintain its heritage features, such as windows, slate roof, decorative brickwork, etc etc (where applicable. Obviously if a designated house has already lost its original windows, they wouldn’t be protected in the designation). It However does not protect against adaptive reuse, or relocation if your city council approves it.

[phil]

thats great information thank you!
Ive been considering deferring my taxes. they are around 3K or so. If I do that then they basically loan me the money for the taxes but when I sell it gets paid back with a moderate interest rate. Since I never had kids it might make sense because this would free up money and I would basically use that towards mortgage payments. overall the value is increasing so on paper I am gaining in theory, but that doesn't mean I have a lot of cash to throw around.

I think there is a rule here where any demo over 50 years has to go before council and any major upgrade would too. the other thing happening here is people are crying for more housing. the city loves it when people do anything to increase density. Ive got an old house near me on a property , some is an old commercial building , they want to go at least 4 stories in wood and surround the house making it a part of this new construction but surrounded by it, all condos with businesses on the ground floor I think. It will sort of tower over my property but it's almost a block away.

my lot suits the concept of a laneway house so I might also be able to do that but I figue it's 100 K ... a bit rich for me, although the income would pay for itself.

[JacquieJet]

thats great information thank you!
Ive been considering deferring my taxes. they are around 3K or so. If I do that then they basically loan me the money for the taxes but when I sell it gets paid back with a moderate interest rate. Since I never had kids it might make sense because this would free up money and I would basically use that towards mortgage payments. overall the value is increasing so on paper I am gaining in theory, but that doesn't mean I have a lot of cash to throw around.

I think there is a rule here where any demo over 50 years has to go before council and any major upgrade would too. the other thing happening here is people are crying for more housing. the city loves it when people do anything to increase density. Ive got an old house near me on a property , some is an old commercial building , they want to go at least 4 stories in wood and surround the house making it a part of this new construction but surrounded by it, all condos with businesses on the ground floor I think. It will sort of tower over my property but it's almost a block away.

my lot suits the concept of a laneway house so I might also be able to do that but I figue it's 100 K ... a bit rich for me, although the income would pay for itself.

Affordable housing is a big issue around here, too. People are jumping on the "tiny house" bandwagon. Property taxes are just outrageous (we are in the GTA, but pay about 3x the property taxes of a Toronto address- it's beyond frustrating).
Do what you need to do to preserve your house and keep the $$ in your pocket!

[phil]

I have a very old tiny house across my alley. I wondered if it was a paper shack or something at one time. It could be cute but its a real mess with the addition of a motorhome and other junky buildings. the developers will use the land.

I helped a guy that came around work looking for bolts and stuff. he made what looks like a big dog house with two wooden wheels and a handle to pull it with, sort of like an ox cart. It has a door and a window and room to sleep. He has a buddy who lives in a parking lot so it was to help the guy. He said the cops are always harassing the guy but the owner of the parking lot gave him permission to live in a parking stall. with the cart he can lock himself in or lock up clothes and stuff. I guess it beats tenting in the snow but geeze what a life. we have people tenting in park in the snow getting pushed about like pawns. people driving by in Mercedes and BMW's. It wasn't like that wen I was a kid. I dont see why it needs to be now. rents are so high that people get forced into this position. often they have drug or mental health issues. In smaller areas where they can have trailers at least people can get off the ground by paying off a trailer on a rental pad. Maybe some codes could help tiny houses conform. problem is even if you wire them right in one area and have an inspection done, then tow the across town the codes can be different. maybe modified codes could give them guidelines so they might be able to build walls with 2x4's the thin way bit still need to protect the wires in conduit or something.
I worked for a place that made pre fab houses, fancy ones. they got some contracts when Japan had that tsunami. they were all little houses a kitchen and one room. they supplied thousands of them. all the walls and stuff were being made with automation. I had to fix the machinery. having a lot of portable buildings like that would really be good for disaster relief, they could be towed near where there are big fires and such to at least help people get by for a while.
I have a30 year old ford van that I drive. I like it, its big with the raised roof but empty because it was a wheelchair van. It had low miles only about 112K now.. that would make a good camper. it has a straight six. I like the engine.

I think they should just allow and encourage camping sites within cities. They could be policed with rules so they were not permanent residences but something cheap because Its not fair to make these people who have such issues hide or to keep making them move along. at one time they had mental institutions but hey fell out of flavor I guess. I think its sad people need to live like that in areas where there is enough wealth that no one should need to go camping in the snow.

[Kashka-Kat]

DOES ANYONE KNOW where to find #9 short screws to put my doorknobs and spindles back together- arghhh! #8 is too small, #10 too big. #9 seems to not exist anywhere on the planet.

The only other thing I can think of is to use #8 and some kind of glue (epoxy?) that would hold them in place, which means it would be difficult to get them apart again.... but then why would I have to.

[Willa]

My experience with antique doorknobs is that the set screws are unique to the manufacturer. I could not find anything at the hardware store or antique salvage place that was the correct size or thread. In Canada there are the imperial AND metric sizes. I could not find anything that fit - neither hardware store nor salvage place could recommend anything.

Phil however claims to know differently.

[Manalto]

I don't claim to know anything except that before a certain date there was no standardization in thread sizes. Singer Sewing Machine Company had their own proprietary thread sizes and, if you wanted to replace a missing screw or bolt, you had to buy it from Singer or it wouldn't fit.

[mjt]

Willa - Like you, I found the same thing. I've looked high and low to get set screws that will work with some of my original doorknobs. Imperial, metric, and all manner of thread pitches. No joy.

I suppose I could build a metal lathe, forge some appropriately sized brass rod, and fabricate them myself...

[Gothichome]

Kasha, look for a product called liquid steel. It’s an epoxy. You can get it at most auto parts places. It is drillable and tappable.
It comes in many brand names but for the most part is the same stuff. You can get it as a two part traditional epoxy or as a kneedable putty. You will also need a #8 tap and corresponding drill bit.
Another option is to drill and tap to the #10 set screw. This I think would be a better option but you will have a larger screw head to look at.

[Willa]

Honestly - for the tinkering misery that would need to ensue - I would just look for a different antique doorknob that has the correct set screws and post.

You could save the screwless doorknob - and once you have a couple more could use them for a crafty purpose like a DIY hanger thing for hats or cords or whatever.

https://www.thisoldhouse.com/furniture/21016400/how-to-make-a-doorknob-coatrack

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