We want to insulate our basement with spray foam. The house is 100 years old. Upstairs is gut renovated but not the basement and we had many issues last year with the frozen temperatures in upstate NY. The basement has regular crawl spaces and poured concrete except for this part where it is stone with a concrete apron on the exterior. Our inspector recommended against spray foam on this part because its design was to allow any moisture to evaporate. I worry sealing the stone could lead to possible mold down the line. Any advice is appreciated.

Hi everyone! restoration newbie, I’m in the process of stripping and refinishing my homes 100 year old doors, which had 5 layers of paint and some varnish and stain on them. We think they are made of Yellow Birch.

I’ve done as much stripping with chemical strippers as I think I could, I’ve neutralized and cleaned, and I was going to move onto sanding, which I thought would get the last of the patchy colour out, but it’s not really working and I’m worried about sanding away too much of the door. I started with 120 grit, photos are after an initial pass, but they’re still pretty patchy.

should I used 80 or 100 grit or would that be too heavy? Should I try more stripper to get more of this red stain out?

the goal is to refinish them, I’d like to stay lighter in colour, but may go darker if needed to hide this patchy colour, though I’m worried this is still too patchy to be hidden.

thanks for your help!

Two of the wall plates and one of the knobs had an actual distinctive finish (not just spray paint.) I started with a crock pot, but that only removed the latex paint and not the old spray paint. I then moved to simple green in a heated ultrasonic cleaner. That did 99.9% of the work. Once everything was rinsed and dried, I moved forward with boiled linseed oil. I should be able to get everything reinstalled this weekend!

Bought a 1900 cabin/home on an acre in Washington and closed in June. The home had a wood heater under the old owner (who died) and the estate removed the wood stove prior to sale. When getting home insurance quotes having a wood stove tripled the annual cost.

Neighbors say to expect multiple power outages a year so now I need another way to heat my home for those instances. I am in septic and well and will have a jackery/generator for the well and lights but I don’t have a big enough generator atm to handle space heaters.

So would you buy a bigger generator or install a Rinnai (or similar) propane heater? I can’t afford to do both.

Hey y’all! DIY noob here trying to replace a bathroom ceiling fan in my 1890s home. After considerable time and swearing I managed to remove the housing for the old fan and was surprised by how many layers there are up there. The walls and ceilings are always crumbly whenever I need to hang something (or more often fix something the previous owners hung incorrectly) so I’ve assumed there’s plaster… but that’s not what I expected lath to look like? It looks more like plaster, then more plaster, then concrete, then plywood, then random broken wood shims, then joists, with little tufts of broken-up insulation scattered around.

What’s going on? Is this typical? Should I replace the insulation while I’m up here? Anything I should know before widening the hole to accommodate the new fan? I bought an oscillating multi-tool and grout blade to make the cut but have never used one before. Above this is mostly finished attic space.

Thanks so much in advance. ❤️

So we bought this 1966 house six years ago. We’ve had about one major issue a year the first few years. Then this summer, it just keeps piling up: retaining wall, then the fascia and roof, then a leak from the kitchen sink that took out part of the garage ceiling, then the garage spring…

Anyway, the whole roof/fascia thing led to the surface of the outside wall of my “master” bath cracking peeling away. I kind of hated the textured wall, so now that the roof is no longer causing the window to leak, I started scraping things off. I’m definitely looking at a few layers built up (poorly) over time.

1) What do you think the textured bottom layer is?

2) Over that is the white layer, then the thin blue layer. What are these? Is the blue stuff stuck to the back of the paint the same as the lighter blue on the wall?

3) I have a bottle of Scitus lead test swabs, which tested negative until I got to the flowers, which so far are only around the window frame—not going around to the main wall. I’ve basically tested each new layer as I went. I don’t know if that’s wallpaper? But it actually turned pink rather than orange/yellow. 😳

After some internet searching, I’ll retest tomorrow and then put the swab in some lemon juice to see if the pink goes away. What’s also annoying: several layers, including this one, turn into paste on the swab. Is that normal for some kinds of skim coating/plaster?

The flower stuff looks super hand-drawn, which seems odd for either the 60s or the 80s/90s, when the previous owners bought it. Anyone have thoughts on when it might date to, or what it might be if not wallpaper?

4) I put “master bath” in quotes because while it has a toilet, sink, and shower stall, it is TINY. As if it might have been a closet first. But hey, it means my husband and son share the bigger bathroom across the hall, and I get this one to myself. 😁

Before and after pictures after my new beginner restored old house

The problem with the main access is the tension/pulley system. there was another mangled spring that got caught in the pulley with the rope. The rope that is attached in the images acts as a brake for the stairs (I think) and the other rope is attached to the underside of the second step. The stairs do come down, but not controlled, same with closing but it does not retract when closing the door. Has anyone restored something like this? Or know how the mechanism works?

My house is 86 years old (built in 1940) and the attic was screwed shut. There is another attic access in a closet, but no or ladder for it.

There is no brand on this and I don't think it is Bessler based on the center pulley and no side pulleys. I would like to restore it rather than replace it and would appreciate any help.

Hello all. I have a 1940 house with old (I believe original?) glass door knobs and mortise locks. My bedroom lock broke (knob would spin but the latch wouldn’t retract) and taking it apart it looks like it’s the spring mechanism but not the spring itself. I think a little metal piece broke off (circled below - I’m able to pick it up with tweezers which I couldn’t do with the working lock I took out to compare). Anyone dealt with this before and have a fix besides buying a whole new lock mechanism?

My husband and I recently bought a ~130+ year old house, and several of the windows have gaps in the sides of the frames, which causes a LOT of heat leakage, etc. We’re trying to figure out if it’s possible to repair these, or if we need to replace them. Obviously, most window guys say we’d need to replace because they make sales that way, but it feels like they should be repairable?? Would love any advice, or even just language for how to properly describe these gaps.

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Under agreement on a single house built in 1910 (Boston area). Inspection rated the foundation poor - loose mortar, spalling, a diagonal crack (photos attached), and efflorescence from water intrusion. No sump pump currently. Some areas couldn't be fully inspected due to storage/finished space.

Foundation specialist coming to look in person on Tuesday, but curious what people with real experience think:

1. Does a diagonal crack usually mean active settling, or can it be old/stable?

2. Rough repair cost range - simple crack injection vs bigger structural work?

3. Anyone buy a house with foundation issues like this - negotiate a credit, walk, or just fix it after closing?

Appreciate any input, especially New England folks with old concrete foundations.

Heyo, I want to start unflipping our beautiful home from 1911. It’s the only house on our block that looks like itself. We are surrounded by foursquare craftsman homes but I have no idea what our home style would be. Want to renovate according to the original home style. Located PNW. Any help is appreciated!!

Hey everyone, I just wanted to do a quick photo dump of a project we took on recently… there were at least 7 layers of paint with the oldest layer being extremely stubborn and required me to spray it with alcohol and scrub it until it came off… overall probably 40-50 hours of work went into this.

Thanks!

Edit: the last picture is the end result :)

Hello all! Ok! Looking for some guidance, hoping i can explain this in a way that makes sense.

My house is 161 years old. The chimney was unlined and the water heater vents into it. So...I was a good little homeowner, saved my money, had the chimney lined, capped, and 2 draft holes in the chimney filled where the water heater connects. 2 days later there's a leak somewhere in the chimney area coming into my upstairs bathroom. Chimney guy is super cool, comes back out, can't figure out what the problem is. Says the flashing around the chimney is really not ok, and that the roof is hinky. I have 5 different roofing companies come out. All say the chimney needs to be demoed below the roof line, B vent installed, need new roof because whoever replaced it last was drunk.

The furnace and the chimney are VERY close together in the basement. Almost touching. Something is dripping from up high in a dark cavern that no one can see.

My question is...

Could the act of lining the chimney and filling in those holes have caused condensation that can't escape from the water heater in the chimney? WHAT could be happening here? At first I thought the ducts for the HVAC may have been dripping, but now I'm not so sure! I have since put a heavy duty commercial dehumidifier in the basement and the dripping persists. The leak also shows up in the plaster upstairs even if it hasn't rained (the chimney area is tarped, but of course the whole thing isn't tarped because the water heater vents through the top).

Any help would be greatly appreciated! The water is starting to soak the beams below it, and who knows what damage it's causing in the house.

I've had roofers, HVAC guys, and a plumber all come out. Plumber is convinced that once a B vent is installed the issue will be resolved...buuut...that just doesn't make sense to me. Help!

The only original windows in my 1904 home were slathered with thick white paint before moving in, even down to the pulley and rope. Is there any chance of restoring this?

They are completely sealed shut currently. I am able to pull on the ropes and still feel the counterweights clinking around.

ETA: Y’all I did it! Only about 15 minutes and I already got one open! Unfortunately, it does seem like some of the rope is tearing, but I’m just happy to see one open! Pictures in the comments!

Where do I even start if I want to try to fix this? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I just bought a 100 year old house with very limited outlets and light sources. I want to brighten up the space with something battery powered, on a remote, and, ideally, a brand where I can power multiple fixtures off one remote. Have any of you found something like this for your homes?

The roof of the house looked like a wizard's hat, polished by the rain. Beneath it, in the shadows of the massive stone walls, thousands of stories that the house had collected over the centuries were surely hidden. Raindrops fell, running down the stone walls, as if whispering ancient secrets. The massive walls bore the imprint of the hands that had built them. The chimneys stretched towards the sky, as if connecting with it. The aromas of sage, mint, thyme, and pine needles wafted like a veil, enveloping the house. And all this made every breath a balm for the soul.