Fairly large undertaking to bring a house from the thirties up to some semblance of todays practicality. I am currently Building and installing window boxes to get the widows 3 inches further off the exterior walls.

This house was well insulated for the times forty years ago when we built it. Now I am adding two and a half inches of foam. Horizontally to increase the insulation over the wooden bones of the place especially.

Fun and games in the hottest weather I ever remember here day after day. I am going to try to heat and cool the house with a ton and a half heat pump. Hopefully by using the furnace blower at half speed constantly to aid distribution.

The challenge might be to upgrade a 1930s house in an almost non detectable fashion.

Maybe you can keep paint on trim etc in your locality. Painting exterior wood in my climate is pretty much a lost cause. The original electrical and plumbing will usually have to go. Unless already replaced. Houses of that period seldom had any closets Unless they were upscale.

I often wondered why most earlier car garages where usually so small as well. Convention of the times perhaps. Kitchen cupboards where usually both very limited in size and crude as well.

I examined and talked with an owner pouring over half a million into an earlier house about a year ago. This house was in a very slow area where even labor was fairly cheap.

Actually one of our nephews buys and renovates older houses to rent out. Currently we are aiding him financially as he gets over the hump. He was going to sell a couple to get some working capital. We thought it was better if we helped him instead as real estate prices are rising here.

The house I lived in with my mom for a few years was built in 1936. It was a nice house other than there being too many layers of paint over everything, it having been completely overdone in "old woman craft" wallpaper, and the original wiring often catching fire along with not being able to use the microwave if the washing machine was running, etc.

Later on I rented a small home that was built in the 1930s. It had a central furnace with one duct that heated all the rooms from the hallway. After that, I was living with my sister in a house that was built in 1910. It was a large house with nice glass doorknobs. No real issues with that house.

My grandmother passed away and I was given the opportunity to rent the cinder block house that my grandfather built in 1947. It was tight quarters, but had five bedrooms. I didn't move in, though, as it would have been a large move from Arizona to Utah, and the house was really run-down with the floors caving in.

I wouldn't mind building a house, either, but I'd want to built it solid out of real materials instead of just timbers and sheetrock. I'd also want to use vintage light switches and things. I can't even keep a job to support myself, so it's not like it will ever happen.

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Stop paying for animal enslavement, cruelty, and slaughter. Save your health and the planet. Go vegan! I did 18 years ago. https://challenge22.com/

DON'T MESS WITH MY MERCEDES!


1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles

Well Squig ;

I'm old and have been living in older houses my entire life, it's not all roses and fun let me tell you .

For one the tube and post two wire electrics in your house weren't designed to carry more than 20 watts or so plus they're ungrounded .

Then you look at the lack of insulation and poor weather sealing, this means cold in Winter, hot in Summer and drafty year 'round .

I have lots of old things in my 1923 Craftsman Bungalow (mostly millions of termites), the antique telephones have very poor sound quality no matter how much you love them (a LOT n m case) .

On and on.....

Yes, old houses can be very nice but you'd best be handy and rich .

Myself, I love the Victorian houses I lived in from the early 1950's through the mid 1970's but they're few and far between in Los Angeles unless you're very wealthy .

Just thinking of you making a nice old house good again like you're doing to this W116 makes me smile .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

The GE lives! New timer, a wiring repair, and a new starting relay later and it's back up and running like a top. Looks like it gets to Filter-Flo for the foreseeable future.

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Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)