...i really dislike bathroom renovations. I've been working on mine all day, and only have the tub surround up. I still have to do the greenboard, then sheetrock the rest of the walls.

I'm going to be busy the rest of the night...

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

Oddly enough, it's still code here, according to my neighbor who is a GC. It's not behind the tub surround, as that is mounted directly to the studs with 15# felt behind it. It is installed above the surround, and about 4 inches outside of the tub. The rest of the wall will be regular sheet rock. I installed a high velocity, ultra quiet exhaust fan above the shower for proper ventilation. The walls will be getting a decent amount of Acrylic Latex paint to seal the greenboard. It's not waterproof, it's water resistant. If I were to tile the walls, I'd need cement board.

The tub surround is a fiberglass one, that is unforgiving to the un-square walls in this circa 1900 house. It's taken more caulk than it should have to hide the imperfections...but the wife is happy so far, and a happy wife makes for a happy me.

Next week starts the official floor covering phase of this project. The occupancy inspector claimed that the floor was rotted...It's not. The underlayment behind the linoleum had curled during the water leaks. That's why the floor had a funny feeling to it. The the plumber repaired the water leaks 2 weeks ago. I've already pulled the linoleum and underlayment up, and checked the tongue and groove flooring, and decided it's fine. I'll be putting cement board over top of that, then another layer of linoleum. The cement board is going down just in case the wife decides that she's not happy with the linoleum in the future, and wants ceramic tiles at a later date and time.

I'm still waiting on her to decide on the vanity and sink. Currently, it has a 6 foot long vanity with a Formica top and drop in sink, circa 1940/50. The mirror and medicine cabinet is the same vintage, and just as long. I had the plumber install an oblong bowl toilet, and now when you sit to do your business, your knees hit the vanity. I'm hoping she decides on a smaller vanity so I can add wall cupboards. I've given her 'til Wednesday to decide on a combo that's available at the local DIY box store, as I'm not prepared to wait on a custom made unit.

The next project will be converting the large dinning room into an eat-in kitchen, and making the existing kitchen a bathroom/laundry room. Currently, the mudroom houses the washer and dryer, as the basement (where they were originally located many years ago) has low headroom.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

I like it! A lot of time sweat equity spent is worthwhile especially for a family man. My hat's off to you for taking a chance on a home that old!

I'm all for high velocity fans, but the noise isnt always a bad thing when your doing your business on the new throne or singing in the shower... The rest of the house doesnt need to hear the singing!

Have fun with the project!

~Nate

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95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

and for the finishing touch, install a thunderhead shower head ~~~ best under $100 i've spent, and a year later i'm still smiling ~~~ and it's Cosmo Kramer approved !

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1989 300ce smoke silver / brazil, in a constant state of flux ~~~

The cheap, loud ones have no drawing power, and will let the place smell up. I bought the ultra-quiet, high priced, high CFM ones for my home.

Thanks. I got a hell of a deal on the property. It's actually a lot and a half, which means I'm the only one in the neighborhood with a driveway. The PO bought it in '04 for $46k, and took a job out west and needed to unload it. I offered $29k and he jumped on it. Since we got it so cheap, I was able to pay cash for it. Knowing that the other properties in the neighborhood that are on the market are going in the mid 40's and up, I think we got a really great deal. Everything we put into it, we'll get out of it in the future if we ever sell it. None of the improvements we're doing are over building the house.

The next project on the list is making the large dining room into an eat in kitchen, and turning the existing small kitchen into a first floor bathroom with the laundry room in it. Currently, the laundry room is in the enclosed porch/mud room. It used to be in the basement, but the basement has NO head clearance at all, so the PO moved it to the porch. The house was built in a time that the kitchen was only for cooking food, and the dining room was an area to congregate. Well, times have changed, and I NEED a larger kitchen to be able to create my meals.
We went for the double head fixture. I'm not concerned about lack of water pressure here. As a matter of fact, I had to have a pressure reducer installed right after the meter. I live 2 blocks below twin water towers. The pressure is so great here, that it was blowing out the old plumbing. I had to pay $1500 for new lines in the kitchen and bathroom because the crappy solders the previous owner had done couldn't handle the 115 psi that was coming in. Apparently, since the addition of the second water tower last fall, most of the neighborhood has had to have the reducers installed. I removed the reducer plug from the stationary shower head, but kept it in the wand head.
This is the fan I installed. We shopped around for a few weeks 'til we found it. We wanted ultra quiet because with the 10 foot tall ceilings, there will be a great amount of echo, which intensifies the noise from the fan.

As for the other noise, $hit happens...LOL

Here's one of the selling points that my wife and I fell in love with...original 111 year old, unpainted woodwork.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

Cool!

Love those old classic stairways!

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Hey, now that is incredible, antique woodwork!

Please feel free to share your renovation work as it progresses on this thread. The pictures are priceless to us, since we're not there.

Where else can you get free, honest architectural/construction advice from some of the industry's leading OD real estate/building experts?!

Thanks, again jplinville!

In that case, this is the exterior of the house. It's not the prettiest place, but will be soon. The current siding is actually roofing shingles that was put on about 25 years ago. Under the shingles is clapboard siding that seem pretty solid. We've already sent a sample out to test for asbestos, and we're clear...it's not present. We're debating on the outside, so we haven't set in stone what we're doing just yet. We could strip the shingles, sand, fill and paint the clapboards, or cap the shingles with vinyl siding. The wife really likes the look of the roofing shingles, so that is another option as well.

It doesn't look like it in the pictures, but the house is 1774 sq foot.


From the street. The black you see on the siding is where the rock chips have fallen off over the years. This is the south facing side of the house. The inspector said that the siding is still in decent shape for its age, but will need attention this summer. He pulled up a few areas to check, and said that there doesn't appear to be any water damage yet.


Front door exterior


Windows...very tall and cool looking. These are the original wooden single pane style.


Front windows. They will all be painted white, and the wife is going to paint the features to match what was done when it was new.


Above the front door. This, too, will be painted period correct.


The original storm door. I'll be stripping the paint this summer. I have the screen insert for the door. I found it under the stairs. It's not been painted, so I think we'll be fine there.


The house has the traditional "Pittsburgh Crapper" in the basement. It sits alone against a wall, with no privacy. The plumber checked it out and said it's sound. It has a tank that is mounted high, with a steel pipe connecting it to the bowl.

I have no idea why someone would do this, but the majority of basement crappers are like this in the area.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

The plumbing/sewer pipes originating in the basement of homes this vintage would be in keeping with; "closest to the entry point of fresh city water, and exit point for sewer water." Perhaps freezing weather in that part of the country was a consideration too. This home was likely built before indoor plumbing was installed. Even if plumbing were available in the area at the time the home was built, it would have been cheaper to erect an outhouse behind the home, and perhaps even a private well for fresh water was likely drilled on your home's property. Water was carried in to the kitchen for drinking water, and heated on the cast iron stoves for bath water. Kitchen stoves were also the heat source for homes of that day, fueled by coal or wood.

Such was the case with the small 2 story home my Mother's Father constructed for their family of 11 in the late 1920s in the small town of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. The cellar had the low-ceiling that you describe your home has, however, I do not know where in my Mom's childhood home's first toilet was located - however there was only one in the home I remember as a young lad in the 1950s, and it was on the second floor. Forensically, there will always be unknowns about these very old homes. No one is alive to ask it's history of.

I am not fond of the appearance factor of roofing shingles on the exterior of a home - unless you paint them. That's just me.

My Mother's childhood home had asphalt shingles applied as the cheapest available exterior siding/cladding of the day. Her Father, my Grandfather contracted a form of MS in his 30s, and was bedridden the rest of his 60-some year life. Obviously there wasn't much income in their household. They would not accept, nor apply for county charity either, they managed nonetheless through the 1930s, because the children of middle school age were put to work outside the home. Every American family has a story - I know times were hard for most of our forefathers.

Nice house! Holly crap $29k?!

If houses ever get that cheap around here I'm out of business, can't build them that cheap!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Next week I have an electrician coming to update the service. It's currently 60 amp service with screw in fuses. I have to have the main service line replaced due to cracking in the insulation, and when the crack the seal on the box, they have to bring it to code...which includes a new breaker box, relocation of the box 5 foot from any window, and a new meter. The basement has 2 rooms that have taller headroom due to them being originally used for coal storage and the old furnace.

Instead of 100 amp service, which is code, I'm having it upgraded to 200 amp so I can set up a small workshop in the basement. I have some wood working equipment, such as saws, drill press, lathe, planer, and the like that I plan on using. I'm thinking of making my own cabinets for the kitchen and bookshelves for the living room. The upgraded box will give me roughly 30 additional slots for circuits to be added at a later date and time.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

I woke up to the most ungodly stench I've smelled in years this morning. I found the source...drain backing up in my basement.

I had a pro come out and clear the line as best as he could, but the clay pipe is falling apart and needs replaced. He told me that it's going to cost anywhere from $7-10k to replace.

I have insurance in place for issues such as this, but am getting a bit pissed at the one who sold it as it wasn't on the disclosure form. The house inspection didn't note it, as it's falling apart a bit from the house and couldn't be seen.

This particular plumber claims that he's been aware of it for some time, as he's been out here in the past and informed the PO of the issue.

What I'm wanting to know is this...since my wife and I really like this house and have started renovation work, as well as repaired the existing plumbing at our cost, what are the possible legal steps I can take to make it fall on the PO? We have a clause in the contract of the house that allows us to walk away from it and have the purchase price returned if we do it within the first 90 days. We've been in the house now for 3 weeks, so we still have time.

The house is worth the effort and money...it's the only property in the neighborhood that has a driveway, and that is very desireable here.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

The sewage issue has been resolved. After explaining to the PO that I had the ability to walk, and take my purchase monies with me, and that the sewage issue would still be there making the house unsaleable, he decided to pay for the new pipe...a $7-10k job that I don't have to cover.

I'm so happy my agent insisted that this clause be in the contract...I need to give him a good recommendation on LinkedIn

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles