Renovating and repairing old home... suggestions??

[Freedom]

Hi Jennie!

I asked my Dad and we ran through each item. Here goes!

Upstairs bathroom. Can you figure out if the pipes are copper, galvanized or black iron pipe? There could be a plug which may be rust, if it is either galvanized or black iron pipe. If that is what it is, you need new pipes. The pipes “could” be PVC (that is a plastic), but that is a new material and would only be there if it is not the original pipes. If it is copper or PVC, look to see if there is a shut off valve which is not open all the way. This could be under the sink or at the tub. Is there an access panel next to the tub which exposes the piping? There could be a shut off valve in there which needs to be adjusted. Does the cold water also come through at a trickle? If yes, then check if there is some sort of filter on the spout at the tub. Usually these are only at the kitchen sinks, but you never know who did what to a home over 100 years.

Downstairs kitchen sink. Is the water flowing OK in there when you open that faucet? Or is it just a trickle in there as well? Taking 5 to 7 minutes to get hot water seems about right if it is 42 in there! All those pipes need to be heated up. But they are cooling the hot water down. So it takes time.

Fireplace. You can’t just remove the gas logs, a professional who can work with gas has to do that. They have put plugs in the gas lines to prevent leaking so you don’t have an explosion. You need to determine if this was gas logs put into an original fireplace which was built for wood, or was the fireplace built FOR the gas? It makes a huge difference. In general, you will have less heat escaping up the chimney the way it is now rather than opening it to use for wood.

Windows. Others have already covered that pretty well. You will see a HUGE difference in heating costs once you upgrade! You will want to learn about windows with double glazing, or triple, with gases inside. Could be $100 to $200 each. We did new windows at my Dad’s house 4 years ago through Sears and it was amazing the improvement! They had a local handyman do the installation. If you do it yourself, keep in mind that the window unit may be quite heavy, depending on the size! Plus the newer windows tilt in for easy cleaning; oh I LOVE them. If you can’t do these right away, you may want to consider getting the vinyl covering from Home Depot for this winter, as the news says home heating bills are going way up this winter.

Walls. Drywall or plaster, either one can be insulated. Not sure why you think one is better than the other I prefer plaster, hate drywall. Look into insulating all exterior walls for a start. As for Sophie, Home Depot sells plastic strips you can put on corners. I put them on 3 corners where my cats kept rubbing. On plaster walls. Don’t know if that will help stop her or not.

Floors. Is the second floor a double layer or a single layer of flooring? It sounds like there is wall to wall carpet on top? It isn’t clear what you want to do there.

Do you have a cellar under the house? Do you have central heating?
Have you been working out at the gym and lifting weights so you are able to doall this work?

[Catty1]

Sorry, LH - wrong on the FP question - Sandi had the right answer.

Secondly, I mentioned before I have a gas fireplace that I don't use. Can I just rip out the gas logs that are there and use regular wood logs?? NO. Gas and Wood use entirely different chimneys. Wood burns a LOT hotter, with sparks going up and creosote forming inside the chimney. Does the chimney need to be inspected? Gas inspectors need to inspect the gas connection. Wood chimneys should be checked - summer is a good time, as cleaners are not busy! :-)

If you really want a wood burner, you will need an insert and the insulated chimney installed.If so, any clue what that costs?? Do they still have those skinny guys in tops and tails who clean them??? Those sweeps guys??? (I know I'm thinking Mary Poppins... forgive me)

Your gas FP might be better than a woodburner....there should be a 'grate' under the main glass that lifts up from the bottom. Inside will be a metal tag (possibly under a LOT of dust ). Find the make and model number there. If the model # ends in N or B, it's a natural vent, and draws air FROM the room to the outside for combustion.

If it is a direct vent, then adding a fan would give you more and cleaner heat than the wood would LOL.

If you want to post or PM the make and model I'll do a search for you.

(I worked at a fireplace and HVAC store for several years, which is why I am such a pain.... )

[kuhio98]

Having gone thru some renovations lately myself (on the "new" house we bought), I highly recommend hiring a general contractor to deal with all this.

I would ask all my friends, family and co-workers for recommendations on who they have hired to do their major work. Ask them if they were happy with the work. More importantly, if they were not happy. After you have 3 or 4 names, call them and get estimates for what you want done, think you might want done, or just the list of problems for them to investigate. Then get their bids. Ask for references. Check out the references. Ask them if there is a recent project you can visit. Check with your Better Business Bureau to see if they have any lawsuits against them.

It will take a lot of your time, but doing this prep work will save you lots of time and money in the long run.

When we were thinking about buying our new house, we hired an inspector to go through it to point out problems. Then, we asked him for recommendations on general contractors for some remodeling -- note, he should NOT recomend himself or a family member! Once we had 2 names, we asked our friends and family if they had used them. Turns out one of them had been highly recommended to my sister by another person but she never got around to hiring him. This guy and his team has kicked butt at our house. I'm recommending him to everyone I know -- but he's in Alaska, so that won't be of much help to you.

Ask around. If you can afford it, pay a good general contractor to do all the hard work.

Also, the very first thing we wanted to do when we bought the house was rip out the gas fireplace and replace it with a woodburning one. We are so glad that we didn't. We use the fireplace every morning and it really heats up the house. Our old house had a woodburning fireplace and we found it too much of a bother to build a fire.

[Lady's Human]

Catty1....Sorry, been there, done that.

In an old house, it is more than likely a wood fireplace that has been converted over to a gas log. It all depends on the age of the fireplace. A modern construction gas log fireplace has most likely been put in with that in mind. In an older house, however, the fireplace was more than likely constructed as a wood heat source for the house, in which case the gas log can be removed and the fireplace reverted to wood burning with little trouble. As stated in my prior post, however, an inspection and cleaning is an absolute neccesity.

[Catty1]

LH, I see what you mean. However, when they guys at our shop were putting in a gas insert to replace a wood, the venting had to be a proper vent, either natural or direct.

If whoever worked on the fireplace in Jenn's place merely put in a gas line, and then gas logs without the associated venting, it would sure give out crappy heat! So maybe that is what happened - it was a do-it-yourself job, which would be at the least not up to code.

Jenn - if your city or town government has an inspection section for gas and other installations, you might want to see if they have a record for what was done at your place. At the least - the fireplace gas line would have to be inspected in mots jurisdictions when it was newly installed.

Plumbing...I don't know anything about it, but the water pressure sounds lousy. Maybe not new pipes...but wonder if there is a way to clean the ones that are there? Might take some pressure cleaning with an anti-corrosive liquid, though I don't know if that is how pipes are cleaned, or eve if they can be.

Maybe get an estimate - my guess would be to replace main metal/iron pipes with PVC. How to find out if they are clogged, I don't know.

ETA: Found a good link on this: http://www.drainsandplumbing.com/waterpipes.html

[jennielynn1970]

Catty.... what I see at the fireplace are pipes that come up at the bottom into the logs. The logs are mounted somehow. No glass, no vent looking anything. I know there is supposed to be a flue with fireplaces, but I really don't want to feel around inside a creepy, dusty fireplace to find it.

As for installing my own replacement windows.... lol. I may be handy, but when it comes to something like a window that can leak, I know my luck, lol. There's no way I'd try to do that myself. My luck, I'd drop them as well. I actually wouldn't want to make them smaller (the larger ones) because I love the look of them, and then I'd have to change the shades and everything else as well. The shades I have in my bedroom I special ordered from JC Penneys, and are really nice.

What I'm gathering is that this is going to take an extended amount of time. I think the first thing I want to deal with is the hot water and pipes. I miss taking a hot bath. I hate wasting water waiting for it to get hot.

I guess I'll have to also look into getting some of the plastic stuff to put over some of the windows that are super drafty. I do keep the doors closed to the rooms that aren't being used, and I put the magnetic sheets over the vents in those rooms as well so that it push the heat back to the other rooms. I have small electric heaters in the 3rd floor for the kitties up there since it doesn't seem to stay as warm up there (or the wall vents don't seem to get the heat all the way up there).

I like the idea of the wainscotting for the walls. That might look really nice in the dining room. I can't see me ever trying to make this house look contemporary, it's more historic, so I think the wainscotting would be a nice touch.

I'm not sure how I'd insulate the kitchen... I'd have to ask someone about that. The guy who built my deck also does regular construction, roofing and things like that, so maybe he'd know about the insulation. Not sure about the windows. The guy who installed my hot water heater has his own small company and does handyman jobs and plumbing. I'll have to find his card again. He was really nice. He worked at Home Depot, but drove me to Lowes to pick up my hot water heater, and even changed the pipes and hooked up the electric for the hot water heater cause the previous one was gas (and Home Depot and Lowes installers wouldn't do any of that for me).

So much to do. Expensive too. Sigh. Part of me wonders why I stopped renting . I miss having things fixed for me by the landlord, lol.

[Lady's Human]

But when you own your own house, the renovations go toward your equity in the house. All your rent does is go into the landlord's pocket.

You're probably going to have to replace at least some pipes. With the cost of copper at the moment it's guaranteed to be damned expensive, but it's worth it. Most codes in the northeast don't allow PVC for supply lines due to bursting issuesin cold weather, but will allow Cpvc (PVC lined copper). The problem with Cpvc is that you have to re-plumb whole areas of the house with it as opposed to merely fixing the problem areas.

[Freedom]

So much to do. Expensive too. Sigh. Part of me wonders why I stopped renting . I miss having things fixed for me by the landlord, lol.

As LH says, it all builds your equity If you haven't already, make sure you set up a file folder and place ALL the receipts for every single renovation in that folder. Some day in the far future when you sell, you will need all that info!

I keep a folder for each job, so I can get the warranty, phone numbers, and so forth, easily if something develops. Then I photocopy the receipt or cancelled check or credit card bill with the payment and put THAT in the equity folder. However you do it, doing it on an ongoing basis will simply things when you sell.

[Rachel]

When we were thinking about buying our new house, we hired an inspector to go through it to point out problems.

If you didn't have an inspection prior to buying the house, you may want to consider one now to determine which things are health and safety issues and which things could wait.

Also, the very first thing we wanted to do when we bought the house was rip out the gas fireplace and replace it with a woodburning one. We are so glad that we didn't. We use the fireplace every morning and it really heats up the house. Our old house had a woodburning fireplace and we found it too much of a bother to build a fire.

I agree whole heartedly. The hauling of wood is a real pain and we had our wood burning fireplace converted to gas for the same reason. Since you don't know the condition of the chimney or where your damper is, don't use the fireplace unityou have the thing inspected. Also I would want to have a plumber check out the gas line, etc.