When this house went on the market, I expected it to get snatched up right away. But instead, it languished a bit and when we made an offer, there was just one other offer (also a flipper). That's pretty unusual in today's real estate market, but there were understandably some things that would scare a prospective buyer off. And we found all of them as we started opening up the walls and ceilings!
What were our concerns?
1) Cracked plaster probably lies behind all that paneling and suspended ceilings. Our guess is it was shaken loose when the house was moved a couple of blocks in 1960.
And sure enough, we have found lots of cracks. But also LOTS and LOTS of wallpaper - which may be holding the plaster together. I won't really know until I get it stripped off.
Most of the first floor had two ceilings, but the dining room gets the award for 3 ceilings in one room!
(BTW - my mother's favorite color scheme is in this wallpaper - avocado green, burnt orange and harvest gold. I'm betting this is from the late 60's or early 70's!)
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| Eagles, cannons and the Liberty Bell!!! |
My plaster/drywall expert is coming to look at the walls this week. I really, really want to save the plaster. But I also want to insulate the walls (we can add blown in cellulose behind the plaster), so I need his expertise to determine if that is feasible.
2) Structural issues. There is serious sagging in some areas (as much as 2 inches) and also a weird hump at the top of the stairs (we think maybe they over-jacked the floor when the house was moved). As we pulled back some of the layers, we found areas where the joists were seriously under spanned and had pulled away from the beams (that's why joint hangers are required by modern building code). We will 'sister' all of these to add more structural integrity and straighten out the floors.
This is a post and beam house - meaning the posts and beams hold up all of the load of the building. The studs that connect the beams to the floor are simply there to hold the lath and plaster. So when we saw that a plumber had completely cut out one of the beams (over a doorway!!!!) - we were amazed. How is this house still standing?
3)
Knob and tube wiring. Even when an inspection says the knob and tube wiring is no longer active - I don't believe it. And this is why! Unless the ceilings had been totally removed, there is no way to eliminate all the knob and tube between floors. These light fixtures were wired directly into the old wiring. Ugh!
But while that's not a great thing, a nastier discovery was someone had cut all the knob and tube wiring in the attic (so for the homeowner, it would look like it was disabled) and then tied it all into a single box for the 2nd floor. Our electrician was so appalled, he took it as a souvenir to show how bad it was!
4) Heating issues. There are so many heating sources, which points to a very badly insulated house. There is an oil tank in the basement, but the steam boiler is now connected to natural gas, so the oil tank is just sitting there. The house also has a pellet stove in the basement, with metal grates between floors to allow the heat to go through the building. There is also a Rinnai propane gas heater in the living room. That's a lot of heat sources!!
Oh - and there is zero insulation in the walls, except for the kitchen when it was redone, probably in the 70's.
5) Old Roof - the disclosure says the roof is 25+ years old. And it will be a tricky roof to redo!
6) Tired old kitchen and bathroom - while both of these rooms are functional, the kitchen drawers don't open/close correctly, parts of the stove are broken and it's just time to update both of these spaces.
Of course we will be updating all of these items! I'm in the process of getting quotes to see how much it will all cost 😬. Wish me luck!
