Questions tagged [old-house]
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What style of home and type of construction is my home built in 1900 in Georgia, USA?
Just purchased this home this year, it was built in 1900 and is Northwest of Atlanta, GA. The real estate and hazard insurance companies considered it a "wood frame," but upon trying to ...
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How do I wire up the switch for my bathroom fan?
I purchased my first house back in February. Overall, it's been great, but we've found the people we bought it from did a little "creative" wiring we've been slowly fixing.
About a month ago,...
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Upstairs wall studs sitting on top of subflooring that needs to be removed
I am currently renovating the entire second floor of my 1920's home and have run into an issue. The subflooring is currently unleveled and had intentions of pulling up the subflooring, adding a sister ...
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DIY Stucco Repair on a 100 year old brick rowhome
Hello fellow home improvement masochists.
My partner and I are in a 100 year old rowhome in South Philadelphia, and we have a rear exterior wall that is stucco over brick in need of some repair. There ...
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Need help identifying stem, replacing tub stem assembly 1920s
Trying to replace two stem assemblies from what appears to be original 1920s tub as they are leaking. Bonnet of one stem is rounded so is stuck (separate issue). The other one I pulled out and am ...
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How to remove this pancake box?
I know this is a well-trodden question here, but, as per usual, there doesn't seem to be an exact example of the particular fixture that's been previously asked.
I'm trying to install a ceiling fan ...
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3gang switch old house to new 3gang switch
I’m trying to help my mother in law with replacing some old 3 gang switches. Sadly the cabling is all the same colour and incredibly frustrating. I tried connected it up but ended up with 1/3 lights ...
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How to clean/maintain shellacked hardwood floors?
I'm fairly sure* I have shellacked hardwood floors. It has been surprisingly hard to figure out how to best clean/maintain them. For cleaning, the main suggestions I've seen are "use a solvent-...
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1890s Victorian home: is the wood flooring worth refinishing? [closed]
Our house was built in the 1890s and has the original wood floors in it. These floors were covered with subflooring when we moved in. The previous owner jacked the house up and redid the foundation ...
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Best temporary solution for a cracked single pane window
History/Problem: This question is pretty much a duplicate of Old single pane House window has a crack, can I fix it using a resin? however this is for an old house where the entire window needs ...
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Can I ground only part of my house?
Background:
My house was built in the 50s (I think) or thereabout. Hence the electrical wiring reflects the understanding of that time and is not the way that current (2023) code and safety ...
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Shoring up side of old raised concrete
I live in an old (1920) Baltimore rowhouse. The concrete basement floor was—as far as I can tell from having drilled in a few spots—poured over a pretty variable, haphazard substrate, probably just ...
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What size beams do I need to lift/support my house?
I am renovating an older home originally built in 1919 and added onto in 1949. The roof is rafters running in a T shape. So the load runs solely to the exterior walls with the exception of where the ...
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Is this wall plaster or drywall, or some other material? [duplicate]
This is an interior wall in a bedroom closet in a house built in 1940 in the northeastern US. I suspect that the material is not typical drywall from other experience hanging things on other walls in ...
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Is it acceptable to widen a non-load-bearing wall by tacking on new boards?
I have a 1940's house with interior walls made with old-style true-to-measurement 2x4's turned sideways in the wall cavity resulting in a wall with only a 2-inch wide cavity.
The walls are not ...
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How can I cover the window space for winter
I reside in an older residence, and unfortunately, the windows in my living room are non-operable. Each summer, I've faced the challenge of accidentally breaking a window pane while installing a ...
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Installing front Door
I’m in Cleveland and are renovating 100 year old building. It has a retail shop on the street level and apartment above with commercial kitchen in the back of the building.
I’m replacing the front ...
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Can install a GFCI outlet with only two wires in an old house?
I am working on trying to install an GFCI outlet/switch combo. I have 2 wires coming from the wall. A red and white. Can I make this work? All I see answers for is a 3 wire system
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Are cracks in a wall around a cantilevered bathroom signs of impending collapse? [closed]
My home was built in 1910 and the bathroom above the foyer has a corner that isn't supported by a wall underneath it. That corner of the bathroom is where the bathtub is. When going up the stairs you ...
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How should I lubricate a hinge that does not have a removable pin?
I live in a house with some very old hardware, including these hinges which have started to squeak. The hinges don't appear to have a removable pin, as both of the end knuckles seem to be completely ...
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Is this old wooden basement beam actually structural?
So this beam is in a sort of annoying location for a remodel and trying to figure out if this is actually doing anything. It spans roughly 8 feet and is attached to the sill plate of the foundation ...
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Old wiring to new light fan
I have 6 wires coming out 2 black ones connected with a white one 2 white ones connected and a free standing black one the new light and fan has a white and red wire what do I do
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Fixing up beat up wide plank floors
My farmhouse is about 120 years old. There is a lot of carpet upstairs, which I would love to remove. I have pets and allergies and I just think carpets are gross.
I can understand why someone decided ...
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Can I remove it without destroying it - Glued P trap on clogged old laundry sink
It’s an old concrete laundry sink with a glued PVC p trap (I’m assuming) and it’s currently clogged. Snake isn’t hitting anything and isn’t making it through the p trap. It looks like there is a no ...
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Old bathroom “heat lamp fan” has two black wires?
My old bathroom, exhaust fan, light, and heat lamp is on a three function switch. When you turn on the light it also turns on a “heat lamp fan” and the vanity light and gives power to outlet next to ...
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Trouble identifying hot and neutral in old house (no ground?)
I am replacing a ceiling fan and did not note how it was previously wired before taking it down (i.e. which are the hot and neutral wire). The house is quite old (some parts over 100 years - including ...
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What to do with old fiber board ceiling?
The new-old house (last Friday) is lovely, sound in many ways, but has fiber board ceilings and walls throughout. It is old, and has become spongy. The attached photo is of one panel that I removed to ...
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Help on old bathroom tiles falling and crumbling
I recently had to make some small renovations in my very old bathroom, which made me realize the tiles on the walls are in a very bad shape. I think they are original from the 1940 house build, and ...
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Leaking Doorframe
Just bought a home, rental, and tenant recently sent me video of the back doorway leaking through the bit of wood that stops the door from closing during a heavy rain. There is definitely caulk ...
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What is the structure of a cement front porch on a 1940's house
We've been unable to get porch & deck enamel paint to not peal, so we are thinking of demolishing it for a rebuild of some or another design.
Last paint job was ~5 years ago. Scraped off all the ...
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Can I increase the size of my floor register to improve cooling in my bedroom?
My house was built in '61 and was 100% electric with no air conditioning. At a later point (we think 60s-70s) the electric baseboard heating was removed and a forced air system was retrofitted. We ...
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Shellac Primer on entire interior of house?
I recently purchased an old house. Due to its age, I don't really know the specifics of the materials used; things like type of paint, composition of drywall, etc. There have also been some animal ...
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3 sets of wires what do I do?
I am installing a ceiling fan with a light kit which I have done before. But I’ve never had these many wires in the box. So what’s what? What goes to the which ones?
Brightened up
Brightened up
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Is it safe to parge historic interior brick basement wall with hydrulic cement at grade?
I have a historic house from 1906 with soft bricks that had water leaking through top of basement wall near ground/grade level. Opening up the basement ceiling I can see that the mortar is all gone, ...
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How to identify ash deafening in the joist bay?
I have a Queens brick Townhouse built in 1906. I was attempting to repair my basement ceiling joists and found several joist bays under my front door threshold/atrium with wooden boards encasing what ...
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How can I replace 2 wire switch with 3 way combination receptacle?
I am wanting to add an outlet to my bathroom. There is currently a light switch with a black and white wire. The green wire looks to be running somewhere else. This switch goes to a light fixture with ...
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Can't remove this piece of faucet
I've spent all afternoon trying to uninstall this faucet, and I'm nearly done except for this last part. This widespread faucet has been a pain in the neck to remove. The spout and left side handle I ...
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Hooking up new light/fan switch with dimmer and fan control, only single power in, no ground or common
Good morning, as stated above, I'm wanting to install a new light/fan switch w/dimmer and fan control, however our house was built in 1925 and has no ground or nutral at the box, only single power ...
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New Ceiling light old wires [duplicate]
Am putting a new ceiling light but the old light has 5 wires and the new ceiling light has 3 slots. The old light has 2 black ones in neutral and one in line, 2 reds in loop and the bare wire that’s ...
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How should I connect a new light to this wiring?
I am putting a new ceiling light on. What wire goes where? The light turns on when all red are in the middle one black in live a one black in neutral and the Earth I leave out. If I leave the Earth ...
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What is the best way to add insulation to an uninsulated 1950's house? [closed]
We are in the process of closing on a 1950s house (1 story, 1100sq ft, 2B/1ba) in southern california. It has not been renovated (old windows, no insulation anywhere) but in decent conditions.
I am ...
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Metal box shows ground on plug tester even though there is no metallic sheathing or grounding wire
Two rooms in our house have older electrical wiring: two-wire 12 gauge insulated wire (no ground wire) that looks like an older version of romex (no metallic sheathing). These wires terminate outside ...
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What is this pattern on old wood in my old house?
I live in an old house built in the 1950s. The basement is part unfinished and some of the ceiling boards have this weird black, spiderweb type pattern on it. What is this? Is it mold? If so are there ...
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Can I ground a detached garage to adjacent soil instead of connecting back to the panel?
I have a 50s house that has some 10/3 without ground for 240v/30a running to the garage.
It's easier to run a ground wire to the outside of the garage and to the earth than it is back to the panel. Is ...
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How do I install a new light fixture to this old exterior junction box?
I have a large exterior junction box for front porch 1953 addition. Trying to install a new LED flush mount light fixture. Nowhere to put a metal bar to hold the light fixture up due to the box being ...
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Adding trim when walls aren't straight?
I'm doing a custom built-in in my house and as it being an old house the walls are not plumb. The cabinet is straight, level and plumb, but there's an inch difference against the wall from the top and ...
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moisture control inside of brick house
I am partially gutting a bathroom. It has been redone once. When I tore up where the sink was, underneath the Ditra on the layer of OSB that was laid down there was water damage. So I tore that up, ...
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Does this style of bull nose trim have a specific name? Any tips for repair?
I live in a 1899 house in St. Louis. The style is of a Richardsonian Romanesque but a little plainer than early forms.
We have these bull nose treatments throughout the house. In most locations they ...
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What is this wall covering in our 1908 USA house?
We are working on a house built in 1908 in the USA and have found what a local old-timer called “deadening felt” attached to the walls and ceilings, which are shiplap. The internet returns no images ...
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Options for bathroom remodel (1920s)
We're currently tearing out our main bathroom in this 1920s house we recently purchased. We've never done any big remodel like this but we're avid diyers. Here's a gallery https://i.stack.imgur.com/...
