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Our (Very) Old House
Trials! Triumphs! Tribulations!

Chronicals of Rehabbing a (Very) Old House

This page will be dedicated to listing our victories, discoveries (we hear there is an old pioneer dump somewhere on the property), and our defeats.

I suppose our first victory was being able to purchase the farm in the first place ... although this may turn out to be a tribulation!

We have discovered the foundation is dry laid creek rock (a creek does run through the property). We came by this discovery by tearing up the floor in the rear of the entry. A decision reached by the weak feeling and undulating nature of the floor.

We found the floor was laid on old growth trees flattened on the top and shimmed to create a level surface to lay the poplar floor boards. The beams are about 12 to 18 inches above the ground. Moisture has taken its toil, and at some point, a former owner had tried to repair damage from failed beams. The effort was very half-hearted and not a very good solution. We are exploring a more appropriate and permanent solution.

The positive thing to come out of this, is we now have a path to run new electric and ductwork for central heat - if we ever get a plan to get this project started!

Once spring gets here, we must figure out the formula of the morter between the bricks, and get busy doing some tuck and pointing. Much of the soft morter between the bricks has fallen out, allowing moisture to get to the inside walls. Too hard of a mixture won't allow the old soft bricks to properly expand and contract. I guessing that,as old as the house is , the mix could be likely 1/2 fine sand and 1/2 lime.

The addition is done. Now that w e have been in it for two winters, we're able to say it's warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  The layout is great even though there are a few changes we wish we could make. We would make the upstairs loft larger and forgo a few windows. Of course lots of little things still need to be done , such as trim on the stairs, one window and other small areas. Still debating on a nicer color than white.
 
We're still real happy withour kitchen. We sank so much money into the addition we didn't want to go crazy on it so we did all the work ourselves. We designed the layout, purchased used cabinets that actually worked in the space. With the addition of a few new ones we were set. We installed the hardwood floors and closet doors were found in the barns. The only change would be to have a larger island. That could happen with a new countertop. We just used the old one for now.
 
We have done pretty well with  the lime mortar and tuckpointing. It's a very satisfying job.
 
The bedrooms in the old house are done with the exception of closet doors and decorating.
 
The stairway is being stripped and is a heck of a job.
The brickwork in the back corner of the old house is done. We contacted many people who said they would come. Some didn't show, ones who did said the job was too small (duh, you drove out here!!) others whad no clue what lime mortar is. Finally my mom saw a truck in a driveway with Historical Renovations on the side. She left a note , he called and then I called him. He usually didn't do these "small" jobs and even mentioned someone who had already been here and turned it down too. When he realized we had really tried to get this done he took pity on us and did the work. He was great. Thanks Frank.
 
The subfloor is now in the library. Wallpaper stripped and plaster work is now being done.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Be sure to check back here to find out where we are in our project.