Someone ripped out the original trim in several rooms of our old house. They installed off-the-shelf stuff and made no attempt to match the original home. We put it back, but it was ‘a process’. We had to get it custom-made because nobody had trim from 130 years ago in stock. Imagine the audacity! LOL …
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I snapped and sold the family home back in 2018. That decision came after I’d pressure-washed the patio/deck all weekend (after working and chasing kids all week). I was DONE with homeownership. We moved into a condo and I did no yard work for many years. But now, mowing my yard (er…weeds) is my newest …
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After wrapping up the original 130-year-old floors, we moved to the next job. The downstairs oak floors were a big job, but much easier. Joseph (the floor refinisher) Emily, and I did a dance of “move every piece of furniture in your house around while I chase you” for about a week. By the end …
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When we ripped up the carpet, it revealed the original 130-year-old wood floors throughout most of the upstairs (and in our bedroom). The floors were in various stages of disrepair. Some were painted, some were kinda painted, some had holes, some were fine. We decided to try to keep them and get them restored. We …
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I knew we had a leak when we bought the house. We didn’t have a leak. We had a waterfall! One night, when it was raining really hard, I decided to do a little demo to figure out where the leak was. The answer: The entire roof! [much water in my face later] We got …
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Our new old house had some foundation issues. The main house has a crawl space (with no real issues). The den addition was built over a basement. The basement was flooding, and a wall was caving in. To make sure we have the old house on a firm foundation for the next century, we added …
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The house was built 130+ years ago…no electricity. Our bedroom still has the original gas lantern on the ceiling (converted to electricity at some point). Electricity was added to the house over time. Initially knob and tube was installed (I’ve found remnants). Then, when everything was upgraded (probably 60+ years ago) they slapped the electrical …
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Our first major project at This Old Dean House was to repipe the entire house. No more cast iron sewer lines and no more galvanized water lines from the street all the way to the fixtures inside. The galvanized water lines are a ticking time bomb. So we are opening up a ton of walls …
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The upstairs HVAC seemed to be working but I didn’t want to face a dreadful TN summer with a 30+ year old relic that looked like it might go at any moment. So I got proactive and our first capex project was to replace the system. I figured I’d hang out in the attic for …
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In the spirit of “I’d never ask anyone to do for me what I’m unwilling to do myself” I decided I’m going to go under the house. I got all suited up for entry into the tiny (very tiny) crawl space door and go under our 130 year old house. I’m doing this BEFORE the …
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