The house we just bought for $3500.00

[rickr]

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Forgot that we also found 20 gallons of new interior paint, still in cartons, plus new and good used paint supplies. Saved those for the renovations also.

This shot shows the crack in the water meter. The crack was on the "city's side" of the meter. If the crack would have been on the other side, the water bill would have been thousands of dollars! THe water ran for three months!!

The boiler was was still on, and trying to pump water into the broken radiators. It made a slurping sound, and I shut it off yesterday, after finding the switch.

 

[rickr]

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1930's electrical service. My brother is an electrican, so he will install a 100amp service with 220volts

 

[rickr]

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nasty kitchen sink. At first I thought it was coppertone....

 

[rickr]

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Sunroom This room was closed off since 1984. It remains boarded up from the outside. I really like this room. It will be a nice place for guests in the summer, plants, and just relaxing. I will install a ceiling fan out here as well.

 

[rickr]

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How the windows open out in the sunroom. I hope to save them, but they need reglazed. Maybe the boyz can handle that if I teach them how, or perhaps I can remove them end have it done. I sure do not have the time myself!

The screens are green also, and they are tiny louvers. Really kind of cool!

 

[rickr]

We found a few antiques in the sunroom. I did not photograph them as we were too busy. Nothing really that cool anyway. My aunt came over, and I gave the antiques to her.

Tuesday night I will post some pixs of the outside of the house, and also a few pixs of what the outside of this house looked like in the 1940's 1950's and 1960's

I was shocked that we never saw any rats or even mice. But we did not, nor any rodent droppings either.
We did find a dead squirrel in the attic however, so I will post a pixs of that just for entertainment value. <:

 

[hydralique]

Rick, it's nice to see someone take on this big task! Too often renovations of this sort are done by outsiders with little interest in the neighborhood, which is obviously not the case here. It's not unusual in some older neighborhoods here in Southern California to find once attractive wood houses which have been "updated" by spraying stucco over the siding and then installing nasty Home Depot doors with fake stained glass lites.

Not only will you end up with a house at a very attractive price but you'll make your own house more pleasant by having an attractive house next door. Good luck with the project!

 

[rapunzel]

Fascinating!

Now I am wondering who lived there beforehand and why was the house left like this for all these years? At this point you guys are removing the traces of someone else's life. So I would like to know a little history, if that's alright. Did the last occupant(s) have no next of kin? Did they just up and leave one day? Did they suddenly die? How come it was abandoned and locked up like this for years? I just couldn't imagine this sort of thing happening in my neighborhood - it's kind of weird and a little creepy.

Cheers

Rapunzel

 

[goatfarmer]

You sure got your work cut out for you!

 

[toggleswitch2]

Yes Rick, how busy you and your crew will be! *WOW*

~Forgot that we also found 20 gallons of new interior paint, still in cartons, plus new and good used paint supplies. Saved those for the renovations also.

Beware: According to my painter, cold kills/destroys paint. I'd say dump it!

~1930's electrical service. My brother is an electrican, so he will install a 100amp service with 220volts.

Since the majority of the cost is labor, when I upgraded the electrical service to my house I went right to 200a 110/220v.
I had the option of nailing the incoming "romex" [plastic sheathed wire without a conduit/pipe/tube or a plastic pipe] right to the house. With a little work, I found a NYC electrical conractor [nearby jurisdiciton with MUCH, MUCH, MUCH tougher electrical and code standards] who used a steel pipe to encase wires bringing in power from the street pole to the circuit-breaker panel. This way I don't have to worry about animals/beasties biting/eating the wiring or the plastic encasment/tubing becoming brittle over time.

Of course a built-in good little electric heater in the utlity room with "freeze-guard" [no full "off" setting but rather 40*F (5*C +/-)minimum], is good for peace-of-mind for those times when the gas service or boiler fails!

Much luck and patience!

 

[polkanut]

I like the funky look of that phone settee, my parents have a wooden one in their central hallway, very handy.

 

[sudsmaster]

Yeah, I'm in favor of rigid electrical conduit whenever possible.

In this house, the previous owner upgraded the knob-and-tube main supply with a 1-1/2" rigid conuit running from the meter to the main fuse panel in the front hall closet. Underneath the floor is a custom made heavy gauge steel box, about 1'x2', with another 1-1/2" conduit running to the back of the house. From there it dives underground to go to the workshop about 100' away, to another fuse panel. And from there it's all rigid or armored conduit to various outlets, lights, machine tools, etc. The kitchen/laundry room/family room outlets were all redone with rigid/armored as well, but they left the knob and tube (in great shape) for the living/dining/bath/guest bedroom. The master bed/bath is an addiiton, and it's all romex, albeit served by a couple of knob and tube 20 amp wires in the attic from the hall closet.

The entire house property is 100 amp, and although I'm sure 200 amp would be nice I don't actually think it's necessary. Having a gas cooktop, gas water heater, and gas furnace helps. And out here the aim is to reduce electric consumption, as the rates are much more reasonable if one keeps the consumption under the "lifeline" level. Eventually I'll upgrade the original knob-and-tube serving about 1/2 of the original house, but since it shows no signs of deterioration I'm not in a great hurry to do that.

 

[hydralique]

Rigid conduit is nice, but I think overall Romex is better and safer for the house because the rigid takes a much larger hole in framing. Holes are OK if neatly centered in a stud, but I've seen too many large holes drilled indiscriminately near important shear connections. For that reason I prefer to not locate a main service box near the end of a shearwall, but since the Department of Water and Power has the last say-so on service locations you can't guarantee anything beforehand. Recently I did a remodel of a nice home which included a new tub in the master bath. When we pulled the old and large whirlpool tub out we were all amazed the floor hadn't sagged as the joists below were riddled with holes for electrical conduit going to the main service box on an adjacent wall. The contractor had to sister on good joists before the new tub was installed, and reroute the electrical as much as was possible. And this was from a late '80s house, when the original builder should have known better!

Plumbing causes similar problems, but since it is confined to certain locations in the house often some strategically placed 2 x 6 walls can be used to provide room for the pipes. Electrical wires go everywhere and you'll never predict where the electrician will route them.

 

[toggleswitch2]

oh, since everyone is entitled to my opinion. *LOL*---

I'd definitely go the route fo a check-valve of the water feed to the boiler and use anti-freeze within. As previously mentioned, slight killing of efficiency, but SO worth it!

I'd guess one has to check the conentration of same in loop/system every 5 years.

Rule of thumb for electric heat:
7 watts minimun per square foot of room area.
10 watts is better and used in colder regions.
1 watt per cubic foot for rooms with tall or unusually shaped ceilings. Of course if you are looking for freeze-protection versus 70*F (22*C) room temperatures, a lower wattage will suffice.

Please do keep us apprised of progrees; a pic is worth a thousand words."Enquiring minds want to know".

 

[rickr]

Heating system

I think the entire heating system is shot in this house. The pipes and radiators have frozen and thawed repeatedly, and to replace all that would be very costly. The boiler looks newer, but it could be cracked as well.

This house had forced air gas originally, and the ducts, vents, and return air systems are all still intact. The old lady that lived here in the early 1950's until her death in 1981 had the hot water heat installed at a great cost in the early 1970's.
I intend to rip out the hot water system, and install a new forced air gas furnace with central air conditioning. I think that will make this home more attractive to a renter, and add value to the home if I sell it someday.

 

[polkanut]

Does this house have a full basement, or just a crawl space?

 

[rickr]

Hi Tim, Neither, this house is built on a cement slab. (thank God) Getting to the fresh water pipes may be a hassle, but I am still glad that this house is not on a basement, or crawl space. I think I would have had them tear this down if it were not on a slab.

 

[sudsmaster]

Um, in this home the rigid conduit is led under the floor boards, and only penetrates the structure where it goes through the outer wall (again under the flooring) or through the floorboards to get to the surface mounted distribution panel in the hall closet. The connections to kitchen/laundry/family room outlets are via armored cable which doesn't take a much larger hole than rigid would.

When I replace the knob and tube in the original part of the house, it most likely will be romex - at least in the attic for the lighting. I might address the wall outlets from below via armored cable... haven't decided on that as yet.

 

[toggleswitch2]

~as the rates are much more reasonable if one keeps the consumption under the "lifeline" level

What is a lifeline level?

What a break Rick! Nothing like ductowork and other goodies to save costs in your conversion back to forced-air!