Old Houses SUCK!!!

[ROH73]

Looks great, scr8p! Good luck with all the drywall finishing; like losiXXXman, I always hate that part too!

[scr8p]

i'm farming out the mudding and sanding part.

my uncle's nephew does it for a living, and does it on the side as well. for what he's gonna charge me, there's no point in getting my hands dirty....... for that job anyway. plus, he'll get it done alot quicker than i probably would.

[jwscab]

yeah, and the funny part is when you posted the 'before' sheetrock pictures, I could actually smell what the building was like, hahhah....it's a unique experience for sure....

we renovated(still continues) 2 homes in my lifetime so far, and I will be glad if I never have to do it again.....

hah, yeah, I can imagine a body man would take about 5 times as long to mud those sheets in....'I gotta make it FLAT'

[scr8p]

hah, yeah, I can imagine a body man would take about 5 times as long to mud those sheets in....'I gotta make it FLAT'

bingo!

even the amount of time i spent trying to level off the ceiling and walls. i'm sure i went a little overkill with how perfect i was trying to make them. but towards the end, i was starting to get the....... F--- it, it's good enough for drywall mentality.

[ROH73]

i'm farming out the mudding and sanding part.

A very wise choice. I almost had a mental breakdown getting my finished basement drywall looking "good." I'll never mud that much again...the cost savings just aren't worth the stress.

[shodog]

I can sympathize with you Scr8p. I’ve remodeled every room in my 1948 house. I’ve found a fair share of questionable modifications. Just late last year I installed central heating and remodled the Living room, dining room and hallway. Overall though I wouldn’t trade it for a new house. I like the fact that my house is different than all the others on the block and not like every 4th house in a tract development.

[Halgar]

Overall though I wouldn’t trade it for a new house. I like the fact that my house is different than all the others on the block and not like every 4th house in a tract development.

And, it's better built and will last longer with fewer problems than any of the new garbage that's being scabbed together. In just the last 10 years I've seen the quality drop considerably.

[jwscab]

A friend of mine was describing some work he was doing on his house recently. He said the house was built like this:

aluminum siding>>flat insulation>>framing and soft insulation>>sheetrock

what happened to the sheathing?

[Johnboy72]

I'm about to PCS and return home to Ft. Drum area. Most of the houses up there are around 100 yrs old on the average while we've been searching. My wife is excited as she wants an old house. Then that show, If These Walls Could Talk, has her even more excited. Who's not excited? Me, cause she knows I can do the majority. I'm gonna hate life for awhile! Oh and I've hung enough sheetrock to know I'll be farming out the mudding and sanding too. Screw that!

[N2Deep]

I love the older homes for what they are: quality. The only thing I have against them are the hollow wall cavaties that allow the mouse to go through the entire wall and you can't get at them. They may die and cause a stink and you never know where it is coming from. Now the new homes are built with the bottom plate and then cripple studs or king studs every 16 inch. Now that's a lot of chewing through to get access through the wall for the little mice.

[kaiser]

idk scr8p, i'd trade with you in a minute. my house was built in 1978 and it's the biggest p.o.s. i have ever seen.
at least your house is built tough, mines as cheap as they come.

last week the wife and i saw our dream home:

built in 1800, 2200sq ft, 2.2 acres, barn and garage. too bad we're not ready to sell until next year.

i'd enjoy working on that because i know it's built well. sure it's alot of work but atleast the "bones" are worth it. whereas the bones of my current house aren't worth my time.

[Halgar]

A friend of mine was describing some work he was doing on his house recently. He said the house was built like this:

aluminum siding>>flat insulation>>framing and soft insulation>>sheetrock

what happened to the sheathing?

Depends on where and when the house was built. I grew up in a home that was well over 100 years old, the shiplap siding was nailed directly to the studs, no sheathing. Interior was also shiplap directly nailed to the studs.

I've seen homes built in the 1960's, some have sheathing, some do not. Homes in these parts built in the 80's had no sheathing, just stucco over the studs. Post 1980 homes are typically sheathed with OSB, which is worthless to begin with, then a layer of 1" foam, then a skim coat of stucco so thin that you'll put your finger through it if you tap on it.

You tell me what era home you'd prefer?

[klavy69]

Scr8p,
My house was built in the 30's and remodeled a couple times. I did this for a living so its not a big deal to me for the tools and work but I wouldn't trade my house for anything newer because I'm cheap . I've got a few guys I went to school with that have 3-4k a year taxes on newly built houses...mines a 1/3 of that .

Lookin good so far though. .Keep at it...but you'll find out its never gonna be done. Always have that 'should've done it this way...next time I will'
Todd

[dualstroke]

Scr8p,
My house was built in the 30's and remodeled a couple times. I did this for a living so its not a big deal to me for the tools and work but I wouldn't trade my house for anything newer because I'm cheap . I've got a few guys I went to school with that have 3-4k a year taxes on newly built houses...mines a 1/3 of that .

Lookin good so far though. .Keep at it...but you'll find out its never gonna be done. Always have that 'should've done it this way...next time I will'
Todd

I have an old house and would kill to have my taxes at 3-4 k.My taxes are almost double that and the house I own is no dream house by any means.But it is a roof over the families head.Scr8p I feel your frustration.Every time I touch anything in my house it turns into a large project.I went on my roof yesterday to fix a previously patched leak around the chimney.As soon as I started to peel away the shingles around the chimney I knew it wasn't going to be good.No tar paper installed and plywood like a trampoline.Time for a new roof.I started and finished the stripping of the roof already,got the new plywood installed and started laying the new shingles.Hopefully tomorrow it will be close to done,then I still need to fix the fubar around the chimney.It just never ends.

[scr8p]

we put a new roof on our house the year after we bought it. when we first looked at the house (before we bought it) you could see it was in need. the following year, we installed all new windows, except the 5 on the enclosed side porch. i'm hoping to get those in next year. as well as a new front door, and both doors on the side porch.

me getting sick a couple years ago (and not fully recovering) has really pushed back a lot of the things i've wanted to get done on the house. i just don't have the income i used to have. i'm unable to be the workaholic i used to be. i worked at probably the best paying collision shop in the area, and then restored old cars on the side with my dad. i brought a nice chunk of change into the household a month. now, there's really no way my body will allow me to hustle at that collision shop the way i need..... and they'd want me to. so, i just work with my dad. i can pace myself there, and he understands when i'm ready to call it a day after 6-7 hours.

i'm sure there's another full time job out there that my body can handle and earn good money doing it. but, i'm kinda stubborn. i love working on cars. it's all i've ever wanted to do, or plan to do.