Maintaining an old house can seem like a full time job at times. Old homes were built with materials and in a manner that requires regular maintenance. While this maintenance requires time it is ultimately a more affordable option than today’s home design of replacement rather than repair. Regular Inspections Regularly inspecting your old house [...] Read on →
How to save 80% on home repairs may sound like a marketing hype gone wild. But anyone who has been a reader of this blog for more than a week will know that that is not my style. I am very serious about that title. What I’m going to share with you today is SO [...] Read on →
Sometimes it’s nail holes and sometimes it’s rotten wood, but your projects will often require you to patch wood. In this post I’ll help you determine the best materials (and there are tons available!) to use when the time comes to patch wood projects. The type of material you should use will depend on what [...] Read on →
In 2001 I had just returned to New York City from a year in Tokyo performing for Walt Disney. It was a fantastic experience living in a such a different culture and country, but I was happy to be back home in America. The lease had run out on my old apartment and I was [...] Read on →
In the name of progress we have made some pretty dumb “improvements” to the things we use to build a house over the centuries. Some have killed people like asbestos and others are just so atrociously ugly they deserve to die a slow death in a landfill. And the winners of the dumbest building materials [...] Read on →
We do a lot of hardwood floor refinishing at Austin Home Restorations and I often get asked by clients how they should care for their newly refinished wood floors. There is a specific timeline of how to treat and care for a wood floor after it was just refinished. In this post I’ll outline what [...] Read on →
Installing trim properly requires an eye for detail and a few specific tools and techniques. The best historic trim and moldings were installed in a seamless way called “coping” that hides joints while still allowing for the house to move and settle with the decades. A coped joint is a big part of the installation [...] Read on →
Plaster walls are some of the most misunderstood parts of an old home. And many homeowners are quick to tear them down and put up drywall. But replacing plaster walls with drywall is not only a major mess and expense, but it also destroys the character of your home. Each plaster wall is unique. You [...] Read on →
Using a pressure washer on an old home is not as simple as you might think. While it may be a great way to clean dirty siding and prep for new paint, if not done properly it can cause more harm than good. You can cause damage to wood or older soft masonry and force [...] Read on →
This will be the last post in our series Tips For Historic Home Owners. I really hope you’ve enjoyed these helpful mini posts and that you’ve found some value in the info. We’ve been told that patience is a virtue all our lives. Well, it turns out that when it comes owning an old house [...] Read on →
As I write this post about oil-based paint I realize that the information is quickly disappearing from both common knowledge and usefulness today. If you live in California I don’t even think you’re allowed to buy oil-based paint anymore (at least not in any significant quantities). The landscape of house painting has been changing ever [...] Read on →
Every painter has his tips and tricks. So I know that this list will vary significantly from another painter’s. My grandfather had a long and very busy career as a painter, and before he passed on he shared his 7 secrets of a great paint job with me. Some of his tips are pretty easy [...] Read on →
I have a quick tip you need to know if you’re going to do some window glazing. After you get your windows glazed you’ll likely have an oily residue all over the glass from the putty. If you wait an hour or two this residue will dry and be very difficult to remove. Many glaziers [...] Read on →
Learning how to repair wood rot is a part of life when it comes to life in an old house. But what if you could prevent it? Working in a wet climate, like Florida, I have assembled a very specific routine to prevent wood rot on anything I build that will be outdoors. The expense [...] Read on →