Christmas is coming!! Break out the holly and the “missile toad” and get ready for a Craftsman Blog Christmas. This week, I’m recapping the best Christmas content we’ve put out over the last 10 years! I can’t believe it’s been a full decade since I started posting old house content here. I thought for sure […]
If you’ve ever been to the sheetgoods section of a big box store you’ve probably seen the sheets of T1-11 siding lurking about. This bargain basement siding has been ubiquitous on cheap remodels and “budget friendly” structures for years. To be clear my issues with T1-11 siding don’t come from a snooty, greater than thou, […]
The only thing worse than realizing you have a leaky roof is realizing it when there’s a thunderstorm outside. While a leaking roof is a major inconvenience, it’s also so much more than that. It can cause significant damage to your historic home, including health problems, rot, termites and so much more. I teach my […]
Let’s face it: wood sustains damage over time, whether from wear-and-tear or household accidents. But before you toss beloved pieces of furniture or quit your home improvement project, consider a little wood repair first. I talk a lot about how to repair damaged wood on this blog because old houses get a lot of it. […]
Owning a private well is a great way to save costs and provide your family with a natural and healthy drinking source, but that also means that you are responsible for maintain a safe and clean water supply instead of relying on your city’s water. Learning how to perform your own well water testing is […]
Updating an old home often means bringing electrical equipment up to code. Nowhere is this truer than in bathrooms, laundry rooms and kitchens, where a GFCI outlet is mandatory. Fortunately, installing a GFCI outlet is a fairly simple task that shouldn’t take you more than 15 minutes. GFCI stands for Ground-fault circuit interrupter. These outlets […]
Learning how to use a wood moisture meter is more important than you may think. A lot depends on making sure the wood is below a certain moisture content before any paint or finish can be applied. Using a moisture meter to proactively make sure wood stays below certain levels can also help prevent rot […]
What is roof flashing? Simply put, roof flashing is any piece of sheet metal that forms a joint between the roof and objects that protrude from the roof, such as dormers, chimneys, and pipes, in such a manner that they prevent water from leaking through the joint. Virtually every house in America has at least […]
No matter the season or region attic insulation is a major part of any house. And when retrofitting an old or existing house you need to be very purposeful when it comes to how, where , and with what you insulate. Installing insulation willy-nilly can create serious moisture problems leading to a bunch of problems […]
Year five is finally here and I will be showing you the results of my testing of five of the most popular wood filler and epoxy products on the market today. This will be the final year since after five years the chunk of cypress wood I used has suffered so much rot that the […]
Gutters have been around for a long time in one form or another and they can make a big difference in keeping your home safe from water damage. But, modern style gutters often look out of place on an old house, so what can you do? What types of gutters will fit a historic home? […]
It may seem like a daunting task to restore your own windows, but I’m here to tell you that just ain’t the case. If you’ve got two thumbs, then you can scrape paint and that is the hardest part of any window restoration project. Learning how to restore window jambs, while the most physically demanding […]
