Old home insulation is a controversial topic among old house owners and restorers. What are the right materials to add and where can I use them? Will it cause unforeseen problems down the line? There are lots of questions and it seems fewer answers than needed, so, with this post, I hope to provide some […]
Here we are on Christmas Eve! Can you believe how fast this year has gone? I hope your shopping is all done and you’re ready to cuddle up beside the fireplace to stay warm tonight perhaps with some eggnog, or perhaps you need something a bit stronger. I wanted to leave you a little Christmas […]
Is Hardie trim and siding something that is compatible with the look and style of an old house? I am a relative purist when it comes to restoring old buildings. That largely comes from a desire to make things look the way they were originally intended and a desire to work with quality materials that […]
The epitome of of the historic bathroom tub has to be the clawfoot tub. It’s ubiquitous with historic homes and is the central focus of almost any bathroom, since it is usually the biggest element. Some of us are fortunate enough to have the original antique cast iron claw foot tubs that came with our […]
Well, technically May is preservation month here in the states, but I am making a declaration of my own for May of 2018, because I have some very exciting news! I am officially declaring May to be Old Windows Month! I have been long toiling over a follow up book to my bestselling books Living […]
A lot of people extol the powers of spray foam these days. When it comes to big gains in R-value and air sealing, there is really nothing else that stands a chance. But insulation doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It must not only be effective at stopping heat transfer in a lab but must also […]
While I may live and work in Florida, I’m not unaccustomed to living in the great white north. For years I lived in New York and Boston and suffered through my fair share of winters before heading south. Insulating an old house is very dependent on the climate. You can’t necessarily use the same materials […]
What’s the most valuable tool in my restoration arsenal? Well, it depends on the job, but most of our jobs have something to do with scraping paint, and that means I need my ProScraper. If you haven’t heard of it before, the ProScraper is a hollow-body carbide scraper that easily hooks up to a vacuum […]
I’ve been reading some posts by friends of mine who work in historic preservation and it’s got me thinking about the “why” of saving old buildings a little more than the “how” this week. Each week, I put together what I hope will be an educational post for you to get some work done around […]
If you own an old house you are the prime demographic for the replacement windows industry. They would love to convince you to remove all your home’s original windows and replace them with new energy efficient windows. I can hear them beginning to salivate right now. (I have excellent hearing) The replacement windows industry is […]
For this week, I had a completely different post in mind and my wife completely changed my mind with the most wonderful surprise. You see, yesterday was my birthday! And aside from getting to spend the day with my amazing family AND getting my choice of any meal under the sun (I chose Ahi Poke), […]
Old houses have a lot of terms that you may not be familiar with. So, having a working definition of those terms will help save you confusion and overuse of phrases like Whatchamacallit or Thingamajig. Save yourself the hassle with this handy guide to 25 old house terms you need to know. Baluster (Balustrade) – […]
