My Old House Online

An online community for people who love old houses.

Sign up for the FREE Old-House Savvy Newsletter!

Members

  • Pamela Neighbor
  • elyce Ellington
  • Donald Mitchell
  • Emily Blackwell
  • Dave H.
  • Phil
  • BenningtonColonial
  • Jeremy and Lisa
  • Susan
  • Martin
  • Charles J
  • Grant Gustavsen

Latest Activity

Shelley, I deleted the post I sent yesterday because it wasn't quite right. I will try again here: A floor squeaks because the layers slide past each other. the answers are to rebuilt the floor properly or try to keep the layers together. The screw…
3 hours ago
Cassie Marshall added a discussion
My husband and I were pulling up the carpet in our third bedroom and found this! Any advice as to what type of wood it is? We've heard people say ash, poplar, or pine. I've attached a photo of the area we have sanded down.
5 hours ago
JHKowal added an event
Historic Homes at Yestermorrow Design/Build School
October 9, 2010 at 9am to October 10, 2010 at 5pm
Older homes are typically built utilizing materials and techniques not readily found in contemporary construction. Not only do historic homes help preserve the cultural heritage of our built environment, they are also underutilized as renewable reso…
8 hours ago
Kathy Keen added a discussion
For you paint experts out there...what do you think about using SW Duration paint on old houses? Is it 100% acrylic?
10 hours ago
I'm not sure that I understand. What you're calling a cottage window, in this case (photo in original post), is not 2 sashes. The top is a piece of leaded glass that is encompassed in only a slim metal frame. The metal frame is not set in a wooden s…
10 hours ago
10 hours ago
Yes! How did you guess? It was 10 years ago. I am completely happy with the colors. They go together so well. I could never have picked the right colors myself.
10 hours ago
Kathy - Did you use Rob Schweitzer? We did.
10 hours ago

Photos

Loading…
 

Old House Forum

Shelley

Bouncy Floors 7 Replies

I have read many opinions on how to beef up joist strength to eliminate or decrease the bounce of the old wood floors.  I would like to know if we should completely eliminate the bounce or have some…

Started by Shelley in Old Houses: 1900-1945. Last reply by jane 3 hours ago.

Cassie Marshall

Type of Wood?

My husband and I were pulling up the carpet in our third bedroom and found this! Any advice as to what type of wood it is? We've heard people say ash, poplar, or pine. I've attached a photo of the ar…

Started by Cassie Marshall in Old Houses: 1900-1945 5 hours ago.

Kathy Keen

SW Duration paint

For you paint experts out there...what do you think about using SW Duration paint on old houses? Is it 100% acrylic?

Started by Kathy Keen in Old House How-To 10 hours ago.

Diana

Proper Paint Color For Fixed Window 2 Replies

I have an 1894 shingle style Queen Anne house. Upper story sidewall shingles are painted a dark green and first floor claps are a deep red. All trim is a dark gold. Window sashes are a few shades dar…

Started by Diana in Old Houses: Pre-1900. Last reply by Diana 10 hours ago.

Hope Straw

Help on Trim/Frame/Sash color choices 6 Replies

Hello Experienced Old Home Restorers,We have chosen a three-color scheme for our 1901 home.  We are installing new Seacoast Gray cedar shingles, the trim will be Sherwin Williams' "Classical White" (…

Tagged: colors, paint, sash, trim

Started by Hope Straw in Old House How-To. Last reply by Kathy Keen 10 hours ago.

PStewart

Making Wood Shutters 11 Replies

  All -     My research seems to indicate that my chances for obtaining antique,  properly sized , exterior shutters for my 1889 Queen Anne are about nil. My windows are pretty large (32" X 74" inter…

Started by PStewart in Old Houses: Pre-1900. Last reply by jane 1 day ago.

BenningtonColonial

Appraisals for Old Homes 7 Replies

We are currently in the processing of refinancing our house to take advantage of lower interest rates and to cut in half our loan life. As part of that process, an appraisal was required. No problem,…

Tagged: appraisal

Started by BenningtonColonial in Old Houses: 1900-1945. Last reply by BenningtonColonial 1 day ago.

Patricia Shih

For sale: vintage bathroom fixtures and double kitchen sink

I have a 1930s Cotswold cottage that needed one of its bathrooms and its kitchen renovated.  We were able to salvage the toilet, pedestal sink, the bathtub and shower plumbing fixtures and the double…

Tagged: fixture, plumbing, kitchen, bath, bathroom

Started by Patricia Shih in Swaps and Sales 1 day ago.

Phil

Here is a depressing article 34 Replies

Old House Journal, I believe, was started as a NYC brownstone restoration newsletter.  Here is an article by a Wall Street Journal editor on a brownstone "restoration."  Note how she is removing 7 fi…

Started by Phil in The Old-House Attic. Last reply by Shelley Aug 31.

Peg Barton

Smart vents

I have a small cottage that was built in the 20s. I have been getting some condensation in the atttic in the winter and am about to have a new roof put on. I did install wall installation and the hou…

Started by Peg Barton in Old Houses: 1900-1945 Aug 30.

Blog Posts

John Leigh

flr stains

Can anyone help me we have a 110 year old house with finished wooden floors. These floors have a stain from wetness on them. When we were moving into the house the dampness laid under some boxes and left the imprint of the box on the finished floor. Is there anyway to remove thses stains off the floor without damaging the finish.

Posted by John Leigh on September 1, 2010 at 10:39pm

Phil

The window is stripped

I fully stripped the stained glass window shown in a previous post. I haven't stained it yet, though, because I didn't want to be distracted with painting or work, and I want to try to get a decent color match with my stairway. I ended up putting multiple coats of zip strip on it and scrubbing it down with 000stainless steel dipped in lacquer thinner. One day I will have to take the plunge and stain it, but I am afraid that there is paint in the pores that will end up making the wood blotchy. Al… Continue

Posted by Phil on August 31, 2010 at 8:37am — 5 Comments

Dianne

Our New Old House

Our old house, which we have owned for 10 days now, is an 1882 vernacular on a tiny lot in a wonderful historic district on a hill overlooking the ancient church steeples of the up and coming-back little downtown in our mid-sized Virginia burg. The local historic foundation calls our house an Italianate because of the roof brackets and arched window head trims, but that's a little bit of a generous stretch. When people see the house, I am too quick to point out that we bought it solely for the n… Continue

Posted by Dianne on August 19, 2010 at 11:17am

Linda Weber

Progress on George L. Chesbro

We are making progress! We have decided to keep the house on the hill on a 1.5 acre lot. The house is in the process of being approved for an historic restriction which has just been drafted. Preservation Worcester has agreed to hold the restriction and the house has moved to market! Wish us luck as we are looking for someone to fill the home with a family and to restore the old lady! Another photo by Andrew Barr, Photographer, for your pleasure!



Continue

Posted by Linda Weber on August 17, 2010 at 8:59am

Old-House Online

Tile Patterns for Old-House Baths

Unfortunately, we’ve all seen them—restored bathrooms that almost got the details right. Often they boast spot-on period fixtures, faucets, lights, and medicine cabinets, but are accompanied by a floor that looks as though it belongs in a 1950s science fiction movie—or worse yet, in the summer palace of an Italian baron. Don’t let flooring selections [...]

Editors’ Picks: 9/01/10

Although its peak in popularity was relatively short (roughly the period between the two World Wars), Art Deco—and its close cousin, Art Moderne—nonetheless remains completely captivating. During its heyday, the architectural style offered a nation plagued by war and economic hardship a view of a brighter future; today, it’s a nostalgic look back on the [...]

Early Colonial Revival Architecture

The first waves of America’s most enduring architectural obsession . . . As the Victorian era drew to a close, nostalgic Americans looked to the architecture of the original Colonies for inspiration. Vernacular traditions (chiefly English, but also Dutch and German) were thrown into the mix, and everywhere the decorative vocabulary was that of 18th-century [...]

Hydrangeas in the Historic Garden

Let me introduce you to my colorful friend LEONA . . . the acronym for five types of hydrangeas that will give you blooms for half the year or more: Limelight, Endless Summer, Oak Leaf, Nikko Blue, and Annabelle. Hydrangeas are native to the Appalachian region of the U.S. and to the islands of Japan. [...]

Saving a Dallas Foursquare

Whether you call it “electric blue” or “painter’s-tape blue,” the startling hue that coated the front-parlor woodwork in Clark Mitchell and J.W. Brasher’s turn-of-the-century Foursquare most definitely could not be called “period.” The house had been built circa 1905 by renowned Dallas architect Otto Lang for himself and his family. But as the years passed, [...]
 
 
 

Get Connected:

Get the Old-House Savvy Newsletter Follow Us on Twitter We're on Facebook! LinkedIn




Badge

Loading…
From the editors of
Old-House Journal and Old-House Interiors

© 2010   Brought to you by Old-House Online

Old Houses | Restoration Products  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service