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Phil
- Male
- Williamsport, PA
- United States
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Phil's Discussions
Phil's Page
Latest Activity
Don't be too afraid. While I didn't like my inspector, I have suffered no serious problems in my 15 years of old house ownership. I figure that my annual maintenance costs are twice what people in developments pay, but I save by not having neighborh…
David is spot on. The inspectors that real estate agents recommend are terrible. They have no idea what is serious and what is not with old houses. Perhaps they know little about other houses too. But mine, and most other people's whom I have had co…
My 1895ish house was surely originally a dirt floor. It was cemented sometime between 1920 and 1970, probably in the 50s, and the owner did not do a full dig down. So, I am living with the above headroom warnings. My basement has maybe 6-6.5' ceilin…
I was just over at a colleague's house the other day and admired a marble portion of their countertop that they had salvaged from a torn down lab where we work. It wasn't perfect and it wasn't big enough to cover the whole kitchen, but it looked gre…
More work, but what a find, what a house.
Wow, how sad. What a loss if this piece of American history and heritage gets wiped away.
It's being set up for demolition. That's what this list means. This is just insanity. And so sad. This beautiful old lady has been given up to the custodial care of a group of idiots. And they use the word "sustainable" as if that somehow makes it a…
* Property would not be sold
* No commercial use
* Not to be used for housing (retreat, Bed & Breakfast, residence)
* No house museum
* "“Assembly use”" not practical due to problems related to municipal codes
* Must be sustainable
* No funds (priva…
Profile Information
- Tell us about yourself:
- My family has lived in a c. 1895 Queen Anne Victorian since 1995. I am an economist.
- Tell us about your old-house experiences and dreams:
- Over the years I have slowly learned about how it was built and how to maintain it, as well as how not to maintain it. Whenever possible, I try to use original materials or ones that could have been used originally, or at the very least ones that look like those materials.
My house had many original elements, and I have maintained or restored most of those. Other things like lighting and doorknobs had been "upgraded" over time, so I spent the better part of 10 years haunting antique shops and ebay to find replacements that matched the style and level of my house. In the case of lighting, we have only one original gas fixture in our entry. I have tried to purchase a restrained level of gas lighting for the rest of the house, avoiding the temptation of lighting that would have been too fancy for my nice, but ultimately middle class Victorian. Lighting of that type is surprisingly cheap (much cheaper than repro), and I enjoyed collecting them.
Phil's Photos
Comment Wall (19 comments)
- At 6:07pm on January 19, 2010,
Craig Phillips / B & C Emporium said… - sorry Phil I do not do any plating
Craig
- At 12:29pm on October 28, 2009,
Susan said… - Thanks for the tip. I am going to the lumber mill this afternoon. We are supposed to have warm sunny weather (62 degrees) tomorrow with no rain. Here's hoping.
- At 1:50am on September 30, 2009,
William J. White said… - Thanks for the advice on the crown molding. Will follow that when I get to that part. Still have hundreds of square feet to remove asbestos and strip clapboard.
- At 8:12am on September 16, 2009,
rue said… - Grim death LOL Don't worry, I will! As far as the dormer, I talked to a man that grew up in the house during the mid 1940s and he said it was falling apart, so his father decided to just take it off. The porch was taken off before he lived there or at least doesn't remember it, but when we took off the plastic siding we found the evidence of exactly what size it was. We're thinking someone either took it off due to rot or tried to make it look more colonial, which would have been popular in (I think) the 1920s or 30s.
- At 7:16am on September 16, 2009,
rue said…
- Thank you for commenting back Phil. To be honest, I'm not sure what it is, but that's the closest description. You're right, it has four rooms (one being a foyer with a side staircase) with a kitchen and what used to be the butler's pantry attached to the back, upstairs is what used to be four bedrooms (one is now a bathroom) and another original bathroom updated in the 50s. The porch and the dormer were taken off the front sometime before 1945. I'm new, but should I ask this on the forum?
- At 4:03pm on July 14, 2009,
Denise Parks said… - I have triggers that trip on my houses and take a picture of someone getting in or out. This picture reminds me of that. I like the Bangkok house and the green porch. These angles make this picture look like an interesting old house.
- At 7:19am on May 18, 2009,
Jeff & Sue Ellen Smith said… - I looked for Jimmys page and could not find it. So I guess you won't get the hat trick.
- At 4:26pm on May 14, 2009,
Jeff & Sue Ellen Smith said…
- Hey Phil, Why didnt you leave a nice comment for sheree's two friends while you were at it.
Well done on this one.
Jeff
- At 4:06pm on May 3, 2009,
Martha Scott said… - Newton is about 3 1/2 hours from us and we have friends there. Yes, Kansas has a lot of nice old houses -- our town has a lot of nice ones as well -- some great Victorians and some "newer" -- like ours!
- At 3:33pm on March 31, 2009,
Sarah said… - Phil - your house is gorgeous! I love the exterior color scheme - and kudos for doing the slate roof. We have a slate roof in the building where I work, and it unloads snow like crazy - no ice dams! Thanks for your kind comments about our kitchen.
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