1930 home renovation

[Carol Birnberg]

  I bought 1st house because inspector said it was good structure, and it was not :(, but the project goes on. So at this point, if you have done renovations on 1930 homes (900 sqft). what advise would you give me?> 

[Michael Cross]

Carol,

I have done 3 of these this year. I get a home inspector but i also recommend you get contractors to check specific problem areas associated with these old houses while you are still in due diligence. Some of them will charge an inspection fee $50-100, some will do it for free because you do good business with them, either way it will be worth every penny.


My key areas to check:

• Foundation - if its really old get a foundation specialist to check it out. 
  • I had one house that the home inspector who raised a red flag on, house was at least 100 years old. Foundation guy came out and said it was solid. He said he could put some metal supports up. I asked him what they would help fix for the house and he said nothing - just makes some home owners have a warm fuzzy about it.
• Electrical
  • Is it knob and tube? Is it cloth? Panel upgraded or a series of small panels cobbled together? none are a bad thing, all fixable but know what you are getting yourself into.
  • Check every outlet with a tester. Are any 2 wire, ungrounded?
  • Have your electrician run through it
• Plumbing
  • Do you have cast iron sewer lines? are any beginning to split?
  • What has been replace, are they copper, pvc? age of water heater?
  • make friends with a few plumbers who work in your area. they will be familiar with these types of houses
    
• HVAC
  • a lot of old houses i have walked through in southern PA are force air oil based systems
  • Just have them checked out to see age. none of this is bad
  • is it gas?
  • is it electric baseboard?
  • how old is the system?
    
• Walls?
  • Many of these old homes are plaster walls. check if it needs repair. this is not as simply as just tearing appear drywall walls. its going to take a lot more man hours if any walls need replaced/removed. its a dirty job but doable. I gutted one of my homes by myself, it just takes time and hard work
• Roof
  • Is it a slate roof?
  • Is it interlocking shingles?
  • is it architectural shingles?
  • I have made it a habit to get every roof inspected with a quote during due diligence - these old houses have beautiful roofs but they can be big and expensive so arm yourself with knowledge

These old houses can be great opportunities and have amazing character. They often have a lot of deferred maintenance. Just get the information you need in advance and you will be able to weather the surprises that inevitably will come during the process.

I hope that helps.

Mike