Normally in my household, I am the one known as "the patient". A veteran of multiple orthopedic surgeries, with another looming in the distance, I am used to being the family gimp, limited in my motion and activities, needing others to rally round to help while I complain mightily about how I hate

Publication: Libertyville Review (IL)

FOOTBALL -- If Austin Miller has any say, there's quite a linebacker tradition brewing at Vernon Hills High School.The Cougars caught fire and rolled to the 2009 NSC Prairie title behind all-state middle linebacker E.J. Lannan (106 tackles, 4 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles) and a defense that

Publication: Libertyville Review (IL)

The following incidents were listed among the official reports of the Libertyville Police Department. Readers are reminded that an arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt. Only a court of law can make that determination.LIBERTYVILLETHEFTPolice reports stated Aug. 5 that two computer

Publication: Libertyville Review (IL)

I recently blogged about the Cincinnati Preservation Association’s offer to restore the historic Gamble House and how it was rejected by the Foundation that owns the old house. The Foundation considered the offer to be unfeasible, and one of the reasons given was that the home’s foundation was sinking. The more I have thought about that reasoning, the more aggravated I’ve become.

I grew up in an area that was and still is full of old houses built in the 1700s and 1800s. Many of those homes were built with stacked stone foundations and sometimes the foundations were parged with a concrete mixture and sometimes they weren’t. The same thing was true about the concrete footings under the homes. If they were there at all, they were usually not deep enough, or they were sized incorrectly according to modern standards.

New Foundation for an Old House from whimfield.com

 The result was that when you were in the homes, it wasn’t uncommon to notice that the floors were sloping. No one was too concerned as it seemed to give the old houses “character,” and I think some homeowners actually considered the uneven floors to be a certificate of authenticity for the age of their homes.

When Old House “Character” Crosses that Fine Line

Occasionally there was an old house with floors so bad you felt you had to brace yourself when crossing a room to keep from sliding downhill. When I got into construction, I was involved in correcting a few old houses with this problem, and it could often be done with jacks and timbers. If there was a basement of sorts, we were in good shape, but if we just had a crawl space to work in, we often had sore backs and moments of extreme excitement as we met new friends from the animal kingdom. Some foundations could be modernized and repaired while others had to be replaced completely.

I realize the Gamble House is probably much larger than anything I worked on and a much larger operation than the new foundations for these old houses in California and Tennessee, but as the old adage states: “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” I think the problem in Cincinnati is that the Foundation that owns the old house doesn’t have the “will,” and they don’t want anyone else to have one either.

A recent article in the New York Times makes the point that correcting home foundations might soon be more than just an old house problem. Evidently changes in the climate are causing soils to shift and even recently built homes are beginning to have sloped floors. Unfortunately, it’s a stretch to say that the problem is giving new homes that old house “character.”

Leaning house parts, trapped animals, and lots of bad electricity. Check out our latest frightening discoveries from the field, courtesy of the ASHI Reporter

As lovers and students of old buildings know, asbestos was a common building material for everything from siding and roofing to the much vilified pipe-insulation.

Asbestos shingles--and STYLE!

It’s use started in the late 1800s and its legacy lasted well into the last century. Sure, the material–invented somewhat by accident history has it by the Keasbey & Mattison Company–is the stuff of mesothelioma (the particular kind of cancer over-exposure to it causes and the topic of many-a late night law firm advertisement). But the water that may have passed under the bridge of history is how well it worked. And how beautiful it could be. The roof pictured here is likely a century old. How many new roofs like this do you see going on?

Now I’m no idiot (of course that case is easily arguable). I’m not advocating ramping production up again. But what I do notice on the few asbestos roofs left–probably in the world–is that roofers clearly saw the home’s peak as a place to highlight the soaring lines and make them sing with style, grace and pride.

I’m also super tuned into this because I’m re-doing my own roof here at MyFixitUpLife HQ and we’ve spent a great deal of time and effort on copying this centegenarian ideal.

We’ve strived to make our roof a destination point for neighborhood eyes inasmuch as it is just about the largest single area on this–or anyone’s–house. Our roof is period-appropriate and I hope it pays homage to the roofers who came before us who hand-nailed their heavy, gnarly, and brutal stuff with enough dignity, style and craft to please the eyes and keep water away across the gap of  two distant centuries.

?

The Gamble House from CincinnatiPreservation.org

I’m finally starting to understand how the old prime-time soaps such as “Dallas” and “Falcon Crest” developed such a loyal following; all it takes is a few plot twists and people to play the parts of the good and bad guys–and the next thing you know, you’re hooked. That’s how I’ve developed an addiction to the continuing saga of the Gamble House in Cincinnati. I comb through the online news every week or so looking for new developments or installments in what is becoming a mini-series.

I have blogged about the Gamble House several times in the past. The old house was owned by James N. Gamble of Proctor and Gamble fame and is supposedly the home he returned to the day Ivory Soap was invented. The Gamble family wasn’t hurting; there are also historically significant Gamble family homes in Pasadena, California and in Port Orange, Florida, near Daytona Beach.

The Cincinnati home was last occupied by a Gamble during the 1960s. When Olivia Gamble died, the house went to her nephew, Louis Nippert, a grandson of James Gamble. Mr. Nippert didn’t live in the house, but from 1961 until he died in 1992 he made sure it remained in pristine condition to honor his grandfather’s memory. Unfortunately this all came to an end in 1992 when his surviving spouse started neglecting the care of the old house and it was allowed to deteriorate.

The Old House Battle Continues

Louise Nippert, the surviving spouse, runs Greenacres Foundation of Indian Hill which now has ownership of the Gamble House. A large portion of the foundation’s funding supposedly comes from Gamble money, but now that no heirs are involved in the Foundation or the house, Louise Nippert has been fighting to have it torn down. Many citizens of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) have been fighting to save the old house due to its historical significance and the importance of the Gamble family in the development of the area.

The whole mess has been in court for a while now, and the latest development is that the Foundation has turned down the CPA’s financial offer to restore the home as unfeasible. Evidently the foundation of the home is sinking and they consider the possibility of a successful restoration to be remote. I haven’t seen the Gamble House foundation, but having been around old houses and construction for many, many years I know there are numerous solutions for sinking foundations. I can think of about three or four solutions off the top of my head, including what was done for this old house on Prince Edward Island. If we have the ability to move old houses across frozen lakes and from one state to another, I’m sure someone can figure out how to keep the Gamble House from sinking.

Turn a salvaged chimney pot into a unique garden light in 6 easy steps. This Old House Features Editor Amy Hughes shows you how

A step-by-step guide to illuminating a walkway

A step-by-step guide to lighting the driveway

Creative pathway lighting boosts your home's security and its curb appeal

Kenmore, WA - August 24, 2010

This month's issue of JLC Update has a well-illustrated article by Cheryl Anderson, Frank Woeste and Joe Loferski about various ways to properly secure a deck ledger to the side of a home.

This article is a must-read for anyone in this business and the smart home...

Kenmore, WA - August 24, 2010

This month's issue of JLC Update has a well-illustrated article by Cheryl Anderson, Frank Woeste and Joe Loferski about various ways to properly secure a deck ledger to the side of a home.

This article is a must-read for anyone in this business and the smart home...

Kenmore, WA - August 24, 2010

This month's issue of JLC has a well-illustrated article by Cheryl Anderson, Frank Woeste and Joe Loferski about various ways to properly secure a deck ledger to the side of a home.

This article is a must-read for anyone in this business and the smart home inspec...

Olympia, WA - Monday, August 23, 2010

The Washington State Department of Licensing Real Estate Division today announced the appointment by Gov. Christine Gregoire of Paul Duffau, proprietor of Deffau Enterprises Inc., Asotin, WA, to the Washington State Home Inspectors Licensing Advisory Board...

If you’ve been an OldHouseWeb.com visitor for any length of time, you’ve probably visited and even vented on the forums. After all, renovating an old house can be frustrating and challenging at times. The forums are full of old house horror stories, a lot of which stem from the ridiculous things that previous owners have done when renovating. You know, stuff like using tin cans to patch holes in wooden flooring under the carpet. Or plastering over windows or cutting large holes in things, like walls.

If you’re lucky, you can vent to a sig other or a friend who is on your work crew and you can bemoan the fact that person who did the ridiculous, shoddy work is an idiot! A tool! A complete moron!  Then you can pop on and share your story in the forums where other people validate you that it’s all true (idiot! tool! moron!).

But what happens if those ridiculous things, those truly terrible renovation decisions, were made by someone related to you. And that person is on your work crew.

Tricky.

Original Wooden Kitchen Ceiling with Hole from Fluorescent Light Installation

For those of you who don’t know, I’m purchasing a house built in 1905 that has been in my family for the past 60 years and belonged to my grandmother when I was growing up. She was fortunate enough to rely on my father to do her home repairs for over 20 years. But my dad is an engineer. With him, everything is function. Aesthetics? History? Heritage? Preserving the most interesting elements of an old home? Completely off the radar.

That’s the only way I can possibly explain why he thought it was a good idea to “modernize” my grandmother’s kitchen in the late 1970s by installing a commercial office ceiling with a fluorescent light. What I never knew until I moved into the house with the intention of buying it is that he sawed a huge hole in the original wooden tongue-and-groove ceiling in order to do it. It was also his idea to pour a concrete floor in the bathroom where the ceiling isn’t high enough to stand in the bathtub.  And it was also his idea to slap cement all along the backside of an old rock wall my grandpa built.

Because some of the things that previous owners do seem lazy or cheap or just ridiculous, it’s easy to get emotional about. It’s doubly easy when you’re related. But, just like previous renovations done by anyone else, the damage is already done. There’s simply nothing to be done about renovations gone awry other than to fix them, regardless of who did the doing.

Piece of Wonder Rock in Old Rock Wall

I find that the more outside support I get for a particular project, the more willing my dad is to consider “alternatives.” I’m working with a friend who is a contractor on a couple of different options to work around the hole in the kitchen ceiling. The rock wall?  It’s not safe, so it’s coming down but as much of the rock will be re-purposed as I can in the yard. Instead of going down through the bathroom floor, I’m going up.

Like any renovation project, you have to play the cards that you’ve been dealt. And some times, especially when family is involved, you have to get creative.

So why is a door nail dead anyway?

Actually, it’s kind of a cool story.

One is said to be “dead as a door nail” because when doors were built of nailed together planks the carpenters pounded the nail through then bent it over on the other side. This is called “clench-nailing” and its one heck of a way to make a nail hold fast.

But why is it dead? Well, one story has it that if the house ever burned down–a pretty common occurrence in days before organized fire departments–the homeowners could salvage all kinds of stuff like earthenware, steel bowls, dishes, utensils. And nails. But because the door nails were clenched, or bent over, they couldn’t be re-used.

Door nails, dead but not deceased.

Hence, dead.

In the photos you can make out the nails’ heads. In between you can see the shank of the bent nail coming through from the other side. Another piece of trivia: what are the circular marks on the door plank?

Door nails driven through and bent over--or clenched--rendering them

Wiktionary supports this perspective but doesn’t mention burnt house part. A dead nail is simply one that’s clenched and pretty much can’t be removed by anything but fire. And they cite the term as one of the many hundreds of neologisms (new words) of one Bill Shakespeare. (On a side-note, for a fascinating romp through Bill’s life–no poetry required–Bryson’s Shakespeare is great).

I love how house lingo opens into our every day lives. Everything from “proud nails” and “shiners” to bits and blades that “wander.”

Here’s hoping, by the way, you remain quite the opposite of door nails for many years to come.

Dallas, TX - Saturday, Aug 21, 2010

The Dallas Morning News had an article today about the failure rate and safety concerns with the FPE panels. I'm sure many electricians will be busy answering their phones on Monday.

When it comes to the blunt-force trauma of demolition–often the first phase in old house remodeling–I reach for brutal, smartly designed tools. In my mind, the best way to approach demo is to be smart and tough.

Stanley Fat Max FUBAR III

That blend of sense and sinew is important to me because, despite what I’ve seen on far too many TV shows, a big ole dumb sledgehammer has virtually no place on any residential demo job you want to finish (1) in your lifetime or (2) without creating a whole host of other problems by bashing away like a banshee.

I’ve learned in dust-cloud after truckload after pile of plaster, lath, and every other kind of building material that the worst way to take it down is to smash it.

On the other hand, the best way to demo old claddings is in the reverse direction of the way they were installed. So in the case of plaster and lath or a T&G Douglas fir porch ceiling (rotted from roof leaks of course) the best way to get rid of them is to pull them apart. This requires what I call a “pierce and pry” approach which depends heavily on tools designed to do it.

Stanley’s Fat Max utility bar FUBAR III is one of the best I’ve used.

This 30 inch bar is designed with demo in mind. In addition to the above-mentioned, I’ve also ripped out cast iron tubs, wall tile, door jambs and trim.

The first thing I like about the bar is its duck-bill head. It’s a natural born piercing machine enabling me to punch through and get behind everything from trim boards to flooring to plaster.. For the fir ceiling I cut a hole first with a recip saw to get started. Once back there the jaw is sized just right that I can pull it back or pry materials with a reasonable amount of force. A bigger jaw would mean I’d have to pull harder and pop more nails at a single time. Smaller bites takes less effort and I can move faster–and all day. The duck-bill is too blunt for small items like shoe molding and crown, for which I use a smaller bar. No problem there.

At 8.5 pounds it’s heavy enough to exert force on a cladding, but light enough that I can (1) get it moving yanking out material and (2) and not require back surgery after hauling it around all day. For those rare times when I can get behind or on top of something (say I have access to the attic above a ceiling or I’m stripping both sides of a partition wall) the tool head has enough size and mass that I can punch the cladding off from behind.

And, the tool has a hammer-head–but its only an element, not the whole tool. Because despite what I said before, there is one place where a sledge can come in handy: removing cast iron tubs. Because the house is often literally built around them (not to mention their mind-bending weight) sometimes the best–and only–way to get them out is in pieces. Cast iron is brittle which means you can break it (safety glasses a must here). And let me tell you, you can break a tub with this tool. Be wary of what I call the “halo effect” though where you shake plaster loose or knock pictures off the wall in other rooms.

For stuff you really have to lean on the tool for–prying apart old framing or stubborn flooring for example–the bar itself is oval shaped. Unlike basic octagonal bars I’ve used in the past–and bent–you’ll have to hook FUBAR up to your trailer hitch to bend it out of shape. That’s what I call smart and tough.

When overgrown flowers get out of hand, just split them up and make new plants