Tell me about living in a historic (old) home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do lead check swabs in the windowsills to see if it has lead paint remnants. Unless the windows are all new.

You plan to chew the windowsills? All old houses will have lead paint.

Yup. And so do the yards/dirt of all houses older than 40 years.

This is true. Definitely do a soil test if you're considering vegetable gardening by an older home. A friend of mine did a soil test for a flower garden in a DC rowhouse neighborhood. The soil lead levels were 1600ppm compared to a desirable range of 200-400ppm. The university that did the test called her repeatedly until they could speak to her, asked if she had children, etc. That's such a high lead level that just playing in the yard might not be safe for kids (she doesn't have kids...but they still spoke to her about how to reduce her exposure). While her results were extremely high, you're really going to want to used raised beds or planters with purchased soil in almost any urban older neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

The main thing to understand about living in a historic home is that you almost certainly are going to have higher repair and maintenance costs than in a newer home. Also in DC a lot of flips are done poorly...friends that lived in a flipped rowhouse had to do a lot of repairs to their new renovation, including an improperly installed HVAC system. The pieces of ductwork weren't even fastened to each other, let alone properly sealed or even installed in a way that considered the size of the rooms being heated/cooled. So they had to deal with a lot of pain in the a$$ repairs. But the area was also appreciating rapidly and their house eventually sold for double what they paid for it after living there for a bit less than 10 yrs so it worked out OK. But a bad flip could be a disaster in an area where home prices are more flat. Just go into it knowing what you're dealing with.

[Anonymous]

To be honest, historic homes are for people who have enough money to spend on maintenance, repairs and upgrades.

If you have skill and time, it can be done with less money.

If you are poor, you can always foreclose if things don't work out.

However, historic homes aren't for middle class with no handyman skills and limited money and no wish to foreclose or bankrupt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To be honest, historic homes are for people who have enough money to spend on maintenance, repairs and upgrades.

If you have skill and time, it can be done with less money.

If you are poor, you can always foreclose if things don't work out.

However, historic homes aren't for middle class with no handyman skills and limited money and no wish to foreclose or bankrupt.

Time is the biggest thing for us. It’s such a time suck for 2 very busy professionals and we resent it. If we were retired or in more relaxed jobs it might become more of a hobby.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I love historic homes and feel like expense is worth the privilege of living in one. Imho new builds (unless really top custom build) are overrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do lead check swabs in the windowsills to see if it has lead paint remnants. Unless the windows are all new.

We live in a historic home, and it’s our fourth one. If you are worried about lead paint and the like, this isn’t for you. If you perform proper maintenance and use skilled people, it’s really no different than a new home. Yes there would have been lead paint at some point, and it’s unlikely it was removed, but it’s also likely encapsulated under many layers of paint and zero issue. You don’t want peeling paint on an old or new home.
As far as maintenance, the historic homes we’ve lived in have all been better built than anything new. I’d just figure out when the electrical and plumbing were updated or redone and if the attic is insulated. I’d also ask the same questions you would on any purchase, eg age of roof, hot water, etc.

+100

I would take a historic house over many new builds. My 1910s house had some less than perfect insulation, but issues didn't compare to the shoddy work in the new build I lived in prior to buying the older house.

This story talks about one new build nightmare scenario: https://www.washingtonian.com/2022/04/13/a-real-estate-nightmare-on-foxhall-road/

As others have noted, you would want to check that some major systems have been updated (electrical), and expect that things won't be insulated to todays standards and you may want to replace windows for better enegry efficiency for heating and cooling.

[Anonymous]

Instead of replacing original wavy glass windows on my current old home, I spent a small fortune to have an expert remove them, restore them in his workshop and reinstall them. Then I spent another small fortune to have another company create almost invisible storm windows to protect the antique windows and stop drafts.
I understand this approach isn't for everyone. But if you replace windows, I urge you to store the original in the cellar, attic, barn, etc. And also any original. woodwork you remove doing renovations. Some future owner will be delighted.

[Anonymous]

The only extra maintenance I have on my 1925 home is having to paint the wood siding every 10 year. This isn't unique to an old home...but I would think most modern homes use manmade materials that don't get painted.

My utilities costs are very reasonable...certainly much lower than many new builds of similar square footage (though I realize comparing my 1925 DC home to a home in VA may be the result of just higher per kW charges or gas charges for heat in VA vs. DC...I don't know). Much of this is due to having smaller rooms vs. an open floor plan.

Every house will likely need new roof, HVAC, heat, etc. after like 20 years.

[Anonymous]

Hire a special inspector for abestos

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hire a special inspector for abestos

Eh. Like lead paint, it’s generally only an issue if you disturb it doing renovations or something. Not a dealbreaker just to exist in the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do lead check swabs in the windowsills to see if it has lead paint remnants. Unless the windows are all new.

This is a waste of money. It has lead paint. All houses built before 1973 do. Do you have people on your household that will be eating the paint or licking the walls? If yes, don’t buy it under any circumstance.

[Anonymous]

Think about plumbing, electric and HVAC upgrades. Think about shoring up up the foundation with load jacks, I-beams, underpinning, etc. Think about doing all of that will keeping the structure intact and working around that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We recently bought a 1920s bungalow in Arlington and I wouldn’t do it again.

Basement isn’t structurally sound (confirmed by 2 independent structural engineers, but conveniently the engineer we used for the home inspection before buying didn’t see any issues)… Basement issues involve the actual foundation walls and the framing / joists / columns so it’s a major project to fix.

It’s also a given any old house has asbestos and lead, so it’s a matter of making sure you don’t disturb / circulate it. Eg the people w the Bethesda house above my post definitely have it everywhere else in the house too unless it’s been fully gutted to the studs. Same w the person saying to check for lead in the windows - it’s everywhere. Google this to learn more. The good asbestos remediation companies will tell you to not disturb it unless you’re ready for a full gut reno.

Love the character, but it’s been an absolute money pit.

You are trying to achieve perfection. This won't be easy with an old house, better build new. YOu will find it as miserable working with any house that's more than 2 decades old TBH. People who want new and perfect just need to look for new construction or build new. They won't even be happy with gut renovations.

If you are aren't a perfectionist and just want to modernize the place you can find old homes to be perfectly livable for a long time. Plus new construction homes also have problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We recently bought a 1920s bungalow in Arlington and I wouldn’t do it again.

Basement isn’t structurally sound (confirmed by 2 independent structural engineers, but conveniently the engineer we used for the home inspection before buying didn’t see any issues)… Basement issues involve the actual foundation walls and the framing / joists / columns so it’s a major project to fix.

It’s also a given any old house has asbestos and lead, so it’s a matter of making sure you don’t disturb / circulate it. Eg the people w the Bethesda house above my post definitely have it everywhere else in the house too unless it’s been fully gutted to the studs. Same w the person saying to check for lead in the windows - it’s everywhere. Google this to learn more. The good asbestos remediation companies will tell you to not disturb it unless you’re ready for a full gut reno.

Love the character, but it’s been an absolute money pit.

You are trying to achieve perfection. This won't be easy with an old house, better build new. YOu will find it as miserable working with any house that's more than 2 decades old TBH. People who want new and perfect just need to look for new construction or build new. They won't even be happy with gut renovations.

If you are aren't a perfectionist and just want to modernize the place you can find old homes to be perfectly livable for a long time. Plus new construction homes also have problems.

PP you quoted here - Structural engineers (who don’t do basement repairs or referrals to their buddies BTW so zero incentive to lie about this) said the county would condemn the house as unlivable due to the structural condition if they got inside and saw it but sure, I’m looking for perfection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do lead check swabs in the windowsills to see if it has lead paint remnants. Unless the windows are all new.

This is a waste of money. It has lead paint. All houses built before 1973 do. Do you have people on your household that will be eating the paint or licking the walls? If yes, don’t buy it under any circumstance.

This. We lived in older apartments when our kids were little. We just would make sure it's painted over, we always got lead paint disclosure and nobody could do anything about it.