well i live in an old farmhouse, really old, it was built in 1895. it's an old plank farmhouse, allot it has a allot of country charm. its located in the middle of a farming town, really a great little place to raise a family peacefull enough to be left alone and close enough to the store (1/2 hour drive to major shopping gas station in 10 minutes). the home itself, its been an adventure and kind of a money pit. first year we lived here we replaced 5 windows, the following year i replaced the remaining windows. the windows werent cheap. total bill was probably $3-4,000. i also insulated and drywalled, this was another expense, not only that but it was probably was one of the worst messes i have ever endured; it was aweful. dust everwhere on everything; i burned lath for what must have been a month. you dont realize how much of the crap is nailed to your walls until you remove it. we had the floor under the master bedroom rebuilt; well we had very joist reinforced because the floor was springy when you walked or jumped on it. again more money and more expense, this was done before the living room ceiling was drywalled. the master bedroom is directly above the living room. the same thing was done in the kitchen. i installed the harman P61 that year, the furnace in the basement is a horrid monster, i call it the dragon. its a oil fired harmark warm air POS converted to natural gas. the thing is long but narrow, dont know how they got it down there doesnt like removal is going to be much fun. for this very moment its going to stay put. then these is the adventure of the not so level floors. i tried to have floating floors installed, what a joke. i had to remove it, it will not sit level on an unlevel floor. that stuff is junk and i wouldnt recommend it to anyone. any amount of getting wet and it's shot. then there is the wirring. when we moved in it was still on fuses, all 5 of them, lol. the prevous owner just piggy backed all of the circuits to the five breakers. some of the circuits have been replaced but some are still original. the circuit panel was replaced a couple of years ago, a brand new cutter hammer 100 amp load center was installed.
now i will start on the good parts. this house is over 100 years old, allot of great history. i love the construction, it is made out of some of largest beams i have ever seen. it makes me wonder how it was built, they didnt exaclty have the ability to call in a lumber truck loaded with lumber straight from the lumber mill. perhaps this home was built right from the trees that were harvisted right here where the house stands, everything is big heavy rough cut planks. the beams in the basement are basically trees that just had the ends cut off making them square. the construction practices were far from perfect, nothing was done to any kind of code; but it has held up well, i would say that is a credit to the quality of materials used. phenonmal thick heavy beams and planks. i wouldnt be surprised if this home is still standing 80 years from now. i wont do anything to make it look more modern, well i have installed new windows and drywall but i refuse to replace the great wooden shake, i just love the look and style of real wood sidding. modern sidding might be maintence free, but it makes the house look like its made out of plastic. im going to have to paint once a decade, its just a fact of life. we are going to replace the front door, its original to the home and it's not energy efficient. my wife asked me if i wanted to replace the storm door. i said no, it has the great old wooden farmhouse style storm door, i dont want to replace its actually in good shape and adds to the look. basically if it is a structural issue, safety issue, or a heat retention issue i will replace or repair it. if it's a cosmetic issue, i want to retain what i feel is a great look. i dont want to take away from that.
then there's the barn. i had all new metal roof and sidding done 2 years ago. the shingles were falling off but the structure was still sound, next thing im doing to the barn, new overhead door and a good source of heat.
at $75,000 for the house, barn and two acre lot it was cheap to buy but it has been a money pit to fix up. its amazing how much you start replacing when you buy an old home that has only seen limited remodeling done. basically i wanted to fix the issues.
at the end of the day i wouldnt trade it for anything. my parents have a much more expensive home to the tune of $175,000. they live a cutesie little development. they bought the house when i was already out of high school. the house i grew up in, a ballon construction house but in 1901. i remember when my parent bought the house they have now. i was actually upset that i had to move to that development, i just loved that old house and it sat on 55 acres of land. the houses in the development all look the same and i hate that with a passon, the community is also filled with mostly yuppies, good grief
i guess i bought a home that reminded me of my childhood home, so if someone asks me if i like my home, my answer officially is, i love my home. i am 32 years old and this is where i am going to spend the rest of my usefull life, i have no intention of ever leaving here. my mortgage is less then allot of people pay in rent, but even if i became a multi-millionare i would still live here.
now i will start on the good parts. this house is over 100 years old, allot of great history. i love the construction, it is made out of some of largest beams i have ever seen. it makes me wonder how it was built, they didnt exaclty have the ability to call in a lumber truck loaded with lumber straight from the lumber mill. perhaps this home was built right from the trees that were harvisted right here where the house stands, everything is big heavy rough cut planks. the beams in the basement are basically trees that just had the ends cut off making them square. the construction practices were far from perfect, nothing was done to any kind of code; but it has held up well, i would say that is a credit to the quality of materials used. phenonmal thick heavy beams and planks. i wouldnt be surprised if this home is still standing 80 years from now. i wont do anything to make it look more modern, well i have installed new windows and drywall but i refuse to replace the great wooden shake, i just love the look and style of real wood sidding. modern sidding might be maintence free, but it makes the house look like its made out of plastic. im going to have to paint once a decade, its just a fact of life. we are going to replace the front door, its original to the home and it's not energy efficient. my wife asked me if i wanted to replace the storm door. i said no, it has the great old wooden farmhouse style storm door, i dont want to replace its actually in good shape and adds to the look. basically if it is a structural issue, safety issue, or a heat retention issue i will replace or repair it. if it's a cosmetic issue, i want to retain what i feel is a great look. i dont want to take away from that.
then there's the barn. i had all new metal roof and sidding done 2 years ago. the shingles were falling off but the structure was still sound, next thing im doing to the barn, new overhead door and a good source of heat.
at $75,000 for the house, barn and two acre lot it was cheap to buy but it has been a money pit to fix up. its amazing how much you start replacing when you buy an old home that has only seen limited remodeling done. basically i wanted to fix the issues.
at the end of the day i wouldnt trade it for anything. my parents have a much more expensive home to the tune of $175,000. they live a cutesie little development. they bought the house when i was already out of high school. the house i grew up in, a ballon construction house but in 1901. i remember when my parent bought the house they have now. i was actually upset that i had to move to that development, i just loved that old house and it sat on 55 acres of land. the houses in the development all look the same and i hate that with a passon, the community is also filled with mostly yuppies, good grief
i guess i bought a home that reminded me of my childhood home, so if someone asks me if i like my home, my answer officially is, i love my home. i am 32 years old and this is where i am going to spend the rest of my usefull life, i have no intention of ever leaving here. my mortgage is less then allot of people pay in rent, but even if i became a multi-millionare i would still live here.
