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By Guest Blogger Karen Appold Older homes are the most likely to need energy efficiency upgrades. Many lack double-pane windows or proper caulking and sealing, which can make them inefficient and drafty. An estimated 65 percent of U.S...
My favorite power tool isn’t my Delta table saw nor my router table. It’s my central vacuum. In terms of sheer usefulness, it’s done more work on the house and saved me more time than any tool in the shop...
In my previous two articles I talked about my experience with the X10 home automation protocol. After having been burned by X10, one might rightly assume that I would have to be a glutton for abuse to move on to an even more expensive and less time-tested protocol like Insteon...
In the early part of the twentieth century, there were several types of wall board materials that were quite different than the traditional interior wall finish - plaster. Most were made with compressed wood fibers or pulp...
Continued from “Home Automation–not just for McMansions anymore | Part I” Another X10 device I purchased was a bedside controller which operated every light in the house...
Most old homes don’t have just a single roof. Many have separate roofs over porches, additions, bays or towers. As a result, there are typically numerous intersections where roofs meet vertical surfaces. Chimneys, skylights and plumbing vents also interrupt roof surfaces...
In my parents’ old house, they had in incredible master suite consisting of a large bedroom with two closets, one an enormous walk-in that we concluded must haveonce served as a nursery, as ithad a second door that opened on the hallway, an even larger sitting room/office that featured a big bay...
A couple of projects I was working onthis weekgot me thinking about old houses, drainage, and spending money wisely when making home improvements...
Before moving to Charlotte, Ispent four very long years living in a much maligned and ridiculedcity that I won’t name (hint: it sits on Lake Erie)...
Most old homes don’t have just a single roof. Many have separate roofs over porches, additions, bays or towers. As a result, there are typically numerous intersections where roofs meet vertical surfaces. Chimneys, skylights and plumbing vents also interrupt roof surfaces...
As an old house lover and a high technology fanboy, I have to balance two competing aesthetics. On the one hand, I love old lamps and light fixtures. On the other, I control them with blue-backlit home automation wall controllers...
Growing up in New England, I generally associated “drought” with distant, exotic places. Placeslike Ethiopia.The Australian Outback.California...
This week’s post is a song of praise to my favorite wood finish: Orange Shellac. Riveting, huh? Bear with me… We all have certain things that we lay claim to being a connoisseur of, be they wines, audio equipment, or Star Trek episodes, and for me, it’s wood finishes...
Following my sophomore year of college I, returned home to discover that my dad had treated himself to a really…cool…toy. It was a 1961 Corvette. Dad had briefly owned a ‘58 ‘Vette in college–until his roommate totaled it–and I think he bought this one as a way to even things out...
As mentioned in a previous post, there are countless instances when I’ve witnessed A Guy, meaning a male old-house civilian who ordinarily couldn’t load a stapler, stop dead in their tracks when faced with a department store tool display...
Getting past “Look, Ma, No Hands!” I no longer have to prove to myself (or anyone else) that I can be completely self-sufficient when it comes to restoration. I have executed pretty much every imaginable task involved with construction, from masonry to roofing to gas-fitting...
Some years ago I was helping my brother-in-law Hans replace a chandelier and some wall sconces in hisnew–or at least newly acquired–house. According to local lore, the house had once been used to hide runaway slaves as part of the Underground Railroad. So it had some years on it...
Over the past two years, I’ve been inspecting significantly more buildings that are vacant. Some, because of the amount of time they sit on the market, owners have had to move on. Others are because of bank foreclosures...
This past weekend I went on the Society for Clinton Hill’s 32nd anniversary historic house tour. I moved to this area of Brooklyn, NY, about a year ago and have been fascinated by the unique history, and the truly diverse current architectural, socioeconomic and ethnic make-up of the area...
What does “updated” mean when it comes to the wiring in an old home? In response to an article about knob and tube wiring, I’ve received many e-mails with questions about old house electrical issues...
This may sound odd, but I think Arlen Specter’s decision to switch from the Republican to the Democratic party might awaken the suddenly relativelydormant clean tech industry...
Some people like the clean, flat look of drywall. It’s cheap, easy to install and finish and the repairs are relatively painless. But, like most old home fans, I like the unevenness of plaster walls...
Old House Q & A: We live in an old house in upstate New York and we’re thinking of replacing our very old boiler with something more efficient. Winters are pretty cold here. We keep hearing how wonderful ground-source heat pumps are. Is this a good option for an older house? Possibly...
The walkway at 9 a.m... I spent the day yesterday re-setting a flagstone path through a client’s vegetable garden. My assistant, Mallory, initially wondered why we were bothering, as the existing path seemed fine to her...
In 2001 the New York Times ran an article about home improvement websites that were most helpful to the DIY set. Old House Web was one of the sites featured prominently in the piece. Last week I wrote about the growing trend of women renovators...
Are women trading in nail salons for hardware stores? That’s the argument leveled in a recent Wall Street Journal article called “Ms. Fix-It.” In what Kay Hymowitz refers to as “the pinking of home improvement,” women are picking up hammers and drills in increasing numbers...
I’ve had the pleasure of inspecting several dozen mills that were built in the 18th and 19th century. Some were going to be converted to residential or commercial space, two were going to be preserved for interpretation, but most were already converted to a new use...
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I live in a neighborhood that is moving into its second stanza. It sits on a peninsula, and the lake access and lake lifestyle make it an attractive place to live. So attractive, in fact, that it’s essentially built out...
In my last post I wrote about how to build compound molding. There were some questions about how I built that curved baseboard so I’ll show how I did it. There are basically four ways to build that curve using solid lumber. What I did really wasn’t the best way to do it...
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