mom@shiloh Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 We're living in our fourth 100+ year old house and we've had very few issues with mice. No issues at all in our current home. We have lots of outdoor cats, so maybe that's the reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 This thread needs pictures!! 1741?!? I would love to see it!! I can't figure out how to upload pics; it always says my upload failed. My house is all over the internet as it's very historic, but it's associated with my address on every website, so I'm not comfortable posting a link. Any tips on uploading a photo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xixstar Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 I haven't read it all yet, looks like a fun thread for later to browse. We are 9 years into a 150-yo house. I now feel I watched too much HGTV before house hunting. I loved old houses. We bought an old house with all the age, all the issues and practically no charm Failed to realize that while we are DIY folk, we have limited time and no money to actually do anything and the house falls apart faster than we can keep up. So all the time and money we muster is used to put out fires. Oh and if you're possibly having deep conversations about "is that OLD sag or NEW sag"? Just don't. Or at least full understand what it might mean if it is indeed NEW sag and you find yourself living in a house with failed foundation and no money to deal with it. Our house has oil burning boiler and radiators for heat and it costs a fortune to keep it at 58-60 degrees. We have no central air. We have replaced almost all the wiring and people sure we're crazy with how the wired things. The oddest outlets are on the same breaker. And I saw mention of the mice, so glad to not be the only one. I feel like I talk to friends that live in modern homes and they must think we are awful to have so many mice. It's just the reality of the old house, dirt floor basement and stacked stone foundation. Now the squirrels... That's another post.... Oh and the entire house is covered in peeling lead paint. We did proper removal in a couple areas before having babies but that project got sidelined when I was no longer helping. It actually hasn't been an issue though - we have our children's lead levels tested often and it's never been elevated. Considering how much peeling is going on, I am surprised. I freaked myself out when the first baby arrived thinking how I was poisoning them living there. But they don't eat the paint and that appears to be good enough. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amy g. Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Pros- Love. New construction just leaves me cold. Cons- Money. We are buying a house built in 1909. We are budgeting as if we were having another kid, including college costs. And we are expecting about the same return on our investment. I don't think it neccesarily makes sense to the rational mind, but the heart wants what the heart wants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mbelle Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 One of the things I do like, is that we bought our house in a down turned economy very cheaply. We have an acre and we are allowed to split it in half when we sell. We started doing Financial Peace/Dave Ramsey just before we bought the house. We were easily able to afford it and although it's taken longer to renovate than we thought and we did have to refinance for a bit more, this house is still affordable. Also, we were the first people to renovate on this old street and now others have done the same. Our house has become a good investment. What we put into it is more than worth it. I think that is a key thing to think about when buying an old house. OH, and although I have heard very wild stories about all the people who lived here previously, we do not have any ghosts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 I am seriously missing the housing gene. I don't even have it in me to feel like new windows can ruin a house. I'm my mind, houses are dioramas for adults. It's a box you live in to decorate (or not) as you please, and to protect you from the elements. I hate that houses act like they're people and DEMAND your attention. WHY must they be so complicated? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 And I saw mention of the mice, so glad to not be the only one. I feel like I talk to friends that live in modern homes and they must think we are awful to have so many mice. It's just the reality of the old house, dirt floor basement and stacked stone foundation. Now the squirrels... That's another post.... If it makes you feel any better, I had a guy out to replace a burner on my stove (brand-new stove, so it was under warranty, just had a bad burner), and he told me that ALL houses have mice behind the stoves, even the ones that don't think they do. They might just never see them or evidence of them. The crazy circuits! Yes, the strangest things are wired together. I thought I'd hate window AC units. I actually don't. They're a little noisy, but they actually work well, and it's really nice that we don't cool the main floor at night, or the bedrooms too much during the day. Our last house was a 1980s split level, and in order for the upstairs bedrooms to be tolerably cool, the basement level family room had to be icy cold, even at night. Talk about a waste of money! And with heat, the first floor heats with wood from an outdoor furnace (which is great, although someone has to feed it and haul wood for it), and the upstairs heats with electric. So we turn the heat way down on the first floor at night, and we turn the heat down on the upstairs during the day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoutingmom Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 We rented a house built in 1905. It was heated with a furnace that said 1912 on it, although it had been changed from coal to natural gas... One thing that was interesting... the upstairs bathroom needed work which we were doing. The floor insulation was newspapers. We were pulling out newspapers from 1914, including headlines about WWI that were important enough to be printed in RED! The floor plan was pretty wierd. One cool thing was a closet was built between two bedrooms.... there was a door to it in each room, so it was like a secret passageway. We had a load of mice. Long story, but some of the landlord's stuff was in the garage, basement, and porch. (We had an emergency move there.) We had permission to clean out the porch, as it was part of the entryway. Part of the porch contents? About 300 lbs of wheat... just stored in the original bags. I think any mouse within a 10 mile radius had moved to that house! Our cats kept busy! The house had great potential but there was a ton of work. After we moved out, it remained empty for a couple of years and then the city condemed it and tore it down. Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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