If you have an old house, you know this refers to the wiring that's probably coursing current to your lights and plugs. The knobs are ceramic clips (ceramic--imagine the expense installing those today!) that secure and protect the fabric-jacketed wire parallel to the joist and/or serve as a pivot point to change the wire's direction. The tubes are ceramic sleeves that protect the wire as they ...

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We face difficult questions repairing our vintage homes. Should we repair what's there or replace with new materials and techniques? This question arises in various forms throughout any old house remodel (from molding to appliances to fenestration), I find it often first pops up when it comes to plaster. Generally, plaster performs better than drywall because it is more massive: Three coats of hand-applied material (brown ...

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I wrote last week about the two old houses in Berkeley, California that are in desperate need of someone to save them. All a person needs to do is submit a proposal to move one or both of the houses to another location, and they may get them for as little as a dollar each. Of course the big job and cost is moving them, and having a location for ...

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