A Dutch Colonial without a Gambrel roof

[melissakd]

As promised, some period pictures:

Scalloped and other shaped valances
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28333802@N04/5741503959/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/daily-bungalow/2725491257/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/americanvi ... 104122346/

Bath fixtures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daily-bungalow/3233225766/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/daily-bungalow/3232375083/

Tiny spice cabinet, optional with your 1925 Pacific Ready-Cut Home
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daily-bung ... 4530310446

I just love how many original features you have. A linoleum countertop with metal edging tops my particular wish list, but alas, they are expensive to replace (lino is reasonable, the edging is not)
MKD

[mross_pitt]

So was there any consensus on the house style? Sticking with vernacular?


The true early dutch colonials were usually brick or stone and 1.5 stories(occasionally 2) and usually looked similar to a cape.
The later dutch colonials( more likely called dutch colonial revivals) are those most familiar to everyone with the gambrel roof etc.

[LTParis]

It's funny because this whole area has a mix of traditional dutch colonials, more "modern" dutch colonials (similar to mine), victorians, etc. Too bad the British burned down quite a bit in 1777.

[YinzerMama]

what a great looking house! i love all the built ins.

[LTParis]

Well we have found out that there was some serious water damage to the built in kitchen cabinent (ones with the glass doors). Also the countertops, although they were not of great quality, have some serious rot on the sink side. I kinda expected it, but hoped for better condition of it.

For now I will make do for a year, when we get ready for the Kitchen renovation. Still contemplating how to maximize the space, especially how to accomidate the refigerator. The one in there is very small (15-16 cu.ft.) and is in poor condition. We were going to buy a new 31 cu ft. fridge but there is literally no room for it. If I put it in it's current spot, the dishwasher and 1/2 the cabinents are blocked. There is no other good spot, with power, to put any 22+ cu ft. fridge. :/

Also found a mess of old cloth-wrapped romex behind some wallpaper in each of the four bedrooms. We assume there was an old hanging light given it's position and that there are no other lights in the room, but was taken out some time in the past:



I've purchased Punch Home Design Suite to work out some composite designs, and also to help re-work the electrical this summer.

Decisions.

[Don M]

Wow, did they just paper over the open electrical boxes? If so that's probably illegal or against code. Was the water damage to the glass cabinets due to a leak in the bath above or can you tell. That's too bad; what sort of damage is there?

[LTParis]

Yep they papered right over. I am going to put a plastic gang box cover over it for now.

Water damage was from a bathroom above, which about the best usable parts now from it is the doors. We were toying with the idea that the friedge might have to go into that spot, and we can relocate and add more cabinents to the room in other spots. We need to replace those windows too. They have a lot of charm, with the center cabinents, they outswing, but hell if you open the one half of the windows (facing our neighbors)then you can't bring a car up the driveway).

[Don M]

Probably saving the best parts of the damaged cabinets to use elsewhere makes sense. Putting the fridge there & maybe installing large pantry cabinets would work well. We did that in our tiny kitchen & it made a huge difference in space. I suppose the windows & drive worked in the days of smaller cars? My grandmother's Watertown, NY home had a small side porch next to the driveway. In the winter with ice & snow she routinely took out the porch posts with her big LaSalle & later Cadilac. My Mom & Uncle were stationed to quicly push the posts backe in place befor the roof fell!

[LTParis]

So it's the second weekend we have had the house and have run into some interesting things, good and bad.

1. Still have not stayed overnight in our new abode. Thanks to #2.

2. The hot water heater seems to be cursed. First it's oil fired which in itself just stinks (which we knew). Second the transformer went in it, requiring a $250 service. Finally we get hot water, and it's awful. Tons of rust/sediment in it. After 500+ gallons of flushing no relief. It's ~13 years old, so It might be at it's final days. Problem is where in the hell to buy a oil fired hot water heater. I wanted to switch over to gas, but not sure if I can get it done in a reasonable amount of time.

3a. The floor in our library (which we call the "Peach Room" thanks to the color) has some interesting, characteristics underneath the hardwood floor:



3b. We knew that two brothers built the house, and has lots of characteristics of a duplex, but I thought the kitchen was shared. Given the floor above, and looking in the basement under the Peach Room, it looks like there were two kitchens in the house. So really the only shared part of the house in the past (circa 1920-1954) is the front door and the staircases.

4. The windows are in a bit worse shape than originally thought. About 50% are in fair to poor shape with serious cracks in the frames and decay. Not quite sure what to do about that as of this moment.

5. The fridge just stinks. It seemed pretty meh when we looked at the house in January, but it's just keeping things cold at it's highest setting. Worse any fridge of anything above 18cft obstructs the dishwasher. Can't really relocate it at the moment.

Still lots of planning to do. Had to buy a new King bed since our queen would not fit up the staircase. Now this hot water heater and the inadequate fridge.

The joys of home ownership.

[LTParis]

So I am really stuck now. Talked to my plumber who is trying to help me out to get some resolution.
1. Gas. Really want to go gas route, but our provide Central Hudson could take 6+ plus just to get to our site. That means 6-8 weeks or more not being able to live in our house. And there is the cost of new piping from the feed to the hot water heater and future-proofing the system to accept new feeds for our stove, heater, and drier.

2. Electric. Current panel is only 100A and last I checked I don't think I have two slots for a 30A breaker (let alone the current for it). We had plans to rewire the house and jump to 150A or 200A service, but that is June/July timeframe. Plus I am sure there would be a signifigant cost to electrive v. gas for the hot water tank.

3. Oil. Unit is very expensive, and oil is very expensive. I can get it done now but my plumber and a couple others are telling me to not go this route.

3 crappy choices. Opinions?