4 ms·
It all depends, so much. A hundred year house might have been well-maintained and have interior renovations in the systems that matter most -- electrical, plumb
by dsr_ 10y ago
It all depends, so much. A hundred year house might have been well-maintained and have interior renovations in the systems that matter most -- electrical, plumbing, heating, insulation -- in which case it is very likely a great house for the next thirty years, provided you do the same work.
Or it could be an inconsistent mash-up of systems from different eras, with some knob-and-tube wiring still exposed in the basement, no insulation in the walls and a half-hearted roll of fiberglass in the attic, and Baron von Frankenstein's heating system. That would be bad.
On the other hand, "high cost of remodeling" is bunk unless you have an Historical Preservation Society glaring at you. All normal remodeling is expensive in every house. It's just that an HPS can make it much more expensive, and constrain you not to do things you want.
- ghaff 10y agoAs someone who lives in a ~200 year old house, I pretty much agree with all that. I've spent quite a bit on renovations and the house is still "quirky." (e.g. just has one smallish, though just redone, bathroom) On the other hand, the location and property are great and it was quite inexpensive, especially by today's standards. Yes, some of the renovations were due to age and/or lack of maintenance over time. But there's no shortage of horror stories associated with problems in recently-constructed houses as well.
- hx87 10y ago> It's just that an HPS can make it much more expensive, and constrain you not to do things you want. This is so true in Boston. A lot of HPSs specify that you can't change the exterior facing portion of a building, even if you make every effort to keep the appearance while, e.g. adding 4 inches of styrofoam for insulation behind the siding, or if the changes you make are historically correct, e.g. 4 inches of styrofoam + stucco on top of brick walls. They don't particularly care about the interior, so often your only choice if you want to insulate is to insulate on the interior, which, ironically, reduces the building's durability.