Upgrades to this grand ole lady

I have spent some time recently repairing the gutters on the upper roof and thought I'd write about all the improvements that have been made to this grand ole lady. The gutters are integral to the roof (do not hang off the edge but are internal to the roof). The 100-yr old galvanized sheet metal was still in pretty good condition, just the seams were leaking (seams every 8 ft). I removed all the previous owners repair work (tar), primed the steel, calked the seams with silicone, and relined the whole gutter system with a reinforced rubber coating. It works very well and was given a good test a week ago with some very heavy rains. No leaks were found.

Seventy-five percent of the plumbing has been replaced with copper, PEX and PVC for drain/vent/waste. The water line from the street has been replaced with a 1-inch poly pipe. The water meter was upsized and replaced also, as well as the valve at the street. The outside water hydrants were replaced with the freeze-proof type (no more Styrofoam covers for the winter) and the house was re-plumbed for a water softener and reverse-osmosis system.

The carriage house hayloft was remodeled years ago and turned into an apartment (1950’s?). It was in such bad shape when we purchased the house that the appraiser did not allot any value to it. I have completely renovated it (all but the tub and the furnace) and we now have rental income ($525.00/month). We look at the income from that fix-up as a great investment and it pays all of our utility bills. It could also be a great mother-in-law living quarters (I always tease my mother-in-law that I will evict the tenant and move her up there).

The laundry was off the kitchen in the old ice-box on the back porch. It was not very convenient to do the laundry there as it was cramped quarters and there was no place to sort, fold or hang the clothes. Our dirty clothes usually ended up on the kitchen floor most of the time. We completely renovated a room in the basement into a new laundry room and another full bath. My wife was completely exuberant when I began that project; not just for the promise of a wonderful, new laundry room but because the room we were tackling was the “ugly room.” Her and the kids were afraid to go into it. It was very dirty, smelly, had holes in the walls and the plaster and lath ceiling had partially fallen. The windows were so dirty and grimy you could not see out of them. I replaced the windows, added foil and bat insulation to the walls and sheet-rocked the whole thing. The laundry room is 18 feet by 8 feet and has a long counter for folding clothes, a deep sink, a long hanging rack, a place for our sorting baskets and a very handy clothes chute.


The external walls have had insulation blown in, the electrical service and disconnect box was updated to 200 amp and breakers (yeah, no more screw type fuses).

The gutters and eves around the front porch have been completely rebuilt and returned to an original condition (bead-board soffit, vice plywood). The brick foundation has been sandblasted and returned to the original look (was painted). The paint scheme is understood to be the original colors that were first used on the house.

Another very neat thing that has been added is a video doorbell. It has been put to good use in screening people who come to visit. When someone rings the doorbell we can see their image on little screens on the second and third floors. If we want we can pick up the receiver to talk to them and see what they want. The kids use it to answer the door without opening it up to strangers.