Okay, first of all, yes, I think we’re calling it a guest cottage now. Too many people are confused about “Carriage House.” I’m wondering where this is, why it is, and what it is. As a reminder, we hired Tom IslandPortland’s best, most likeable, enthusiastic and enthusiastic elderly home inspector (or any home) will tell you what’s wrong with the guest cottage. He was a former inspector when we closed the house, but we loved his experience, expertise and enthusiasm for our vintage property (he’s a wealth of knowledge as he’s a former builder). Well, I don’t think most of what he wrote in his inspection report was a major surprise.
Wait, watch Quick YouTube!!!
Yes, I’m going to get tested here, but watching it on YouTube is even more fun. It’s quick and fun, I promise 🙂
For written reports. I screen grabbed the blocks for each block and turned Tom’s notes into blue.
With a roof
The roof doesn’t actually look bad from the outside of that part, but on top of the canning room, it’s really a lot of leaks. My hope is not to completely replace it, but to repair it. So we’ll see.
On the inside, you can see mold growth and lead damage (and I felt it in the winter). I was crazy to be here!!!
chimney
A chimney that doesn’t work should go – but what if you like how it looks? His report appears to say it is not safe and is a “fall.” Yes, there are no grooves, so there are real water management issues.
Siding
These photos look bad, but he told us there was no need to really replace the siding. In addition to the rot, the wood is strong and certainly has some holes. Fixing LLs is very expensive, so our hope is to replace what you need and repaint them to match.
He is very serious in the report, but in reality, “Yes, I need help, but this is a very old siding. You need to fix it. You need to custom mill the wood.
window
We all love old windows and wavy glass, but these are in bad condition. If it is not cracked or missing, the wood is completely broken or rotten.
My goal/plan is to replace the windows, not moves or additions. The house is nicely lit and yes, I even love the nasty windows on the second floor. The larger ones may actually reduce the windows in the canning room, as they look at the tall fence two feet away (and therefore give no light and are an eyelash). Plus, it could be the music room (Charlie is a very good drummer if she can boast a bit about her son).
Breezeway/Capterwway
I think what he’s saying is that everything really should be replaced (arciform I’ve also taught this many times, and we did. Is it old and rattle? It’s not like our children will sleep under it. The biggest problem is that the rain from there pours into the paneling, causing the house to rot. So we will definitely adjust it. Certainly, if you need to replace the whole thing, we will do wil, l, but my goal is to repair and not replace it.
Ah!
There are friendly carpenter ants. I don’t know if they’re going to demonstrate this first or introduce pest control personnel to work. We understand that.
Piping
Tom didn’t know how old the plumbing was, but he was nearly 100 years old. It’s rusty so it’s torn and needs to be replaced.
Yes, the sink needs to be replaced, haha. By the way, it’s Kohler Sink! I forgot that Kohler had been there for so long!!
My favourite quote from the inspection: “The bathroom on the second floor needs a new toilet.” surely. That’s the hole in the floor. I don’t know when the toilet was there (maybe in the 1940s?), when it was removed (or more difficult questions…why? ? ? ?). The shower is made of wood. Because only wealthy people could afford to buy tiles at the time. As you can imagine, it didn’t work, so I don’t think we’ll shower here, but if that’s the case, should we make our own tiles? Do you want to collect enough vintages? yes.
Yes, he wasn’t impressed with the state of the pipe. It’s all become Gooooooo.
He thought the water heaters were from the 80s, so did you think someone lived here when I was a kid? It seems to be much older than that!
electricity
Well, I think the house got knobs and tube electricity in the 1920s or 1940s (isn’t it wild? Within 100 years, rural Americans didn’t have indoor lighting, so from that point on there was Hodge Podge electricity, and then there was.
As you know, knobs and tubes (the conduits outside the ceiling – not actually shown here) are not grounded or safe. Then in the 60s, they added an extension cord to the ceiling with a staple gun! Needless to say, everything has to go and the house has to be rewired. I’ll write more about this later as I learn about it, but I really don’t want to erase this house. My hope is that you can either lift a particular board (hear what I’ve heard) or use clean conduits for basic lighting fixtures and outlets. Or maybe it’s a combo. I’ll go into that in more detail later (please help).
Everyone is fascinated by this stove, and in theory, I too. But it doesn’t seem cute (no attack, stove). Yes, it’s great that you can open it and heat it with wood burning inside it, but it screams “I’m going to burn your house,” and it’s not like this cute “may come from Downton Abbey” stove. Tom said it needed to be cleaned, but the stove didn’t stay. No, not asbestos either.
Basics
For long and short, it means that the entire foundation must be fixed, replaced or simply poured first.
The house was built over time, with some of the “rooms” having small crawl spaces, others simply on top of the dirt, and for others having slabs poured into them. That all needs to be addressed. Does anyone know about working with hot foundation brands? lol.
Yes, more basic shame. They really cobbled these houses together and placed wood on bricks on stones – like the strange tiktok trend where a woman stands on a can of pickles above a box of something in high heels?? That’s how this house is built.
The official diagnosis is as follows:
We were not surprised, but we were totally mad. We don’t know much, but we know that “you need to replace the foundation” sounds like tens of thousands (or more). And it’s not something we can’t DIY. I’ll soon be talking about that.
So, what’s the good news????
Well, Tom actually said that all the wood is in pretty great condition (and the house is like 100% wood). The columns and beams that hold the house are strong (old growing FTW), the wood on the floor and ceiling is very long and transparent (high quality). He was impressed by the strength of the house. She is an Olympic athlete from 200 years ago! We don’t need to replace it with all the wood in the gut and modify the foundation and everything else, but the structure may remain largely intact (he thinks). Of course, we hire engineers along with the foundation’s contractors and we have to allow it, so we pray that we don’t take off all the inside and outside siding to fix everything. Tom didn’t really think we needed them. Find repairs if necessary – not an overhaul. Of course, he said we were furious about our main house here, but that’s because we had to open the walls – that was actually much worse in this house (with drywall and plaster crumbling). He even considers the floor under the gloss laminated asbestos flooring to be a very long wooden plank that could be rescued.
I am very grateful Tom Island For his report. If you’re in Portland (or the surrounding area, he lives in Willamette Valley and wants an inspector with the experience of building many homes (and lovers of the old house), he’s really incredible. And his wife continues – Hello!! 🙂
***Ah, and for you who reached out to you about repair coaching, I’m not back to anyone yet!!! I’ve been blaming the trip so much, chasing it, and then travelling again with my kids before the summer was over. Although there is no update on paranormal investigators yet, I have gotten a home spiritual counselor that might be fun to talk about. We are immediately appointed at the Oregon Historical Society.
Opening Image Credits: Photo Caitlyn Green |From left: Before the exterior tour | From From: Before the interior tour
Source: Emily Henderson – stylebyemilyhenderson.com
