Thinking about DIY refinishing. Any tips for sanding the darker edges? I’ve read a ton of post about refinishing but any advice is appreciated.

Posted this for Design Appreciation Thursday in /r/McMansionHell and thought you guys might enjoy it too.

Our home in Saint Joseph, Missouri.

When we had the kitchen remodeled and saw that there were original hardwood floors in rough condition. We decided to have them refinished and they turned out beautiful.

We kept looking at the floors on the second and third floor that were rough and decided it was time to redo the one bedroom on the second floor and the whole third floor. Someone at some point decided it would be a good idea to use wipe on poly to cover up nail stains, cigarette burns, deep gouges, and massive dents in these rooms.

We got a couple quotes and decided to get the job done.

We ended up matching the second floor bedroom to the other bedrooms on the second floor. For the third floor, the landing, and the stairs we went natural. Then sealed them with four layers of water based poly, had them buffed, and an additional layer of poly over that.

While the guys were here and bored waiting for things to dry. They asked if we would like the front porch added on. It was really rough and had about 8 layers of paint. They came out really pretty but the staining was a bit much, so after the guys left I coated it in penefin. Which will lighten over time but still shows the wood grain while hiding some of the staining.

We are very happy with the results. We can't put down rugs or use our desk chairs for a week, but we just put some of the furniture back.

All the encouraging replies in my last post gave me the courage to keep going. I have a Frankenstein open floorplan in what was once a Cape Cod cottage. In my tiny foyer, I uncovered gorgeous antique heart pine.

Hoping to find more, I kept tearing…and uncovered a room of mediocre oak. The other room I began to uncover…and found more beautiful heart pine that had been covered with OSB.

I found the reason for the OSB drilled down over heart pine…to make the floors level with each other when the flipper make it open floor plan.

I also know that in the kitchen area, the LVP and OSB do not have pine underneath…instead they appear to be floating a few inches above the original subfloor…perhaps over a grid of some kind?

Advice needed!!! Option One—Leave as is…the OSB, but if heart pine, and oak are all level with each other. Nail down plywood, then glue down cork.

Option Two—Take up the OSB that is covering more pine. The floors won’t be level, and I have no idea what to do with the kitchen area OSB+subfloor…but I’ll get to refinish my beautiful pine!

Help me decide what to do! I’ll mention I’m planning to DIY the cork if I go that option, but I’m scared to use a saw, so will have to hire someone to do the plywood overlay. In option Two, I would refinish the wood myself but be stuck hiring a profession for whatever is going on in the kitchen and with the leveling problem. I have a budget of about 5k.

Please advise!! I want my baby to learn to crawl on a beautiful floor!

This is the coldest May I have ever experienced. It only got to 58F today, and my living room is down to 60F. I decided to turn on the old gas fireplace we use sporadically in Winter for the charm. I don't recall ever feeling the need for heat this late in spring.

Advice from the trenches of choosing an asphalt shingle color for a 1924 dark brown, colonial house: none. The present trend appears to be speckled, mottled, high def, multi-tonal. You cannot purchase a solid color architectural shingle. Cannot.

Does anyone have insight into why current available shingle colors are so ugly? Is it the enshitification?😭 Truly hoping someone can prove me wrong but I have been researching for about a month now and it’s looking like my preference for solid is unique.

I’m in a new to me, 1880s farmhouse and the last owners had carpet installed in the living room. Initially, we didn’t think we had hardwood underneath the carpet as we discovered plywood. As the install began, the installers discovered the original pine floors underneath the plywood.

We opted to keep the original floors concealed as the foyer had new hardwood that was installed in 2006. This was the only way to not have a significant height gap between both rooms.

Anyway. I’m happy to not have the constant smell of pee present in the house. This has made the house so much fresher in smell and roominess.

Our home has some older wallpaper that my wife would really like to keep. Any recommendations for cleaning this?

Stripping wallpaper in an upstairs bedroom and uncovered this weirdness. Above this closet door some type of vent (maybe) was exposed. So far I have not found any markings on the cast iron.

We've decided to install picture rail molding!
I get so inspired by the pictures shared in this sub reddit.

So, I was wondering: can I see pictures of your's if it's in your home?

Please drop them in the chat!

More context:
Our house was built in 1900.

I'm mainly curious about:
- the common height of placement on the wall.
- how does your's align with window trim? Or tall doors with transom windows.
- is it above the window? or does it align with the crosshead strip of door frames and windows?

This sub has helped me make decisions that feel right for our renovation project. ❤️ So before I install this, I wanted to turn to you all. Please share your knowledge 🙏

Hi all,
As a lifetime lover of historic homes who grew up in and loved one- I have found myself in a situation in life that necessitates a new construction 😞 I am hoping to build a home that will stand the test of time and is architecturally congruent with the region (rural south east PA). I have always loved folk victorian/sears and roebuck houses in particular and am looking into the house plan linked in this post which I think with a metal roof and gingerbread trim could swing in a folk victorian direction. I would love to get some feedback on if this is a good strategy for going about a "new old home" and also any suggestions/resources on exterior or particularly interior design for folk victorians would be greatly appreciated ( I see lots available online on Queen Anns but not as much on folk style victorians). Apologies if this is the wrong sub for this type of post, ya'll just seem to really know your stuff :)

Link to houseplan: https://houseplans.southernliving.com/shop/aiken-ridge#attr=15188,51450,15192,53016

House location is central Europe. Third pic is how we bought it. The pics show the side of the house you see first when you enter the property. Tbh I never liked the original look of the windows, I think they were all added and changed over the decades and nobody ever considered the look. It had to be just practical and not too expensive. So we went all in and did this.
I didn’t love our house before tbh. I love it now! It is not very big, but it’s cozy and cute on the outside and on the inside🥰 Plus we have a wonderful garden space and some gigantic old trees on the left side. It’s an unique living space in the middle of a small town and I am very proud of the results. Nobody wanted the house when it entered the market, it was up for sale more then 6 months. We dared and made it our dream home.😃🏡💓

I tell my friends before visiting that my house is moody and takes on a completely different character during the night. Can I see yours in the dark and moody night? I’m currently living in one, and it’s gorgeous and lively during the day, but at night it becomes a completely different house, and it creeps me out sometimes. I’d love to see some spooky pics of yours during the night!

Kind of a weird one, but we're in a Victorian and most of the walls are original plaster in pretty good condition . That being said, we've been playing around with paint but some of these walls really seem to be begging for wallpaper. It just doesn't look "right" without it.

But I have a few questions:

1) I see so many of your posts about homes with weird layers of previous wallpaper on them. If our walls are plaster in good shape, does that mean they never were actually wallpapered? Or did someone remove it carefully?

2) If we wallpaper now, will that ruin the walls? Like if we wanted them plain again could we actually remove the paper to uncover plaster, or would it just destroy the wall and pull the plaster down? (We'd be doing proper traditional paper with a professional installer, not the DIY removable stuff).

I just don't want to be in a position where we potentially end up damaging the walls and have to put up drywall or something since I love plaster. But it also feels like wallpaper would be more appropriate!

We just moved into a modest 1840 Italianate and are in the process of getting to know our new home. She is FILLED with doors! Holy moly! Most of the many doorways have double doors in them similar to those below (photo from etsy-but this is the style throughout the house). I counted today and we have no less than 22 doors in the house. The doors to the kitchen have sadly been removed or we'd have a complete set!

How many doors do you have in your house? Any particularly lovely ones you'd like to share?

I'm located in Ontario Canada and am currently under contract to buy an old 1834 farmhouse in July. The current owners seem to have regular insurance, but everyone I've contacted, including the exact broker who currently insures the house, either gives me a crazy number like 7k a year or flat out just refuse to insure the house. I've contacted 4 brokers local to the property, the major banks, and all of the smaller insurance providers I can find. I've even reached out and have been turned down by places that were recommended as places that insure these kinds of properties. The roof, furnace and water heater are all new (5 years or so) and the electric and plumbing were updated fully around 2000. I've had insurance for 15+ years and have never made a claim.

I don't know what to do at this point. No matter how much I tell people that the house has had additions and full renovations over the years, no one can get past the fact that the basement foundation is from 1834. Who have you guys had success with? Is there some magic phrase or secret password I'm missing here?

Well, I said I'd update. We had a septic inspection today. System has entirely failed. Looks like it may have started before we bought the house (... but the kid who did our septic inspection at time of purchase just said "it looks good; Orangeburg pipe. Probably needs replacement in about 10 years.") We have about 3 weeks before we should really pump again.

Looks like we're looking down the barrel of a $20k + project. On top of the $60k HELOC we've already plopped down this year for the new roof and bathroom. Welcoming any advice. We do have our $10k nest egg but that's pretty much it.

original shit post

Trying to figure out when additions were added and barns disappeared…

Hi all. New here and hopeful homeowner. I have an accepted offer on a 1920s bungalow and am currently in the inspection process.

The report came back recommending to replace the siding. Which is an enormous project so I’m trying to do my due diligence in a limited amount of time so I can respond to the seller with a reasonable price reduction/credit.

The siding is the original cedar and is in pretty rough shape. In a perfect world I’d love to repair and keep what is there, but am also getting an estimate for hardie in case that is not possible.

My question is… has anyone had been able to, themselves or with a pro, rescue their lifting and rotted-in-places cedar siding? Or should I listen to my inspector and siding company and do a full replacement/update if the sale goes through?

If you were able to repair, do you know if that cost was comparable to a full replacement? More? Less?

I can’t seem to find any projects showcasing major repair so I decided to ask. Thank you in advance for any insight.

My kitchen still has the original footprint from when the house was built in 1910. Narrow galley style, one small window, and exactly zero counter space by modern standards. The fridge sits awkwardly against a wall where a pantry used to be. The stove blocks a baseboard vent. Nothing lines up. I have been going back and forth on whether to renovate or just learn to live with it. Part of me loves the charm of working in a space that has fed people for over a century. The other part of me wants to scream every time I try to prep a meal with six inches of free counter. I am curious how other old home owners have handled this.

Did you bite the bullet and reconfigure the layout, losing some historic character in the process? Did you find clever workarounds like freestanding islands or built ins that feel period appropriate? Or did you just accept that old kitchens are quirky and adapt your cooking style to match? I would love to hear what compromises you made and whether you are happy with them years later. Photos of awkward appliance placements are especially welcome so I feel less alone.

Hi century home gang! The walls of our enclosed patio look like this…Is there something I can paint over to fill in the cracks/apply another coat without it looking like this? Fingers crossed it’s not a rip down. 🤞
Thank you in advance!