What to Look for When Buying an Old House

In this podcast short from episode 149, the team gets into the nitty-gritty of what to look at first when inspecting an old home.

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[multidinero]

I’ve done old brownstones in NYC since I was 16 years old. The one thing I’ll tell anyone at this point is if you don’t intend to tear everything up inside, to the studs, you may not want a real old house project. Anything built before 1970 is galvanized pipes and/or cloth wiring. That means new plumbing and/or new electrical along with new walls. I would recommend a new roof as well, as leaving it up to the unknown craftsmen of the past will cost you time, money, and stress in the future.

If you can’t afford to redo it all, you may need to get something less intense. Old houses aren’t for the faint of heart, as the Devil lurks behind the walls and it wants your soul as tribute.

[pct_the_big_guy]

If I was a multi-millionaire, I would find a set of old blueprints from an early 1900s house and build it new.

Old character and details, but new building technology and mechanicals 🤙🏻

[magnusericsson]

I remember this discussion went on in much more detail. Maybe it was a follow up based on a listeners comment a few episodes after this.

[danmar]

The best thing to look for when buying an old house is a new house. ;-)

My house, 1943 in Montreal (Canada) is built with stacked solid (2") wood planks. I want to re-insulate it, one room at a time. It currently has 1" rigid foam fastened to the wood planks, with drywall on top (with furring strips). I was thinking of removing the current setup, and reframing with 2x4s, then flash and batt to insulate. Is there a better way to do it?

[homebuyeredu]

I bought a house built in 1918. My baby has lead poisoning 😩 Trying to decide if I’m walking away or going to finish rehabbing.