Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [old-house]

228 questions
25
votes
5 answers

What should be done before using a fireplace that has not been used in decades?

We are moving into a house with a fire-place. The current tenants (friends of ours), have been living there just short of 2 decades, and have never used it once. The house is about 90 years old, so it certainly saw a lot of use once upon a time. I…
Frames Catherine White
  • 439
  • 2
  • 6
  • 13
20
votes
9 answers

What is this pipe coming out of the basement floor?

I’m finishing an old (1930) empty basement and have a random pipe coming out of the floor. ⁠I have no clue what it is or what it went to as it sits alone in the space. ⁠It is metallic (tested with a magnet). ⁠It’s currently capped off and did have…
Aaron
  • 201
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
19
votes
1 answer

What is this balloon with "eyes" printed on it, hanging from the eave on this house?

I have seen this, or something very similar on various houses in the city I live in. It is rare enough to be remarkable, but common enough to make me think it is a "thing". Any ideas?
zeeple
  • 293
  • 2
  • 8
16
votes
6 answers

Old ceiling light fixture with 9 wires (5 black/4 white)-how to install a new fixture?

I am trying to install a new light fixture, but there are 9 wires--I wasn't able to see how it was connected and I'm pretty sure it was wrong to begin with because bulbs kept burning out right away. Initially the whites were together, 3 of the black…
Rachel H
  • 189
  • 1
  • 4
16
votes
10 answers

How do I drywall when the studs are not flush?

I have a problem with my bathroom. I recently had someone come and switch the door from the kitchen side to the other side while redoing my kitchen. He did a great job and the kitchen looks great. That being said he used new studs to re-frame the…
Ryan Brokaw
  • 161
  • 1
  • 1
  • 3
15
votes
3 answers

How do I self-repair a section of crumbling basement wall, or should I hire a professional?

How do I self-repair a section of crumbling basement wall, or should I hire a professional? Background: How I discovered it: I removed some exposed blue foam insulation from my basement walls to comply with my home insurer's request (part of the…
user138192
9
votes
2 answers

What is this orange yellow substance on my wooden studs inside walls?

There's some kind of orange yellowish looking substance that forms into tiny bubbles (it looks sticky, but I haven't touched it). It seems to be on my floor joists and wall studs. The house is from the 1960s. Is this something to worry about?…
DMR
  • 129
  • 2
  • 6
9
votes
5 answers

What are the dangers of hidden boxes?

I've been remodeling my 1924 house, and have been slowly re-wiring, and splitting up an old "mega circuit" where half the house is all wired into one circuit. In the process of doing so I discovered many hidden boxes buried in the basement ceiling. …
user30371
8
votes
3 answers

Replacing a light switch in a 1964 house

I'm new to this so Warning dumb questions ahead. I need to replace a few old light switches and the first light is controlled by an upstairs and downstairs switch. When I opened the area the switch had three wires connected red, black and white. Is…
J G
  • 89
  • 2
8
votes
2 answers

Why does home siding not extend to the ground?

I have noticed that the siding of single family homes in Colorado, at least my made-in-the-70's neighborhood, does not extend down to or into the ground. Why is this? Why not have siding (vinyl, brick, stucco, etc) go into the ground? I seem to…
PipperChip
  • 191
  • 5
7
votes
1 answer

Anyone know what this wire sticking out of my wall is?

Moved into a new (but old) house recently and found this sticking out of my wall. Any idea what it is? Old telephone or radio wiring assembly?
Vince
  • 73
  • 3
6
votes
2 answers

What is this metal bar in my 1950s electrical box?

I recently bought a house and am in the process of replacing all the ungrounded outlets with GFCI outlets. I was able to install one correctly in a bedroom, but there are two others that I wasn't able to install. There is some sort of metal bar that…
Tom Pridham
  • 75
  • 1
  • 6
5
votes
6 answers

Can I increase the size of my floor register to improve cooling in my bedroom?

My house was built in '61 and was 100% electric with no air conditioning. At a later point (we think 60s-70s) the electric baseboard heating was removed and a forced air system was retrofitted. We use that same basic system with a newer (2010)…
Ukko
  • 537
  • 2
  • 6
  • 12
5
votes
1 answer

Would knob and tube be used with modern conduit wiring?

Recently bought a single story house that was built in 1925, it has a basement and an attic space. I've doing some updates in it, and have noticed some confusing things with the electrical wiring. There is a fuse box in the basement, but only has…
Travis
  • 51
  • 1
5
votes
1 answer

What is this panel in basement wall of 1940s house?

When I removed a cabinet from our basement wall today I discovered the panel in the photo below. The panel is metal, approximately 2 ft wide and 1 ft high. It has five 1.5 inch holes in it, each one covered in mesh (see close up). Behind the mesh…
Halo79
  • 83
  • 1
  • 4
1
2 3
…
15 16