To build new or remodel old home 1927.

[zukgod]

Hello all, I have been lurking for a while and really enjoy the forum.  My question is, we currently live in an older home built in 1927.  It has rotten sill plates as well as some wall dry rot here and there.  I was thinking of jacking up the house and fixing everything.  Any then going through the whole house.  The whole house needs redone it is in poor shape from years of neglect before us.
 Now for the question, should I just build new?  I have 10 acres so area is not an issue, or should I fix what I have?  Really cost is the deciding factor for us.  My thoughts are if I remodel there will not be as many fee's to our local Gov which really stinks.   Building new= way more permit fee's.  Any idea's would be wonderful.  
 I also thought about jacking up the house and pooring a solid foundation under the whole house then setting it down on a nice new solid pad.  Thanks everyone.

Josh

[peg_688]

 As a general rule if your able to be living in the house , meaning it's not so bad off your afraid to go into it , it should be worth renovating.

 If your not a pro / tradesmen , and do not have a crew , I'd highly recomend you look for one, a pro/ house mover / jacker  ,  to do the jacking up / letting down part of the job. It takes lots of odd tools , materials , and equipment to jack a house . By the time you rent and / or buy just those materals and tools you'll be into the project for at least a couple of grand.

Jacking is also highly dangerious , you could kill someone or yourself and or damage the house with one slip of a jack pad. It is not a DIY project IMO.

Once it lifted and stable you could have at the foundation , remove some /all  of that rotting sill ,  joist , etc , get the foundation in , then have the mover lower the house , I'm almost sure he will have tips / ways to set up the foundation so he can get his jacking beams out etc that he will tell you about , He'd have to tell a foundation crew what he needed as well , unless they had worked together before .

 Once it down on the foundation you could really take over the project.

Can you post photos ? Show us the worst stuff in detail and the general stuff , well in general . Some  older homes are not worth the effort , [highlight]most are[/highlight],  which is the good news.

G/L PEG  

[glenn-k]

I redid one with my uncle years ago.  It was a bit of a tossup as to which way to go but in that situation I like to choose the old if it has any character to it.

[desdawg]

If you can be living in it while you are working on it you will be financially ahead of the game IMO. You can remodel/renovate a lot of stuff without informing the Gestapo. If you need a new electrical service and the power company requires an inspectors greentag then you could get hung up there. Other than that I can't imagine that you would get stuck anywhere unless a neighbor complains.

[zukgod]

Thanks guys, I think you all have the same vision I do.  The house is nice enough for us to live in.  It is actually not that bad just rough around the edges.  I have already updated the electrical last year from the old nob and tube.  The house is very small at 850sq ft, I would like to add to that by a substantial amount.  I think the addition will be the easy part.  I will take some pics today and post em up.  Thanks for all the advice and keep em coming.

Josh

[glenn-k]

Sounds good, Josh.

The old knob and tube wiring was not really unsafe if in good condition and was in fact safer than Romex.  I understand that some European countries will not allow the ground in the same conduit with the hot wire as is done in Romex, and with good reason.

All in all - if insulation is good, not damaged and circuits are protected with overcurrent devices (circut breakers or fuses), they are pretty safe.

[zukgod]

 Here is the house.  Let me know what you think.  Any idea's are welcome.  Thanks for everyones time.

Johs

[glenn-k]

Looks like the above info could be on the right track.

[desdawg]

A few shims, a little caulking........... just kidding. What does the rest of the floor look like? Getting the foundation in shape is obviously going to be the hardest part and the most time consuming. If there is enough crawl space to work in and the floor joist are solid you could use post and beam a foot or two in from the perimeter and take one section at a time and dig it out. Pour a footing, lay block and repair the rim joist. If the end of the floor joists are bad add another beside it supported by the post and beam. If it was mine and I had more time than money that is what I would do. JMO. The cosmetic stuff and the roofing are the easy part.

[zukgod]

Very good suggestion about sistering the joists.  We have done that in a few area's already.  Actually had to dig into the crawlspace to get in there.  Not a fun job, I really hope to jack up the house just enough to fix all the sill plates at one shot.  And possibly poor a new foundation.
 What does everyone think of just pouring a pad under the whole house?  Other than the obvious plumbing issues what other problems would there be?  I just thought that this route may get rid of a bunch of my problems.  Thanks again all this is really helpfull.

Josh

[glenn-k]

A pad under the whole house wouldn't likely work well or there would be a lot of waste.  I would say perimeter footings and appropriate interior footings or piers although the no crawl space thing has to be hard to work with.  Does it have any interior bearing walls or just perimeter?

[zukgod]

  The center of the house is a load bearing wall, and that support is a rough cut 10x10 on the ground that is about gone.  Floor is getting bouncy, I am going under this week just to shore that up.  I guess I could have it jacked up and then dig like a mad man, or hire some help to get it done so I have enough room for supports.  the house is only 20 deep by 30 long so one should be able to dig it out by hand in a week or so, yuk.  I just hope getting all of this darn termite or dry rot out is worth it, I'm sure it will be but it will be a job.  Thanks for all the continued advice this is great.

Josh

[peg_688]

This is sort of shocking coming from me anyway. The place doesn't look 1927, doesn't have real old house look / details etc , looks like a late 40 / 50's retro was done , at least to me .

If it had a existing foundation , or some older looking details / siding window , T&G paneling , etc I'd think about jacking , But it doesn't have that , it's a small,  rotten floor at least,  house , MTL some of that rot is in at least the lower stud walls .  Said rot will have to delt with , new insulation , siding windows , roof , flooring , MTL sub floor as well , not much will / would be left.

If I had very little $$ I'd do the concrete poured thru the existing floor , I'd cut 3" hole saw holes and get a line pump and just filler up , yes you'd have to form up / block the permeter so it would flow out.  Stop gap at best but the cheapest way out.

If I had some $$ I'd live in it while I built new , some where else on that 10 acres  then doze it / , give to a local vol. fire dept for practice fire / get rid of it.  The cheapest way possible .

If I had lots of $$$ I'd MTL renovate the old hulk and add on .  But it would / will be the most expensive route , no doubt in my military / carpenter mind  

Sorry to be blunt , but I don't see average Joe puttin bucks into that place , for the above reasons .

But if you do give er a go , we'll / I'll be here to help , just like Home Despot , well only cheaper,can't get much cheaper than free  

 Like I said in post #2 jacking is dangerous ,  hard work , I'd not suggest it as a DIY job, unless you have nine lives  or some pratical building experience , which by your postings I'd say you don't have , if you did you wouldn't have asked . Again just MO , no offence  

Sistering in this case against rotten wood is also not a good way to go , the rot will just have more wood to consume. Unless you use treated grd contact wood , but then your setting your self up for mold spours , and a unhealthy house to live in with rotten wood in the crawler.

The rotten stuff has to go almost all of it what can't be removed need cleane d at least with bleach and then incased with a gets rot / epoxy type product.

G/L PEG    

[zukgod]

Peg688,
 No offence taken I asked for advice.  I appreciate the blunt answer not one for sugar coating something myself.  You are correct the most I have done is built a few sheds/chicken coops,installing doors/windows and framed walls and of course roofed a few homes oh and wired this one completely.  This would/will be my first huge project.
 I have to admit my first thought was to live in it and build new on the property, then use this old house as a barn or some other outbuilding.  
 My only thought about saving it as a home was that it could possibly save me some money with county permits and dealing with them to much.  I am 50/50 on building new or going through this one.  We are just under 10 acres or I would keep this one as a rental and build new, but we are 1 per 5 here.  
 Do you all think it would be cheaper to build new?  If so that is the route I want to go, I do have the money to spend either way, but I don't want to waist money.  We actually plan to sell this place either way in 2-3 years and move to the east side of the state on more land, we hope to make a few bucks on this deal.  Thanks again guys.

Josh

[glenn-k]

Reviewing the pictures - the bad beam in the middle, looks like it needs a roof soon, and thinking that my uncle said the house we remodeled was more work than building new, I think I would have to agree with PEG - Starting fresh is probably the best choice.

The major repairs you need with no crawlspace are not going to be fun and if your intent is to sell it in a few years, then a new one will bring more than one with rot and other damage.

and as PEG said , We'll be here.

John's plans woulld be perfect for you because he designs them for people who don't have a great amount of experience.  Very inexpensive too.  We have lots of members who learned here and built their first house.  http://www.countryplans.com/plans.html

Even fancy houses can start simple then add the gingerbread later.

I agree about the age too - looks like this one has been worked on before as it looks quite like our old 1952 house in the valley.

[zukgod]

The house just does not have the charm of a home built in 27 we have felt the same way since we purchased it.  I am looking through the plans and hope to find one that works for us.  Since we will most likely be building new we would like about 2500 sq ft + that is what a local agent told me is selling best on land such as ours.  
 I would like a classic farm house with a nice wrap around porch.  Thanks again guys I am sure I will be asking tons of questions.  

[optionguru]

I have a much older home that I originally bought as an investment to rebuild and sell.  We were willing to spend some money because the house has local historic significance and it has tons of character being oringinally from 1785.  The thing I would warn you about is it ended up costing every bit as much as just buying another larger home.   Even after spending all the money the house is nice but a new one could have been built to suit.

[MountainDon]

... ever seen the movie "The Money Pit"  it's old

[zukgod]

I have seen the movie, thanks.