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Originally Posted by masraum
Yep, that's exactly where I am, so that makes sense to me. I was wondering if something like that was the case.
Yeah, pretty much all of the homes in my neighborhood (border streets are West Gray, West Dallas, Montrose and Waugh) that go up for sale are being demolished. I did see one where a crew came in and stripped the bricks off of the home and put them on pallets, but all of the rest are reduced to a pile of rubble in an hour or two. I think we've watched 10-15 homes get demolished in the last 6 years since moving here. I think there are 5-10 left, and then another 5-10 that are 4-plexs.
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I used to own/live in a duplex on the other side of West Gray (Bomar) -- it's still standing, but only a matter of time. It's all getting razed and rebuilt. The better duplex/4-plexes will be the last to go. Still earning good money and the dirt keeps appreciating.
Those houses were built tough (though not well insulated -- i.e., none originally). They had full 3/4 shiplap walls inside and out. The interior shiplap was originally covered with wallpaper, but most were sheet-rocked over the years. Often the [small] closets still had evidence of the wallpaper, though.
Those old homes also had knob and tube wiring -- perhaps the cause of the fire in the one house you pictured. That old cotton insulation would get friable and literally fall off the bare copper if you touched/moved the wire. Scary stuff.
The plumbing was galvanized iron supply lines and clay and/or cast iron DWV. All that plumbing is likely in very bad shape, if it's not been replaced by now.
The wood windows were made of a very rot-resistant wood, but given 100 years, it's not uncommon to have some rot. The cotton sash cords almost certainly have rotted out and the sash weights likely fallen into the wall. There's a few old-timers that specialize in refurbing them. They can usually be returned to good services, though very drafty.
There's another pocket of bungalows like that over by U of H, but it's never been as popular a neighborhood.
Lot's of memories in those old homes, but I don't miss the problems associated with a house that old.