[masraum]

Originally Posted by brainz01

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 All that plumbing is likely in very bad shape, if it's not been replaced by now.

Our old home had Al wiring. I'm not eager to get into knob and tube, but after the Al, I'm not terrified. Fortunately, the place that we're looking at has been updated (wiring and plumbing).

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.

Milt/Zeke has posted before some of his old window restoration exploits here before. In some ways, I wish I could have spent some time working with/under him at some point. I'd love to have just a drop in the bucket of the knowledge that he's got.
Many of the places over by us still have the original windows. I'm guessing they are mostly "cylinder glass." I'm torn. The place that we're buying has newish vinyl double-pane windows which is great, but at the same time, it's lost a little bit of charm too.

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.

We'd love to buy an old home in town too. I suspect this is going to be a new adventure for us. I assume the adventures associated with a 100 year old home are different from those associated with a 40-50 year old home. Yeah, some of the stuff involved in old homes are a huge headache for sure. Hopefully, the fact that the place that we are looking at has modern wiring and, I think, mostly PVC plumbing and modern windows will save me some of those headaches.