# Can we salvage this home?



## Donsdatter (Jan 29, 2014)

We bought a 5 acre farm with an old farmhouse which has been added onto. The additions look pretty bad, IMO, but the main farmhouse holds a lot of appeal for me because it has a lot of neat features, like the stone foundation, felled trees for beams in the basement, rough cut timbers for beams in the rest of the house. I think there is some historic value there, and I would like to preserve some of that if I can. The question is, do I preserve it by salvaging those items when I demolish the home, or do I keep the older part of the home and replace the somewhat ramshackle additions which have been added on throughout the years?


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

If the original part is solid, especially since it looks like you have a basement, I'd keep that and demolish the additions if they're that bad. Then add new additions if needed.

Is the basement dry?


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## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

Mainly, if the foundation and roof are solid, I'd be for restoring the original...but then again, I'm a glutton for punishment;
Last one was 1817 that was abandoned / bank owned; burst radiators, missing windows, etc. 12 years later our current one is 1860 and in the process of living in as we modify...just put in kitchen addition and new cabinets.
That's just my thoughts from what I can make out from the pictures.
Best of luck.

Matt


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## Donsdatter (Jan 29, 2014)

This is the view, and part of why we really like the property. The second pic is the silo and barn. I am thinking we need to take down the barn and salvage the barn wood, but do we then demolish the concrete foundation/dairy stalls underneath?


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## Donsdatter (Jan 29, 2014)

Darren said:


> Is the basement dry?


High and dry - there's probably never been water in it.


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

IMO alot depends on how much of the work you plan to do yourself. We bought 45 acres with an old farm home on it that we are in the process of renovating. If I was having to pay someone to do alot of the things I'm doing it wouldn't be worth it, but since I can do most of it myself were saving quite a bit in labor. 

also depends on the Structures soundness. We're working with a foundation that's sound and a roof that was recently replaced. Improving the existing is also allowing us to spread some costs out. I'm doing what I can to get it livable now but there are other things that will need done I can do in the future, such as the exterior siding. It's still
Functional but in rough shape. Hopefully well get enough when we sell our existing house to pay for Hardie board and improved insulation.


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## Donsdatter (Jan 29, 2014)

Darren said:


> If the original part is solid, especially since it looks like you have a basement, I'd keep that and demolish the additions if they're that bad. Then add new additions if needed.
> 
> Is the basement dry?


The additions are a couple of bedrooms and the kitchen and bathroom. The floors are uneven and the bathroom is rather rustic. Also, there is a laundry room that appears to have been built around the abandoned chest freezer which is left there. I really don't think we'll be able to remove it. 

These are all pictures of the added on parts:


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## Donsdatter (Jan 29, 2014)

Other question: where would you start if you were going to tackle this job?

Ideally I would be able to move the family up to this property and either sell or rent our current home. I would love to be mortgage free and save up money for renovations. Don't know if the family would go along with that.


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## grammyrobinfarm (Jul 18, 2013)

Donsdatter said:


> Other question: where would you start if you were going to tackle this job?
> 
> Ideally I would be able to move the family up to this property and either sell or rent our current home. I would love to be mortgage free and save up money for renovations. Don't know if the family would go along with that.


It looks salvageable from the pics. I would start with basics (Heat, Electric, Plumbing, Foundation and Roof) and work from there. Once you have the basic necessities of a bathroom, workable kitchen and livable space you could then work on the rest of the house. Now this is coming from someone who has renovated three houses while living in the mess of the renovation with kids. Gut out the kitchen, living room and bathroom and completely finish them before moving in. This will make it MUCH easier on your wife and kids. We once moved in to a house without working plumbing or a workable kitchen, although the plumbing issue was resolved within two days - the lack of a kitchen was difficult for my wife as it dragged on for several months before I had that gutted out and completely finished. 

I would gut each room if you can since you will probably find surprises that you should fix as you go along. I found it easier with my current 1880s farmhouse to completely replace all plumbing and all electrical than it would be to just patch the existing shoddy work. The same goes for drywall, as it wasnt done correctly - much easier to tear it all out and start over. 

Your basement looks much like mine with the old hand hewn log beams. You can see the Axe marks on the logs in my basement. Although I have more of a moisture issue with my basement. 

Good luck. It is a lot of work but well worth it in the end as you see the finished product.


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## grammyrobinfarm (Jul 18, 2013)

You mentioned that the floors are uneven in the additions. Is there a full basement under each addition or at least a crawl space? If so you should be able to remedy the uneven floors easier.


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## grammyrobinfarm (Jul 18, 2013)

You could reincorporate the barn wood in your house - or sell it. I replaced about half of the siding on my barn and sold the old barn wood and made close to $2000 on it which financed my whole project.


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## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

Donsdatter said:


> Other question: where would you start if you were going to tackle this job?
> 
> Ideally I would be able to move the family up to this property and either sell or rent our current home. I would love to be mortgage free and save up money for renovations. Don't know if the family would go along with that.


What is the family comprised of? When it was just me and my wife we were able to work around quite a bit. Now with small kids it'd be pretty difficult to do certainly could if that was the only option but I'm glad were not.


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## Donsdatter (Jan 29, 2014)

FarmerDavid said:


> What is the family comprised of?


Me, my husband, our 7 kids 19,17,10,8,6,4,2 and one due in July. All boys except the 2 year old.

A lot to work around!


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I would gut first, see what you have and go from there. Make sure the foundation is all good and get the floors all leveled before you do any interior renovations. If you find some of it that is too far gone tear down as needed.

Barns. Don't tear any down until you know what you can/may use them for. The one you show looks quite straight and square. You can redo as needed, maintain the roofs first....James


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

You said silo, but in the picture, looks like grain bin. Is it metal or concrete or what?
Those beams in the picture look added in and out of style. The cupboards were made foe somewhere else and adapted to the house, note the gap on the left of the sink.
What do you expect, what do you accept, what is your budget?
Your space needs are on a steep incline. Expected to drop off in 10-15 years. 
Perhaps a cheap patch job on the addition and quality remodel on the main structure. When the children leave, tear off the addition and finish remodeling with the main house.


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## Donsdatter (Jan 29, 2014)

haypoint said:


> You said silo, but in the picture, looks like grain bin. Is it metal or concrete or what?


It is brick with a stone foundation. 



haypoint said:


> Those beams in the picture look added in and out of style.


Possibly, but they are in the original part of the house, the same part that has the tree trunks in the basement



haypoint said:


> The cupboards were made foe somewhere else and adapted to the house, note the gap on the left of the sink.


Agreed. The kitchen is part of the add on, along with the bathroom, and it is really poorly done and does not fit anything. The flooring is just slapped on top of several layers of other floors and the drywall is BAD - tape showing, gaps at the ceiling. Really poor quality work.

We would like to tear off the additions and redo them completely. The more we think about it the more we want to get it to a more acceptable level before we move in. First things, we need to rewire the house, and then redo the plumbing. It is all galvanized, and my father recommended copper. 

Then, once we have the mechanicals working and all the old nasty stuff ripped out, we can look at filling it back in.

Good news is that the roof and foundation seem good and the structure seems sturdy. There's that!

Here's a better picture of the grain bin/silo - it is 2 stories high:


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## Donsdatter (Jan 29, 2014)

jwal10 said:


> Barns. Don't tear any down until you know what you can/may use them for. The one you show looks quite straight and square. You can redo as needed, maintain the roofs first....James


Is there a certain percentage of the walls left that would make you change your mind about salvaging it? What do you think about fixing the roof, then residing it and removing the old barn wood for use in the remodeled house?


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## wharton (Oct 9, 2011)

Cool place. From what I can see it looks well worth saving. Nice straight ridge and drip line on the roof. Uneven, bouncy floors are just part of the "charm" and not to hard to repair, if you can't live with them. like others have said, gut the interior, room by room if you have to, and take it from there. Here in the northeast, I have taken two places that were no much more than 2-250 year old stone huts and turned them into beautiful homes. I'm not alone on the forum, when it comes to salvaging places that were a lot less promising than this one. Good luck, and keep everybody safe while your having at it. Kids can find an amazing number of ways to bleed, on projects like this:smack


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## chuckhole (Mar 2, 2006)

We made the mistake of thinking we had something to work with on our place in the country. Should have known......the previous owner was a used car salesman (really).

From that experience, it would have been better/cheaper/faster to demolish, salvage what we could and start over.

At least you have a core structure to work with but the additions look like they were done on the cheap with corners cut. I would also assume that the foundation under the additions is in no better shape and done by the same "craftsman". Nothing will ever be better than the foundation and if you start bad, you end up worse.

It looks like you can have a good start with the original part of the home. People who cut corners are not going to spend the time to "repair" what is already there since it was always better than what they had the skills to do.

The basement photo showed some poor plumbing and wiring so I would assume that will ALL have to be replaced. Just as well. You get the quality and peace of mind knowing what is there is safe.

And what is that white stuff on the ground? I heard people talk of that stuff here in Texas.


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## Donsdatter (Jan 29, 2014)

chuckhole said:


> The basement photo showed some poor plumbing and wiring so I would assume that will ALL have to be replaced. Just as well. You get the quality and peace of mind knowing what is there is safe.
> 
> And what is that white stuff on the ground? I heard people talk of that stuff here in Texas.


We got another 6 inches last night! 

I am definitely planning on replacing all the electrical and plumbing. Looks so scary as is.


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## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

chuckhole said:


> We made the mistake of thinking we had something to work with on our place in the country. Should have known......the previous owner was a used car salesman (really).
> 
> From that experience, it would have been better/cheaper/faster to demolish, salvage what we could and start over.
> 
> ...


Me too I redid an old house and still had an old house built inside a new house :awh: Thus been there done it I would remove some things to the barn then tear it to the ground or light it up . :clap::clap:

There are many things now better and cheaper than copper for plumbing too :smack


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## chuckhole (Mar 2, 2006)

Sawmill Jim said:


> Me too I redid an old house and still had an old house built inside a new house :awh: Thus been there done it I would remove some things to the barn then tear it to the ground or light it up . :clap::clap:
> 
> There are many things now better and cheaper than copper for plumbing too :smack


Definitely. About 5 years ago, I redid a bath, shower, washer/dryer room with copper to replace CPVC. Now I wish I had used PEX. Awesome stuff and it does not go up with the rest of the prices in metals.

We have a family house up in Potter County, PA on 50 acres. It was built around 1862 (found some signed/dated wall coverings in a closet during renovation). The exterior was in decent shape. It was done first to dry in the house. Then the exterior walls were gutted from the inside. Most of the insulation that was left had packed down in the walls. It was shredded paper and was littered with bat dung from the bats that got into the attic. Anyway, all of the outside walls were redone and insulated. All new windows (17 of them), some stonework and kitchen cabinets from the Amish carpenters. Now it is an awesome house and my dad was able to finish it before he passed away. It was his love and we had many great hours talking about it.

So, my lesson learned.....get your family involved and cherish the time and work together.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Is the barn post frame or studded up? If you can patch in, I would, if too much is gone, reside. If the foundation is good on any building and the walls, eaveline, ridgeline looks good I would gut the inside, rewire, replumb to code, insulate and drywall. Outside can be taken back to sheathing or new siding put over the old with a little patching to make a good even base. Much cheaper than rebuilding, you already have the frame and subfloor....James


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## urban gleaner (Jan 23, 2014)

In a structure that old, you might want to get some testing done to check for the presence of lead. Especially in the main structure. If you are pregnant, and also since you do have young children, you are at risk for lead poisoning. And remediation/removal is NOT a job for amateurs.


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## Clod Kicker (May 7, 2012)

There are kits that homeowners can use to test for lead paint. Or it can be painted over if it doesn't need sanding.


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