When to save the plaster in your old home

Lots of people make mistakes with the walls in old homes. It's hard to find documentation on when a plaster wall is a lost cause (rarely), when it's definitely easier to save and what to do when you really can't. Since I've dug through all of the resources and still made mistakes, I want to help other people repair or replace their walls the right way.

You will occasionally have walls like this...

I chose option 3 below for this wall in If it's cracked, I shall fix it

 Let's go over what the options are in any home with plaster walls.

1. Rip down the remaining plaster and drywall over the studs and/or lath that are still in place.
2. Drywall directly over the plaster.
3. Fix your cracked plaster.

For each of these options, there are serious pros and cons. They need to be weighed carefully when you're deciding what to do with each of your walls since it will almost certainly be a mix of options. 

If you're considering option 1:
You should know that plaster walls provide excellent insulation and replacing isn't as easy as just adding some new, blown-in insulation. Blown-in insulation will generally get soggy with the condensation inside the walls, sink to the bottom (creating cold patches) and can get moldy. To do this properly, you may need to remove the lath as well to add insulation between the studs but this can leave you with wavy beams as well. This wasn't a big deal a hundred years ago because they would be evened out with lath and plaster. Now, you'll be looking at lots of furring strips (shims, essentially, to even out your walls) to make your walls smooth enough for drywall. The perk, of course, is nice, smooth walls once you're done.

If you're considering option 2:
Drywall right over plaster is a good option when you're not interested in refreshing the insulation in your walls. It looks clean, gives you smooth walls without 198,234,134 furring strips (numbers are approximate) and you don't incur any of the new insulation costs. There is, however, one biiiig caveat: your old window and doorway trim. If you just butt up next to it, your trim is going to go from being 1/2 or 3/4 inch thick to being flush with your drywall (rather destroying the point of trim) to a 1/4 inch thicker than your walls. This is not a pretty a look, don't do it. The alternative to this trim debacle is to pull your trim (which can break it) and add jamb extenders to your existing jambs and make any casings bigger as well. This is more expensive but also looks a lot better.

If you're considering option 3:
I applaud you! First things first, join Angie's List and find a solid plaster repair person in your area. If you're doing it yourself, I touch on plaster repair in If it's cracked, I shall fix it and we'll be getting into more detail in coming weeks. This solution means you don't have to replace insulation, you don't have to pay for drywall, you don't have to lose the integrity of your walls and you'll be happiest. Well, maybe not that last part all the time, but this is an excellent solution. The only time it's really, really, really hard to save your plaster is when it buckles when you push against it. It still can be saved, technically, using a heavy-duty plaster repair kit and a whole lotta time, but at this point I'd suggest drywalling over it. The rest of the time, it's worth it. The sooner you repair cracks and holes, the less they'll spread and the easier time you'll have maintaining your plaster over the long haul.

This isn't even a truly hard fix - trust me, yours can be saved!

Now that you know your options, get your thinking caps on. More on how we do this coming soon!

How to start your own fruit, veggie and herb garden

Madison loves fresh. Home to one of the largest farmer's market's in the country, this shouldn't come as a shock. Every Saturday, rain, snow or shine from April to October, you can find thousands of people around the Capital Square - and then it continues for the remainder of the winter indoors at Monona Terrace and the Senior Center.

In addition to the great, local markets like Metcalfe's and Jenifer Street, this is the place to get your fresh fruits and veggies (and meat and cheese) at the peak of their growing season.

Alternatively, like us, you can grow your own!

A little over a month ago, The Roommate and I decided it was time to save a few pennies (it's not like we're restoring a house or anything) and plant a garden.

The backyard has been a little on the rough side since we cleaned it out almost a year ago.

Don't worry, this is pre-clean-out

When my parents were visiting, we did a bit more cleaning from the areas that had started to get overgrown again.

Yes, this is the same stretch of lawn

The grasses didn't end up working out there because the plant boxes covered up the roses that had gone in shortly before. Once they moved, the cedar raised plant beds moved over into their place.

To fill the raised beds, we mixed an inexpensive top and potting soil mix with dirt from an existing pile elsewhere in the yard. It's about a 2:1 mixture (existing to store bought) and gives us a good starter for our plants.

Once it was full, we laid out the plants, making sure to provide enough space around each of them according to the instructions. It's important to not plant them too closely together so that they can grow to maturity.

When you use peat pots (herbs and other veggies often come in them), you want to saturate the pot and tear off the bottom. From there, tear the bottom into pieces and put it in the hole you dug out, add a bit of potting soil and put in the rest of the plant. Add little plant tags so you know what's what when you come back!

Since I like to cook, we put one bed to use just for some small fruit and veggie plants. The other went just to herbs - there's nothing like cooking with fresh herbs for great flavor!

Now, a little over a month later, we've got a HUGE tomato plant and the others are nice and healthy. To keep the beds looking good, keep your plants watered (not drowned) and the beds weeded so they don't choke the plants you do want.

We're looking forward to our harvest of tomatoes, peppers, herbs and, hopefully a few strawberries and raspberries. Have you started a garden like this? What are you most excited for from yours?

The best laid plans...

Over the course of the last year or so since I bought the House on the Isthmus, there are a few things we've established. Let's review:

1. 80% of your projects will cost you more than you thought and take way longer than you thought. One rule I've heard (although I don't think I completely agree) is called the 3/5 rule; if you do it yourself it will take 5 times as long and cost you 3 times as much and if you hire someone it will take 3 times as long and cost you 5 times as much as you thought. Grain of salt necessary.
2. Your plans are just that: plans. Learn to deal with the surprises, whether it's a delay, a surprise cost (you budget for these things, remember!) or a given project magically takes you half the time you thought it would (see floors in the blue room).
3. It's all worth it. This is my little piece of history. I may not know who lived in the house and when and I certainly don't know what memories, good or bad, Isthmus House holds but I do know that every old home is historic to someone and that makes restoring it and seeing it come back to life a gratifying experience one project at a time.

Okay, that's enough sentimentality from me for one day. The point of this is that I, too, have to deal with plans changing.

Friends and visitors to Isthmus House can tell you how much I despise the archway that was put in some time over the last hundred years between the living and dining rooms. It's not original, it doesn't even kind of go with the house and you could see exactly where an older opening had existed between the rooms from the cracks in the plaster.

As you can see though, we had one or two road blocks with just opening it up. Namely, a cool air return and, on the other side, a thermostat smack dab where there should have just been a nice big opening.

When we got air conditioning (side note: it's about 10-15 degrees cooler in Madison this week than average for July - I figure this is directly caused by the fact that we installed A/C), I had the crew move the thermostat location when the new one was installed and move the return register a bit closer to the corner. Plans to open the archway, you see!

I did all of this so that, when my family came to visit, opening the archway would be one of the easier projects we'd accomplish.

Ha.

First, we marked it off to make sure the new opening would be level, straight and pretty.

Then, we pulled out the reciprocating saw to go through the added wall. It should have been like cutting through butter. It wasn't.

I couldn't figure out why when it was plain as day that this wasn't original. The only thing that was, in theory and best as I could tell from trying to peek through the lath, holding this archway together was a bit of mesh and lath.

Or a beam. That's an option too.

There's header and support beams in this non-load-bearing wall. It doesn't really make any sense but it would be beyond challenging to remove everything I wanted to from here and it's really not necessary.

 

 

 



Instead, we squared off the archway (pulled out the metal mesh, drywall and some scrap wood formed to make the arch) and ended up here. We made a bit of a mess doing it, too...

 

Normally, I'd protect these floors a bit better but they're going to be refinished anyway!

 

Already, cleaned up and squared off is better. The rooms look more open and it seems a bit easier to move around.

 

And now there's a new plan because this is one of those times to be adaptable. Hint: the walls are about to get a lot prettier.

You'll find out soon enough - stay tuned!

Reilly just couldn't be bothered with the change in plans





 



How I saved over $1200 on new appliances

Through redesigning our kitchen a few dozen times, I've tried to keep in mind that it's not just for me. It's for The Roommates, it's for guests, and, maybe, it's for another family down the line. 

To that end, we've tried to pay attention to bang for the buck come resale. There are a few things that buyers want in kitchens and if you've ever watched an episode of House Hunters or Property Brothers where someone's complaining about a lack of stainless steel and gas in a kitchen, you'll know that one of those things is updated appliances.

Personally, I usually give such statements a mental eye roll because brand new appliances don't have to cost you a fortune - here's how to save your hard earned dollars using my hard earned tricks. 

Let's start with a baseline for those of you like The Roommate who really like numbers.

A range can, well, range in price from about $350 for a small electric to over $15,000 for a large gas range. 

$351 or $15,668

A new refrigerator ranges in price from under $400 to well over $10,000 and, no, I haven't typo'd any of these numbers. 

The fridge on the left costs a budget friendly $293.40 while the fridge on the right weighs in at a whopping $23,575.

While I doubt you're ever going to get the fridge on the right for the price of the one on the left, here are my tried and true steps and tips to saving money when buying new appliances.

1. Figure out what you want and what you need. Do you have a big family and need lots of fridge space? A french door with freezer pullout is going to be your best option for both space and energy efficiency. if you're a gourmet chef, this isn't the time to choose an electric range because it's a couple hundred bucks cheaper than gas.
2. Figure out your budget. The average upscale kitchen renovation tops $80,000 (this is another conversation for another day) and most estimate that appliances are about 20% of the associated costs. Whoa. That said, these are an investment in your home so remember that price generally correlates with quality and choose what best fits your needs within your budget. 
3. Reuse. Know that you can get new or pretty darn close to new appliances at your local Restore and/or Craigslist. For me, this isn't really realistic because I A) wanted a matching appliance suite and B) am not in town often enough to snap up the great deals that pop up once in a blue moon. If this is your chosen route, expect to save 40% or more on retail but to also put lots of time into finding the right thing for your home.
4. Hunt the bargains. I'm a big fan of the Sears scratch and dent outlets because it's not uncommon to find a new appliance with a small, out of sight scratch for 40% off (although you may need to negotiate a bit to get your price or be prepared to walk away). If you're on a timeline, this is an excellent option.
5. Bundle. If you're shopping for a fridge, dishwasher, range and microwave, that's a lot of money a salesperson and their manager don't want walking next door to the competitor. Use that leverage to negotiate a lower price for keeping all of your business in one place.

For me, the best option was a mixture:

• First, I watched for the big home improvement store sales around major holidays like Memorial Day and Thanksgiving. For my fridge, which retails for about $1,800 all said and done, I waited until it was $700 off during Black Friday sales and got free delivery and install. 
• Said stores often also do price match/beat which you can use to your advantage with a little homework and a bit of luck. When shopping for our kitchen's eventual dishwasher, I found the matching dishwasher for $200 less at a competitor. If it's in stock in both places, big box home improvement stores will match that price and take an additional 10% off. If you're looking at a $600 dishwasher, that's again about 40% off. Always aim for free delivery and install too as those costs can eat into your bottom line.
• Use credit card cash back to lower prices even further. For both of these transactions, I used a credit card that gave me substantial cash back. For the fridge, I completed the purchase online through the card's website redirector and, for the dishwasher, my purchase happened to coincide with a cash back bonus promotional period with the retailer. *This tip comes with my soapbox warning, however, to use these cards wisely. If you put $1,500 onto a credit card with a $18% interest rate with 5% cash back and pay it over 6 months, you'll end up spending $71.30 in interest. That leaves you with a net of $3.70 in cash back. If you just paid the minimum, it would take about 10 years to pay off and you'd pay double the purchase price in interest. 
• Finally, my last tip is the exact opposite. If you're working with a smaller retailer, try working your deal in cash. If they don't have to pass on a percentage to the credit card company, they're more likely to pass on a bit more in savings to you.

For us, the retail cost for our appliances was about $3,047 (not including tax, delivery or installation) and we ended up spending $1787.14 for a total savings of 1,259.86 or over 41%. That's roughly equivalent to the plumbing and electrician costs for the kitchen when it's complete.

So there you have it, use these tips too and let us know how they work for you!

Happy Independence Day!

 

from the House on the Isthmus!

 

Instead of spending time reading about our home this week, choose one or more of the following (and we will too!):

A)   Spend time with your family

B)   Thank your local active or retired service members for their sacrifice for your freedoms

C)   When considering setting off fireworks, remember that many of those that have served suffer from PTSD and read this article for more about consideration for those veterans

D) Hang an American flag at your home

 

See you next week!