historic properties: Historic House And Moving Brick
- 05/01/17 03:32 AM
Historic house and moving brick.
When I first saw the brick work on this historic 1808 townhouse in Alexandria, Virginia I was concerned. Movement and bulging was immediately evident.
The movement was a broad bulge that began between the two windows, and proceeded from top to bottom.
The cement lintels over the windows can also be seen to have moved.
Looking elsewhere there was similar bulging of the foundation wall on this same side.
And the brick work was nicely painted with no cracking in the paint.
While the windows were not original, obviously, they had not been damaged in any way due to the brick movement. … (8 comments)
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historic properties: Sap In The Attic Wood Of An Historic House
- 02/14/16 07:24 PM
It is not unusual to find sap in the attic wood of an historic house. This house was built in 1870.
There are many, many more trees in the country now than there were 1870. Why? Husbandry.
But the pine wood used now is different. Pine trees in that era, that were used for construction, grew naturally and were older than pine trees used now. So they grew bigger! There was more heart wood in the tree.
Heart wood is the darker wood in the center of the tree. Heart wood was the more desirable wood selected and used for furniture, woodworking, and construction.
In … (32 comments)
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historic properties: Old And New
- 06/20/14 09:48 PM
I love inspecting historically-old homes because you see so much old and new.
This 1858 special was no different. It even had a new addition - put on some time in the 50s.
Look at some of the neat things on this house, and how they melted old and new together, often seamlessly.
Many of the windows on the house were original! Many of them have been replaced, but most are original and extremely wavy as you look outside!
Yes, not very efficient, and some were painted completely shut, but original!
I don't know if the shutters were original, but they … (43 comments)
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historic properties: Dangerously Racking (Tilting) Beams And Insufficient Support
- 02/01/14 08:20 PM
When an older house is remodeled and shored up, you don't want to see dangerously racking (tilting) beams and insufficient support as the result. This house is so old it's considered to be an "historic" home.
Unknown when this racking happened (perhaps during the earthquake) this built-up beam has dangerously moved.
It is also merely resting on top of a support column.
It is similarly unknown how deep the column is sunk for support, or what the column is resting on.
But this is not good support.
Right above this location is a load-bearing wall separating the dining room from the … (29 comments)
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historic properties: Inspecting A Historical House
- 05/31/13 08:51 PM
I always have a lot of fun inspecting a historical house.
They are not built like modern houses and require different knowledge and information.
Almost always such homes have been modernized greatly, but the old charm remains.
Such was the case with the Mackall House in Fairfax VA.
Built in 1870, about 2 miles from the center of town, it is on a hill with one road in front of it. This house is about 15 miles from the Washington Monument, so it is not far outside of town.
Probably a quiet location when built, it is not now, surrounded … (50 comments)
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historic properties: Can Wood Stairs Get Worn Down With Time?
- 01/17/13 06:32 PM
So, did you answer? Can wood stairs get worn down with time?
I love doing inspections on older homes, like this one just a block from the Capitol Building. The city is crawling with cops and security, getting ready for next week. They eyed me carefully walking around with the two bags of tools that I needed to do this inspection!
Older houses in the district, like this 1885 row house, retain lots of old features - drippy glass, beautiful and secure newel posts at the bottoms of stairs, skeleton keyed locks (called ward locks), and bricks that have moved left … (30 comments)
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historic properties: Major Termite Infestation And A Really Big Queen
- 10/24/12 07:35 PM
Sounds almost like a title for an article in Scientific American - "Major Termite Infestation and a Really Big Queen."
This house is 250 years old, a duplex, which was common then, and had been lived in by an elderly gentlemen. A son is living there now, trying to get the house ready for sale.
Also, a common building technique in that era was a cellar. It has been modernized over the years, with additional posts and a concrete floor, but still, it was and is a cellar.
I love historic homes and to see the building techniques. Especially interesting is … (30 comments)
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historic properties: Manassas Stone House - The Red Flag
- 05/22/10 11:51 PM
Driving by the Stone House on the Manassas Battlefield I noticed the red flag was hoisted! It is not out there all the time and when it is one must take advantage.
That means that the house is open to the public. I am the public, so I went inside.
This house was occupied as a private residence as recently as the 1930's. There were other outbuildings around it, many rented out as local side-of-the-road motel rooms. The Stone House had a big front porch (since removed when restored) and was not very well kept.
The restoration made the inside … (43 comments)
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historic properties: Bull Run Creek, Manassas Battlefield Park
- 05/04/10 08:40 AM
In the summer of 1861, as the Civil War was beginning, both the South and the Union were confident that each would win a quick victory. Anticipating a long war, General Winfield Scott had proposed what he called the Anaconda Plan, which had three objectives:
1. To surround the south, blockading its ports and starving it for supplies it could not produce for itself.
2. Send forces up and down the Mississippi River to split the enemy and occupy strategic cities.
3. Capture Richmond.
Scott envisioned a great anaconda snake surrounding and slowly squeezing the South into submission and defeat. This … (5 comments)
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historic properties: Stone Bridge, Manassas Battlefield Park
- 04/10/10 05:44 AM
A popular and interesting remain of the two Civil War battles in Manassas, Virginia is the Stone Bridge. It had an interesting role in both of the battles, although on the edge of the battlefield.
Perhaps hard to see, the bridge is located on the right of the map seen here, with the bold black line.
The Old Stone House, featured in a previous post, is just to the left of the bold black line, at the intersection about in the middle of the map. The road connecting the two landmarks was then called the Warrenton Turnpike.
Interestingly, and … (13 comments)
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historic properties: When Plumbing Holds Up A Foundation
- 01/13/10 08:53 PM
Could PVC be the other white meat, I mean foundation support?
Remember the 100+ year old property with the stone foundation? Poly-foam had been used in many areas to "repair" mortar gaps in the foundation. Here's the problem with that.
In Virginia, a stone foundation dates a house before 1915 or so. Other things come into play. If you research the history of cement used to build foundations, soft mortars were used. A "soft mortar" was one that used a primarily lime-based mixture. It was softer than today's mortars which use Portland cement ingredients.
The old, soft, lime-based mortars were perfect … (10 comments)
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historic properties: Creativity Is The Mother Of Invention
- 01/11/10 01:49 AM
Some jurisdictions go to great lengths to preserve the original architecture and appearances in older homes. Alexandria, Virginia and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania are two towns that come to mind based on my experience. Manassas, Virginia is one as well. For years they fought the idea of replacing older wooden siding with a newer product like aluminum, vinyl or fiber cement. Since I have seen all of those recently on so many homes, apparently the city fathers have relented on that proscription.
It could be that on stone foundations, repairs with the original material or appearance is no longer an issue either.
… (54 comments)
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historic properties: Alexandria Virginia 1860 Carriage House
- 11/13/09 10:52 PM
I LOVE doing inspections on old, historic homes in Alexandria, Virginia.
The city is so full of history, virtually everywhere you go.
Over the years I have done many inspections on many historic homes there.
Yesterday was no exception.
This is a carriage house to a mansion directly behind. It was built in 1860. While nobody could tell me who the owner(s) of the mansion were over the years, it was fun nonetheless to have a look at the place.
While a bit hard to see in this photo, there have been many repairs to the brick work over the … (42 comments)
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historic properties: An Historic Mess!
- 08/27/09 09:43 PM
I was excited recently when I was called to inspect a very historic property in Northern Virginia. Built in 1902, it has been actively listed and on the market for two years. No offers. Historic properties abound here and I love seeing them. The picture is blurry.
The buyer had grand plans to fix it up a bit and rent it out for a while until the market improves. They were grand plans.
I met him in front. He said, "We need to go through the back door."
"No problem. Let's go."
… (113 comments)
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Historic house and moving brick.
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