Buying an Antique House

Recently the wife and I decided to upgrade to a larger house. Living in 1000 square feet with no parking had lost its luster after this past winter. With a second wee-one on the way the time was ripe for selling and moving.

Cue the Porter House!

Don't judge a book by its cover. Unless the cover is rotted and leaning to the right....

Built in 1830 for Teamster Joseph Porter, this nearly 2200 square foot behemoth is full of old world charm and quirks.

And by quirks I mean a bunch of stuff that has been poorly maintained and fixed with what I term 'slapdashery'. Sometimes a fresh coat of paint, or several coats of poor quality latex paint in this case, is not all a house needs to be freshened up.

Things that need to be rectified include a mishandled conversion from a two-family back to single, non-vented plumbing, skylight that is just a storm window sitting on shingles, 184 years of water damage to the sill plate, rotted rail tie retaining walls, flooding basement, laundry vented into the basement instead of outside, tons of finishing work, and much much more.

This house has all the potential to be amazing, it just needs love and attention to undo all the mistakes and then fix them properly. This blog is going to detail my misadventures of learning how to properly restore an antique house.

Up first, preparing for new appliances and making space for a dishwasher.

- The Porter -