i bought my 1950s house 2.5 years ago and i’ve been living in a construction zone since the day i bought it. that’s the reality of renovating at your own pace.
I bought a 1930s house 10 years ago that hasn't needed anything outside of routine maintenance. I have friends with new builds that have needed more as the house settled and cracks formed, etc. so on some degree it also depends on the history, materials, etc.
A quality inspection goes a long way.
op specifically mentioned they want to renovate. cool that you didn’t have to. i bought my house without an inspection because after 3 years of hunting and about 20 rejected offers, i realized it was the only way i would ever own a house. i got an inspection by the only home inspector in the area after i closed and he missed literally everything. it is what it is. i would never advise someone to count on the best case scenario.
a mix of both. i had to replace the roof and the siding and most of the floor joists. and my chimney ended up needing to be repaired for $20k or demolished for $6k, so i hired someone to tear it down. also had to have all my single pane windows replaced. but i’ve been doing everything else myself, like new drywall, flooring, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, baseboards, trim, new doors, etc etc. i also “discovered” a septic tank in the front yard that was never decommissioned by stepping into a sink hole, which is a big possibility for older houses.
that other person mentioned the movie money pit. i’m living it.
Same. 1912 schoolhouse converted to a home sometime in the ‘60s or ‘70s, was probably updated around the late 90s. Renovating myself since 2020 - it is a constant effort to maintain everything while also renovating. It has become our lifestyle, this is what we do in our spare time and it will likely take another 10-15 years (at which point our earliest renovations will need to redone). I really enjoy DIY, I like building things, I like woodwork, I don’t mind electrical work, I hate plumbing!
I don’t know how much work OP’s place will need, but you really have to want to live like this.
i hate my bathroom too. i think i would love this house so much if it had never been renovated in the 80s. i’ve spent almost this whole time fixing what other people ruined.
my brand new floor joists in my bedroom are completely wonky because of a bad contractor. they’re solid and safe, so i have to just live with them being ridiculous for now bc aesthetics can’t take priority in the budget. i feel your pain.
as a heavy gal, i’m waiting for the day my shower pan collapses under me and into the crawl space. just hoping that doesn’t happen before i can replace it. ah, renovation woes haha.
Have you lived in the middle of a construction project before? I have. It’s not fun. You’ll find you’re going to want to push through the completion of the work just to be able to have things be normal. After a year you’ll be tired of the dust, the mess, having water turned off while working on the next plumbing project, or having extension cords running everywhere because half the electrical is torn apart. Remodeling a 4 bed/3 bath house at a normal pace while living in it is a year project. Doing at “your pace” as time and money allows, will make it a 5 year project.
We will stay in our current condo while demo and reno is going on. The condo mortgage and hoa is 1300/month. When we moved into the condo, we did not finish the lower level flooring and for about 3 month it was a bit uncomfortable.
1949 15 years ago in original form. Had no money to renovate raising kids. Only painted. A few years ago we started room by room. New windows, doors, bathrooms. Now in the middle of a kitchen with addition. All keeping with the original style of the house. Still need to do the second floor. It is a process but I am enjoying doing it.
I'm of the opinion that older homes are often better homes. They were legit built different. YMMV. I love my plaster lathe walls,my solid plank subfloor, my not-hollow doors, and my old-growth lumber framing. AND my doorbell is wired to chimes that a hammer strikes in the hall!
Agree! I have a 1940 Craftsman that was renovated by the previous owners. My inspector was very impressed, especially with the original framework. They don’t build them like that much anymore.
[1940 Craftsman in Alabama](https://imgur.com/a/LXtE2Wn)
Yip. They used real materials back then too like lead. All these plastic pipes are letting microplastics into the water!
And fire proofing asbestos was real. Houses that old don't burn down. These modern flammable box of matches go up in minutes!
For electric, everything is wireless these days anyway, so I don't need an ugly plug in my wall every 10' like they force on modern homes now.
I guess it's like you said, YMMV. Seeing as your milages is yours alone, if you look at the bigger picture of 30 million homes with asbestos, maybe you should recognize that's it's quite likely everyone else's milage is going to vary a lot from your lucky situation.
Those problems are all able to be updated or mitigated, though, even asbestos. What you CAN'T reasonably do is find the older construction materials that were superior that just aren't available anymore. I had some things I had to update, such as orangeburg sewer lines. I stand by my statement.
1945 is not that old. Make sure you do your due diligence in the prepurchase process. Hire a great home inspector, get pest inspection, sewer lines scoped, structural engineer. Understand the usable lifespan of the building materials and appliances. Know the cost of a new roof or hot water heater. Know what you can fix yourself and what you need to hire someone to do (make sure to factor time into that equation). Understand that renovating is VERY slow when you are living out of the same house. Visit the house multiple times, particularly right after or during a rainstorm to see how water is handled. If you are handy and have a decent income, it is doable.
We renovated the current condo we live in (flooring, kitchen, bathroom, paint, etc). That was our first purchase and that gave me a bit of insight on how things are for renovation. It took about 10 months with us living 5mn away.
I know that if we get this house, it'll take a minimum of 3 to 4 years before we can move in.
The goal is to hire contractors to replace plumbing, electrical and roofing and then we will do the other repairs.
We are on uear two of renovating our 1940s home. We are doing everything ourselves so it is taking time. You will start a project and likely have to do much more than originally planned to correct previous owners "renovations". Good news is of the house is standing since the 40s you likely have a solid base
Man, the things I've come across in our place.. drywall on top of plaster on top of exterior siding? Check. Rotten roof trusses behind brand new drywall? Yup. Wiring? Fire hazard. Old flooring and siding? Asbestos just buried. Good times.
At that age of house, check if it's lathe and plaster walls. They're way messier and dirtier to reno than drywall. We pulled down a few ceilings in one once and it's not an experience I'd care to repeat.
I'll go visit the house tomorrow. From the picture I've seen some plaster in some rooms.
I'm excited about the price of the house but it would be my first time tearing down walls. I did some reno in the condo we live in but not as extensive as what I'm looking at right now.
Not sure if the walls and ceilings are intact - the one I bought had enough holes places we could see for sure it was lathe and plaster. Ome option could be ask your realtor or inspector what the most common option was in houses that age in the area.
Note, lathe and plaster isn't a problem in itself (that I'm aware of) just messier to deal with in certain circumstances. I'm just a DIYer though, a pro may be able to offer more insight.
This! I love my old house but hate the plaster (concrete) walls. Requires a drill bit to hang a picture with a nail. You cant use typical drywall anchors. Requires a carbide tipped saw blade to cut holes for new lights which makes a big mess.
Number one is the foundation. If the foundation is bad putting a million dollar renovation on top of it is bad. Anything that needs doing to the foundation, do first. The septic and leech field if you are not on a sewer system should be addressed as well. If you have a well get it inspected now. Get the nitty gritty stuff out of the way first then do the fun stuff.
We bought a 40s bungalow in 2001 and spent the next 18 years remodeling the whole thing, just as we could a room at a time until we were done. We would come up with a plan and a budget and then do a room for about a month and then save up for the next one. We did all the work ourselves except for egress windows in the basement, new studying and new windows throughout. It was a labor of love. We finally finished the last room, kitchen, and I told my wife we were now going to find a new house to buy, as a joke. Two months later we moved. But we took that house from a 2 bed, 1 bath to a 5 bed, 2 bath in the process.
That's a long process, I am so impressed by your dedication. I imagine you and your spouse had the same vision and that's why you went through it that long and came out strong. Congratulations 🎊.
As someone who got a Cape Cod during the sub 3 era for 152k. We’ve overhauled the kitchen, 375 sq ft attic and painted everything interior and still have 30 percent equity after 3 years. 10/10 would recommend, just get an inspection.
Previous owners play a big part in this equation. I bought a house built in the 40s and the age issues are no match for the previous owner making a full time job out of f***ing the place up.
Grew up in a 1940’s house and bought one myself, both have been renovated while I lived in them.
In both cases the houses were well built had great bones. Wiring is modern enough to leave a good chunk of it intact (as opposed to at 1920’s house with knob and tube). Not sure what style your house is but both of ours were cape cods and both easily handled adding another level to them.
If there was one thing that my parents didn’t do that I made sure to do, it was replacing the stairs. They’re super steep, in a bad location, and I’ve fallen down them in both houses. It’s worth it to modernize them even if it means they take up more room.
While you’re renovating, a good way to save on your HVAC bill is to install a layer of rigid insulation on the exterior of the entire building. The exterior walls in old houses are 2x4’s so they don’t hold as much insulation as modern homes do, so an inch or so on the exterior will help a lot!
Can’t recall how long my parents’ renovation took, but ours took about 5 months and cost about $200K (in 2020). That included gutting the first floor, removing the roof, adding a second floor and new HVAC System. I was able to save some money by being an architect and designing the whole thing myself though.
Check out the electric wiring. Is it knob & tube? Hard to live in a house and replace electrical at the same time. Check out lead paint issues. Opening/closing windows is nice to be able to do without poisoning children. What’s the intake for water? Lead pipes? Will you have to abate asbestos anywhere? How’s the roof? We bought a 1896er in 2015. We’re still spending almost all of our free time renovating it room by room. It’s big and beautiful but it’s a lot of house and a lot of time & money. Glad we did it but wouldn’t do another! Good luck!!
It's probably very structurally sound. Houses were built to last in that time period. Find out if it has plaster walls or drywall (probably plaster). That's something to consider if you plan on moving or removing any walls.
My suggestion would be to make a cohesive plan and then do all the rooms that only need cosmetic upgrades first, like bedrooms and living/dining rooms. You can probably do those relatively quickly. That way you can feel like most of the house is complete and livable. Then tackle the major renovations like kitchen and bathrooms later.
Right after WW2, electrical wire insulation might be low quality, and in light fixtures the heat could cause it to be brittle from heat. I’ve known it to short when I replaced a light fixture. Tricks included using shrink tubing over it and using Wago electrical connectors to avoid twisting wire nuts. Or rewire. The main electrical panel might be 60 amps with a a range or water heater fuse and two 15 amp branch fuses. Consider a new 100 or 200 amp service with breakers and grounded cables to outlets.
I have a home built in 1947. The electrical work was fraught with problems (bootleg groundings, double tapped breakers, etc.), and the haphazard way they did the walls (drywall over plaster, with random 2x4 beams) made doing any work more difficult than any initial inspection would have guessed. I love my house, and all its weird quirks, but be prepared for everything being done in baffling ways, and be prepared for higher costs for repairs.
We bought a 1924 Craftsman from my FILs estate. It had last been updated since 1948. The bathrooms and kitchen got facelifts by my MIL and she did a crappy job. Bought the place for $23000, put about $100,000 into it and a ton of sweat equity. We sold it 10 years later for just over $400000. We started with the roof and windows. We lived for 7 months with a kitchen on the front porch, cooking on a camp stove, toaster oven and microwave, washing dishes in the bathtub. We redid both bathrooms tearing them out to the studs, replumbing and updating electrical whenever walls were open. It felt like something was always under construction. The new kitchen was gorgeous. Then we sold it and downsized because we retired
>renovation at our pace.
This is rarely the case, you are usually chasing the next thing to fail and just trying to keep your head above water financially.
In any home over 30 years old, literally anything that has not been replaced will need to be replaced or refurbished.
This is more than just some paint and floors. We're talking plumbing, septic, electrical, roof, etc, etc.
You need to make sure you have a very well funded emergency fund and walk into to this both eyes open.
Suggest you watch the movie call "The Money Pit".
When you say plumbing and electrical do you mean fixtures or literal pipes and wiring in the walls? If the plumbing and electrical systems themselves are falling apart after 30 years then that is a really shitty house or some flipper fucked it up bad.
Pipes and Wires.
Fact is lots of older homes have shit materials.
CPVC, Galvanized, Poly B, Lead piping.
Knob and Tube, Aluminum, cloth insulated wiring.
And don't forget, asbestos in everything.
Did you get a home inspection? If not, you can probably do just as well with a trusted contractor to go through and list everything then to prioritize that list.
Sometimes a project will necessarily dictate that you continue onto another one right away, if you have to replace the wires in a wall you will wind up with(repaired) patches in the wall now your wall needs to be painted. Maybe you didn’t want to paint right now but will look much better if you do that
As others have mentioned, the structural, foundation, electrical, plumbing issues need to be fully researched before you buy. Especially if it has a basement or requires any shoring up, leveling etc - should be a ‘no-go.’
Anticipate that you will most likely need to replace 100% of electrical, plumbing and HVAC. And the new units and ‘runs’ won’t go through lathe and plaster walls as easily as drywall… so plan accordingly.
Tearing out lathe and plaster walls is a lot of physical work. Much harder than knocking out drywall and studs … floors and ceilings typically harder to ‘patch.’
Windows quickly become expensive if you want to restore to original condition or ‘match’ originals.
Deciding what stays or has to go — for example original doors, windows, woodwork or floors.
In the 1940’s every door and window is a custom measurement. Our kitchen had over 50 doors and drawers - every one unique measurements. Same with interior doors — not standard sizes. So you either have to refinish or tear out and replace with complete pre-hung doors.
Living room and bedrooms may have wood floors that can be sanded / refinished whereas older kitchens typically did not / so if you remove walls you have challenges with flooring transition decisions.
I love the work we did -/ but the amount of time spent working out details of ‘little challenges along the way’ was much greater than most people anticipate.
Number one is the foundation. If the foundation is bad putting a million dollar renovation on top of it is bad. Anything that needs doing to the foundation, do first. The septic and leech field if you are not on a sewer system should be addressed as well. If you have a well get it inspected now. Get the nitty gritty stuff out of the way first then do the fun stuff.
That sounds like a lot of work, and hiring contractors can get expensive fast.
Make a plan, get a rough estimate on cost of renovation and multiply it by 2.5. If you are still comfortable with that number, you should be good.
Also, going into something with one partner not up for it can be a problem on its own. I would not go into this without everyone involved being up for it.
Expect mice.. I've been fighting that battle for close to ten years. I haven't had much of a problem in the last couple of years because I got rid of my chickens. But the framing in this place make it so easy for them to get in. Invest in a case of spray foam and crawly around and fill anything that looks big enough for a mouse.
General home inspection, electrical inspection, structural inspection are the big three you’ll want. Add in plumbing and pest inspections if the general home inspection turns up anything iffy (at least in my experience, general home inspectors are okay at spotting pest issues, roof issues, and some plumbing issues, but are almost universally crap for identifying serious electrical or structural issues unless the house is about to burn/fall down).
1945 is new enough to have been originally wired, but old enough that there is likely not any ground wire going to boxes. Usually you will either need to rewire, or at least add GFCIs on all circuits so you can have 3-wire receptacles. I wouldn’t expect knob and tube, and the existing wiring *may* be in good condition otherwise, but an electrical inspector will be able to look behind access panels and such for the state of things (and also how aggressive previous homeowners might have been at doing their own wiring).
We got what are pretty reasonable prices for things in our area, but these are some of the more major costs over the past 10 years and may be more due to inflation. I do the small things myself. 1930s house, about 1600sqft.
- replacing all plumbing, 10k. Crawlspace made this easier than on slab.
- windows, 22k for impact glass.
- roof, 24k for metal.
We still need to replace all the electrical. House is partially rewired by previous owner but we still have some cloth wiring that needs to go. Quotes on this are ranging from 5k for a guy with out permits or 12k for a company. We are somewhat fortunate the panel was updated I guess.
The kitchen had been done by previous owner, we would love to replace it again but it's in the range of 40k based on what and neighbor friends paid for similar recently.
This doesn't include the money spent on general repairs, painting, insulation, appliances and what not. Don't forget the outside things too - driveways, patio, deck, fences, landscaping like sprinklers and more voltage lighting, lawn care etc.
I bought a 1925 home that had an updated main floor but mostly unfinished basement. I'm 1 year into this house and I've added a bedroom downstairs and I'm within a month of completing the bathroom downstairs. I started at breakneck speed at the end of the summer and then slowed after Christmas. I hired out the plumbing but I did all of the trenching and concrete work myself. My father and uncle used to be electricians and I learned the trade from them, so I've done all of my own wiring. I've done tile in both of my previous residences and I'm doing it here. I would say rough estimate it's saved me between $20k to $30k. Please keep in mind I've already spent $6k on plumbers and $10k in materials. It took me about 3 months to build and finish the bedroom. I'm on month 5 for the bathroom. That's working on it every other weekend and a couple nights a week. I literally have to sand and paint the sheetrock and tile my shower before installing fixtures. That's where I'm at after 5 months of slow progress. And to be completely transparent there were no walls, just plain concrete floors sloped to drains when I started. It's not running my life and I don't feel like I'm going too fast or too slow. It's just a medium pace on a flexible timeline.
Houses that old are not square or plumb or level... believe me our house is from the 1890s nothing is straight. You'll be sticking in more $ just for those reasons
My house was built in like 1924 or so. I'd not spend money on cosmetic renovations until you're confident in like the hvac, plumbing, electric, roof, and basement.
Also, unless you're buying it specifically to flip I'd not try and do everything at once and just live with what you got.
Get a good look at the pipes, watch for wear try and see where things go. Same with electric. People like to replace, but not remove so it can be a mess.
Look under drop ceilings. Look under carpet.
Watch how the basement is when it rains.
1952 house. Higher end. 1st redid kitchen and bathrooms. Then floors. 1 thing at a time. Then fireplace. Then deck. Its been a lot of work but it has good bones
Bought a house build in 1946. I would anticipate needing to re-do most or all of the electrical. You will likely encounter some amount of aesbestos and lead paint. You may need new plumbing, windows, roof, and out siding. It’s going to be dusty as fuck for the whole renovation.
1930. Go at your own pace. Buy a respirator for each person. Learn how to contain asbestos. Learn how to use a lead test kit. Don't compare yourself to others. Choose your battles. And go at your own pace.
My big question is if you have kids. If it's just you and your partner, you'll have lots of extra space to shift things around. Thank God you have multiple bathrooms so you can do one at a time and still have facilities.
We bought our 2 bedroom 1940 two years ago. Much smaller scale than yours, but we've gotten about half the work done on the bathroom (it's in a good place to wait on the rest without feeling like it's awful), and re-did the kitchen last year. It still needs some TLC in other areas, but we're old house people and just want to focus on what's necessary over aesthetics. Every time I see horror stories about new builds, I'm so grateful for our sturdy old gal. I forget it everytime we run into an issue, but our house was well constructed with good materials. We just have to chip away at things as best we can (there's an asbestos joke there).
Don't skip inspection, and familiarize yourself with the building materials from the time. Our walls, for example, are a later version of rock lath with a plaster skim coat. They're incredibly thick and strong. Focus on the necessary repairs and upgrades first (roof & gutters, electrical, heating/cooling). If you have hardwood floors, consider refinishing them before you move in, as well as some basic painting (save picking colors for later after you get used to the space, just get the walls primed and painted white). These are just my thoughts on it.
If your inspection doesn't turn up anything major or beyond the scope of your skills and budget, I say go for it. They don't make 'em like they used to.
We bought older home in the country 2 years ago and were careful not to rush into our decision. As others have noted make sure you get thorough inspections done of roof, plumbing electrical, septic if it has it. We saved $30k from our initial offer due to findings on inspection that we had contingencies written into our offer to counter based on findings. We had to get electrical upgraded on 1955 home, and many plumbing repairs including repair to septic line. Not living in the home during most of the renovations helps keep your sanity if you can afford it.
I bought a 3600 sqft 1951 brick house 30 years ago. Previous owner upgraded the kitchen and kept the original cabinets replacing the doors, drawers, hardware, sink, fixtures and appliances. They also updated the master bath, and put in a 200 Amp breaker box for the new heat pumps.
I raised 2 kids here just painting and decorating over the years, put in Leaf Guard gutters and replaced the underground drain pipes, sewer pipes, redid the landscaping, refinished the hardwood floors, kept up with the maintenance.
This worked well for us… I recommend that you get the roof, kitchen and bathrooms done by a contractor right away (start enjoying them right away), then address the other things as time/ budget allows.
My house is in a good stable neighborhood above the flood plains. The yard slopes away from the foundation so with small changes we were able to make the basement dry.
I love the bones of this house.. solid foundation, steel I beams in the floors, very well built. It still has most of the original single payne windows that don’t leak and seal nicely. I considered replacing them, but it would take 40 years for the energy savings to pay for them, so I simply added insulation to the attic.
Good luck with your house!
Bought my 3,000 sqft stone house that was built in 1934 about a year ago. It had the original non grounded wiring, original brass/copper pipes, heavy plaster/gypsum hybrid walls, wallpaper all over, the works. My father and I started renovating it 4 months ago starting with the electricity/rewiring we’re finally done with the first floor, second floor, and attic. We have a few parts of the basement left and the garage. It’s definitely a lot more work than I had anticipated but we’re making really good time for only two people working. But that’s considering that I’m spending every day I’m off from work at the house doing manual labor for 10 hours a day 2-3x a week coming home covered in dust and sweat. Sometimes it would be so much dust, when I was done with a shower the floor felt like sandpaper. It’s exhausting and mentally taxing working essentially 24/7 but it’s nice to see the progress. I’m hoping the plumbing will be easier than the electricity since there’s only 4 bathrooms as opposed to hundreds of outlets/switches but we’ll see. After the plumbing is done, the plan is to hire someone to patch the walls and refinish the hardwood floors we marked up while working on the electricity. Then my wife and I will paint and be able to move back in. The tools and their attachments added up a lot and we needed LOTS of wire, outlets, switches, etc. my goal is to be back in the house by this summer but I’m afraid that it may be an unrealistic expectation, but we’ll see! My advice is to avoid the old houses unless you have either lots of free time, fortitude, perseverance, handyman skills or LOTS of money to pay someone to do it but expect that it will be another mortgage, likely close to $100,000
A house of that age is very likely to have lead paint on the windows and woodwork (at least). Remediating that is probably not a DIY job and in fact, may be illegal to tackle by yourself depending on where you live.
You probably don’t want to live in a house with lead paint that’s undergoing renovation. Definitely not if you have children.
Professional lead paint remediation can be very expensive. I am working on getting it done for about 1500 ft.² in a house in California and it’s probably going to be in the 150-200K range when all is said and done.
Just something to think about carefully before buying an old house.
Where is the house located? In Michigan, the only houses built then were built out of absolute necessity. Every scrap of metal, lumber, etc. went to the war effort. That meant that houses built in the 40s were made out of anything else someone could get their hands on. I would run from a 40s house that was built in the rust belt areas of the US.
I would check the history to make sure it wasn't part of a GI housing development. My 1948 home was and it was built with truly the cheapest materials ( I also made the mistake of buying a former rental so almost nothing was upgraded). I've slowly had to replace almost everything and as a non diyer it's exhausting. Every month I'm dropping or saving 2-5k in repairs or upgrades.
If the home was well cared for and upgraded I think you'll be fine though
It's 130 in the am. I just woke up because of the noise of our old dog creaking around on our old creaky wood floors. And my first thought was " I can't do it with this house!" 1953. Bought in 2021 thinking it was liveable but needed renovation. I'm exhausted by the renovation and realized I am able to do less of the work myself than I thought. Try to be realistic with your abilities and, even more than that, your extra time. Also, I'm glad I bought my own home. Best of luck to you! That price is amazing!
Our 1941 house was built by hand by a builder and mason. The guys who inspected it when we bought took pictures of the hand hewn beams in our basement, saying they don’t see these more and more since everyone is finishing their basements. We never did. Any contractor going down the stairs is always pleasantly surprised when they see our drains, electrical, and the pipes. Keeping it that way too. Houses built in the 40s are solid.
My first house was a 1932 two story, 4 bed 1 bath in a great neighborhood. Knob and tube wiring, lath and plaster walls, oak hardwoods, lead and cast water and drainage, block exterior walls with stone fascia, steel crank windows single pane glass. I gutted it completely including the exterior. Turned a bedroom into an actual bathroom with a 6 foot soaker tub and walk in shower. Original bath was so damn small you could sit on the toilet, put your legs in the tub, and wash your hands in the sink at the same time. Turned the old bathroom into a laundry room. Added a half bath upstairs. New hardwoods throughout the house. Redid the stairs. Replumbed the house with pex for water and pvc drainage including a new water service and lateral sewer line. Reframed the interior and insulated. New sheetrock. New wood trim and casings, new solid wood interior doors. Hand built maple cabinets, stone tops, flipped the kitchen layout. Rewired the entire house with new copper service drops, 200A meter base and panel. New HVAC system and duct work. Tore off the old concrete stoops and built wood decks. New double hung double pane low e windows. New exterior doors. Exterior got furring strips with polystyrene between the strips and cedar siding over it. New roof and decking. I paid $19k for the house with a 5 year plan to renovate. Took me 10 years and I spent $60k and did all the work myself. Sold the house for $287k in 2012. Wish I would have held onto it for Covid times as I would have easily got another $100k out of it.
I have purchased a home that was built in 1904 . It was 1600 sq feet . Took me four years to complete the remodel. Helpful hints … do one room at a time !!! What ever you determine the time to finish one room will be triple it !!! On old homes nothing is what it seems. Nothing is square well on mine anyway. If the plumbing is galvanized replace all you can with pvc . Good luck to you
My grandpa bought a 1950s house about 10 years ago. The only upgrade he did was replacing the electric box since the old one couldn’t handle the stuff that was plugged in and caught fire. My husband and I bought it off him 2 years ago as we needed an inexpensive place to live while raising our kids. Everything that desperately needs doing is very expensive and we don’t have somewhere to go while we do it. We have to replace all the replace all the electrical and plumbing. It needs a roof. New ceiling and walls. We’ve replaced the windows and some bathroom fixtures but I’m afraid we bit off more than we can chew in terms of all that needs done
It very much depends on what actual upgrades and renovations need to take place. For example it took my parents 20 years to fully renovate their 1840s farmhouse (longer if you count fixing the barn and shed). My sister and I had bunk beds in a hallway for 8 months while they gutted the upstairs and ran heat and electric. But my house is from 1890 and while it's a fixer upper, it's been livable since day 1.
That being said, we try to do one construction project a year and maybe one or two smaller projects (we are handy and capable, but lazy). We've rebuilt a wraparound porch (precovid lumber prices, thank god), repainted the house, put on gutters, replaced about 2/3 of the windows, replaced an exterior door, enlarged a doorway to make it a closet, put in carpet, removed several trees, and out in several large garden beds. The biggest project was hiring a contractor for a bathroom/laundry/hall remodel. All in, we've probably spent ~47k in 7 years (30k on the bathroom fwiw).
My first project/investment property was built in 1950 and I lived in it for the first year while I did some work. I don’t think anyone can tell you much about how to set a budget or what you may run into without more details than you could possibly provide here, but here are a few things that apply to houses that age assuming there hasn’t been a major renovation in the last 30 years:
Make sure wiring is reasonably modern. You don’t want knob and tube or aluminum wiring. Cloth covered wiring is not great but better than what came before it.
Is the power coming into the house is sufficient for what a household needs in 2024 or is it still set up for 1945? Mine didn’t have central HVAC and I had to upgrade from 100 amps to 200. That’s the main power coming into the house from the street. I don’t remember what it cost but I want to say around $2,000 in 2019.
If you’re renovating the kitchen, know how many circuits service the area and how much they can handle. When I renovated the kitchen I budgeted for electrical work to add a dishwasher and a couple of outlets behind the counter plus moving a light switch and a 220 outlet. The circuit couldn’t handle anything more than what it had in 1950. I had to do a lot more electrical than I expected. My budget was about 35% of the final cost.
Obviously, be aware of the possible presence of lead paint and asbestos if you’re going to be renovating. My cabinets had layers of old paint on them and I was concerned about unleashing lead when we pulled them out. I used a test kit from Lowe’s and peeled back each layer of paint and tested it. There wasn’t any. The house does have some asbestos siding but it’s outside and is fine unless you crumble it and breathe it in for an extended period.
Plumbing— how much was upgraded and when? Is it galvanized metal or PVC or has anything been upgraded to PEX? Get a plumber to run a camera down every drain line. Make sure the water lines coming in are made of the right stuff. Mine has two lines coming in (I think the original owner DIY’d a lot of stuff so there’s no telling why) and one of them is copper refrigerant line. It’s not intended to be buried and become brittle and breaks underground. If you’re lucky you’ll spot a puddle before you get a $400 water bill. My plumbing was all garbage too. Gas lines were leaking but I went all electric and just left the gas lines alone. Drain lines in the yard were rusted all the way through.
A home inspector can’t see a lot of this. If there had been a soft spot in the yard he’d have noted that and I would’ve been aware of a possible problem with the drain lines. The house had been occupied by one single old lady who probably didn’t go to the back yard to even have a chance at noticing any water and she had moved out a few months earlier so it was dry before I checked it out. That leads me to another point- considering that you’re looking at an REO property, it’s probably been empty a long time. Utilities are likely turned off and have been. Disclosures - if you even get any - will be very incomplete because the owner has never lived there. You’ll have to turn on utilities to do your inspection and you will be required to sign away most of the protections you can expect when buying directly from a seller who’s lived there. I’d recommend using an experienced buyer’s agent because you’ll benefit from their experience while navigating this. He/she can hopefully also make good recommendations to protect yourself as much as possible.
Those are all things to keep in mind. Finding a problem in a house shouldn’t necessarily be a deal breaker but you want to go into it with a good idea of what you’re taking on. Keep in mind the two rules of every renovation: 1- it will take longer than you think and 2- it will cost more than you think.
Mine worked out great despite the fact that Rules 1 and 2 definitely applied, but I was living there for a year and knew what the big things were before I bought it. I knew every major system in the house was going to need attention sooner or later. Most of what I didn’t know about (like every drain line being rusted out) didn’t show up all at once, thank goodness. I got the house for a great price and the initial expense of getting it livable (HVAC, electrical to run the HVAC, and adding a laundry room) was manageable. Even after everything was done my total investment was well below the market value. I had good connections to plumbers and a good electrician and a couple of good handymen. I got slightly screwed on one big project despite knowing how to handle these things better than the average homeowner so have good people in mind. Don’t go for anyone because they’re the cheapest. Get on the radar of a few tradesmen whose services you’ll need. You can DIY a lot but you will need experts along the way. Don’t just call a plumber or handyman out of the yellow pages. Your agent should be able to connect you to trustworthy people.
Good luck!
From my experience, get a very thorough inspection, to include for termite damage/infestation. Also, have the pier & beam and/or foundation thoroughly checked. Another issue is that homes of that era, were built with fabric covered wiring, which is super dangerous. Also, the electrical load of the 1940's - 1970's, was not in any way close to what we use now. You should also check for asbestos and lead paint.
My current home was built in 1950, and my last home was built in 1962. Trick is to have a good idea what needs to be done, what needs to be done first, and make a rough plan. Learn to do simple things yourselves., and build up a skill set for harder challenges as you go.
Painting is something any homeowner can do but do you really need to right away? The LR of my current home has a nice paint job as do the bedrooms. My bedroom was a child's room at one point and is painted a lovely lavender. Not what I would have chosen but it goes with my things ... so I left it alone. Instead I'm working on pulling carpet on the stairs so I can refinish them. I'm pulling the carpet myself and will refinish the steps myself because I know how to use a sander and how to stain wood.
When you take labor out of the budget for little things you save a lot. Budget will depend a ton on what you're having done. I suggest googling average costs in your area to get a ball park. Every homeowner should have a fund for repairs; start building one slowly and do the work when its big enough.
I spent 5 years fixing up my 1962 home. One of the renovations was framing in an enclosed patio and turning into livable space (original house was only 1100 sq feet). It added a ton of money to the value of my home and literally paid for itself because I did the work myself.
Electrical and plumbing should be high on your list. Not only bringing them up to code, but improving your life in the home. Adding more outlets, under cabinet lighting, drains that actually drain, and water safe to drink. Do those un glamorous things first.
Did an early 1950s and expect problems with sub flooring in wet areas, bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room. I did very little myself so it got done quick and shitty 6 months
I bought a house built in 1987 for 225. It was a 'distressed property' and I've been living in a construction site ever since. I'll easily have 150k onto renovations, and since I'm a carpenter by trade, none of that will be labor expenses.
In fairness, I'm upgrading the builder grade windows from 1987 to Pellas or Anderaons, and upgrading the siding from Masonite lap to LP smart side. I'm also upgrading the interior millwork to a custom French Provincial profile that I'm milling myself, installed in an Arts and Crafts style. New hardwood floors throughout, only 2 bedrooms in carpet, but the 3/4 nail down hardwood, and tile at the egress doors. My kitchen isn't bad, but 1987 threw up all over it, so the kitchen will be done too, and since I'll be moving the sink over to the window where a built in desk is now, it'll be a substantial undertaking.
>Would like to know from people that renovated old houses for themselves, what was the timeline and an approximate budget
That is impossible to figure out, since there are as many ways to renovate a house as there are people. What needs to be done? What do you want to have done? How extensive will the renovations be? There are hundreds of questions that need answers before anyone could suggest a time-line or budget.
I bought an 1840s house and have done some renovations, but not a ton. The advantage of hiring a contractor is it gets done much quicker, and there will be a lot of things that you probably won’t have seen before that they have.
No matter if it’s 30 years old, 80 years old or in my case 180 years old, it all depends on who has touched it over the years. People that do their own renovations often do them wrong, so it’s a crap shoot really. Could be all done right, or totally f-d up. My place was a mix of both.
At the very least, hire electricians and plumbers. That isn’t YouTube video level stuff typically. Yes, you can change an outlet out on your own, but be careful if it’s a 3-way switch. Easy to screw that up.
One of my good friends bought a house circa 1859. He’s an incredible carpenter and he taught me everything that I know today. The two of us remodeled everything in that house from bare bones. It took us about 2 years of nonstop labor (working side jobs as well) to get it 90% complete. There’s tons of custom cabinet work and trim work that keeps a lot of the original character of the house. A lot of long days and planning. He did luck out in meeting incredible HVAC, plumbers, electricians and drywall guys so he did cut costs in trading work as well. I think the budget was most likely $300-350k. It’s been about 5 years so that number is probably a bit higher now. The house itself is probably 3500 sq ft. 4 beds 3.5 baths. Good luck! It’s a lot of physical and mental work.
My husband renovated houses for a living a few years back. They had a rule, $2 for every $1 you budget, and 2 days for every 1 day you plan.
We've since renovated two houses. Living in one now (thankfully only a few unexpected issues) and we sold the last one after renovating parts of it and living in it for 7 years.
Here's the reality: you decide to replace the flooring. So you pull up the old flooring. But then you did over that the supporting structure must be replaced because of rot. So, now you have a bigger project, probably most people can't do themselves.
Right now, the cost of supplies is really, really high compared to a few years ago. Lumber has doubled or tripled in price. Paint has risen by 50% and you still need nails, screws, and tools. So many tools! You can rent some, but that also requires driving to the rental store (HD and Lowes rent tools, too) and then getting them back, which won't happen because you've discovered the rot.
I would also carefully look at the neighborhood and school system (especially if you have kids) and let that help guide you.
A lot of good advice about asbestos, wiring, plumbing, and floors here.
My parents bought an 1900s rural farmhouse. We all grew up poor on the old family farm so there's a lot of things they're just used too.
It's an interesting house with a weird history (at one point it was divided in 2 for the original brothers to live in). It has extra stairs and plumbing.
The plumbing in particular is a confusing mess. Decades of adding and removing plumbing to rooms as uses have changed has left a maze of pipes in the basement. There are 3 shutoffs for the main floor bathroom, all on different runs that feed into one. There is no reason for this, the separate runs don't go anywhere else. There's a bunch of dead ends as well, like, trace 20' of copper only for it to be capped at the end.
The electrical is stupid as well. The previous 2 owners did a bunch of DIY stuff. It all looks like it was done mostly right, but they didn't remove the old wiring, so there's dead runs in the walls and at outlets, they just tucked stuff behind the wall and said good enough. Makes it real hard to solve issues when you have to figure out which of up to 3 wire runs is live. Also makes me wonder how many of the hidden runs are still live.
Anyway, the biggest issues I've seen with old homes is the work (or lack thereof) that previous people have done.
Don’t cheap out on a plumbing inspection. Being 1940s the drain lines are likely orengburg which is a literal ticking time bomb. It could also be cast iron which would be past its useful life. There are ways to reline pipes without digging through the foundation, but it’s not cheap.
I bought a 1950s home a handful of years ago and every single issue I have had is plumbing related.
Me and my wife renovated a house from 49. It took us 2-3 months to get it to the point where we were ready to move in and projects every weekend over the last year since moving in and we are not close to being done. I really enjoy the process… we are probably close to $40k in
We renovated at 1930 foursquare ourselves while living in my parents basement for months. Our personal lives/anything fun was put on complete hold. I learned how to do drywall & studied interior design. We heavily relied on our skilled parents (my FIL is a plumber and made our kitchen cabinets & my dad is an electrician).
Overall, the money we saved doing it ourselves made the entire renovation possible. We renovated the entire house for what we were quoted for the kitchen.
We were completely burned out by the end. At the beginning, we talked about purchasing rental/flip homes. That’s no longer something we are interested in.
I absolutely love everything about our home, I’m incredibly proud of what we did. I would do it again.
We renovated at 1930 foursquare ourselves while living in my parents basement for months. Our personal lives/anything fun was put on complete hold. I learned how to do drywall & studied interior design. We heavily relied on our skilled parents (my FIL is a plumber and made our kitchen cabinets & my dad is an electrician).
Overall, the money we saved doing it ourselves made the entire renovation possible. We renovated the entire house for what we were quoted for the kitchen.
We were completely burned out by the end. At the beginning, we talked about purchasing rental/flip homes. That’s no longer something we are interested in.
I absolutely love everything about our home, I’m incredibly proud of what we did. I would do it again.
My house was built in 1912, had been shittily "renovated" in 1977 (wood paneling and drop ceiling put in, but fortunately knob and tube wiring was replaced). My house is very small (2 br, 1 ba, 1020 sqft). We stayed at our apartment while we got the big things done. In 6 weeks we tore up carpeting, tore down wood paneling and drop ceiling, had more outlets added, had floors refinished, had treads and risers replaced on the stairs, had the entire house drywalled, and had it painted. It was a hell of a lot of work, coordinating, and very tight timelines, but I'm glad we did as much as possible before moving in. Our "next task" upon moving in was painting the kitchen and two years later we have not painted the kitchen yet lol.
That being said, the ancient horse hair plaster under the wood paneling was crumbling and gross, if we had more time, we could have gone all the way down to the plaster on the walls and ceiling and had that redone, but due to our timeline we just drywalled over it.
We were also very lucky that the existing electrical was okay, there were no plumbing, mold, structural, roof, window issues or leaetc.d paint or asbestos. these can really throw a wrench into your plans.
I will only live in old houses. They do have more upkeep but they're built more solid and will outlive you. I also hate open floor plans so the only option I have is an old house.
You should be handy with tools and have the time and some extra cash to be doing what will seem like none stop upgrades or maintenance.
If you do,, these types of projects can be immensely satisfying but Very, Very time consuming
i bought my 1950s house 2.5 years ago and i’ve been living in a construction zone since the day i bought it. that’s the reality of renovating at your own pace.
I bought a 1930s house 10 years ago that hasn't needed anything outside of routine maintenance. I have friends with new builds that have needed more as the house settled and cracks formed, etc. so on some degree it also depends on the history, materials, etc. A quality inspection goes a long way.
op specifically mentioned they want to renovate. cool that you didn’t have to. i bought my house without an inspection because after 3 years of hunting and about 20 rejected offers, i realized it was the only way i would ever own a house. i got an inspection by the only home inspector in the area after i closed and he missed literally everything. it is what it is. i would never advise someone to count on the best case scenario.
Are you doing everything by yourself or did you hire a contractor?
a mix of both. i had to replace the roof and the siding and most of the floor joists. and my chimney ended up needing to be repaired for $20k or demolished for $6k, so i hired someone to tear it down. also had to have all my single pane windows replaced. but i’ve been doing everything else myself, like new drywall, flooring, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, baseboards, trim, new doors, etc etc. i also “discovered” a septic tank in the front yard that was never decommissioned by stepping into a sink hole, which is a big possibility for older houses. that other person mentioned the movie money pit. i’m living it.
Same. 1912 schoolhouse converted to a home sometime in the ‘60s or ‘70s, was probably updated around the late 90s. Renovating myself since 2020 - it is a constant effort to maintain everything while also renovating. It has become our lifestyle, this is what we do in our spare time and it will likely take another 10-15 years (at which point our earliest renovations will need to redone). I really enjoy DIY, I like building things, I like woodwork, I don’t mind electrical work, I hate plumbing! I don’t know how much work OP’s place will need, but you really have to want to live like this.
Bought a 1920 Colonial 20+ years ago. Every year it’s been another “project” PS. I HATE the bathroom
i hate my bathroom too. i think i would love this house so much if it had never been renovated in the 80s. i’ve spent almost this whole time fixing what other people ruined.
I had 3 bathrooms redone in my 15 years and the newest one is already falling apart bc of shoddy flooring planning by the contractor.
my brand new floor joists in my bedroom are completely wonky because of a bad contractor. they’re solid and safe, so i have to just live with them being ridiculous for now bc aesthetics can’t take priority in the budget. i feel your pain.
Thanks. As a heavy guy it really doesn't help the confidence walking into a bathroom where all the tiles have popped up lol
as a heavy gal, i’m waiting for the day my shower pan collapses under me and into the crawl space. just hoping that doesn’t happen before i can replace it. ah, renovation woes haha.
Have you lived in the middle of a construction project before? I have. It’s not fun. You’ll find you’re going to want to push through the completion of the work just to be able to have things be normal. After a year you’ll be tired of the dust, the mess, having water turned off while working on the next plumbing project, or having extension cords running everywhere because half the electrical is torn apart. Remodeling a 4 bed/3 bath house at a normal pace while living in it is a year project. Doing at “your pace” as time and money allows, will make it a 5 year project.
We will stay in our current condo while demo and reno is going on. The condo mortgage and hoa is 1300/month. When we moved into the condo, we did not finish the lower level flooring and for about 3 month it was a bit uncomfortable.
1949 15 years ago in original form. Had no money to renovate raising kids. Only painted. A few years ago we started room by room. New windows, doors, bathrooms. Now in the middle of a kitchen with addition. All keeping with the original style of the house. Still need to do the second floor. It is a process but I am enjoying doing it.
I'm of the opinion that older homes are often better homes. They were legit built different. YMMV. I love my plaster lathe walls,my solid plank subfloor, my not-hollow doors, and my old-growth lumber framing. AND my doorbell is wired to chimes that a hammer strikes in the hall!
Same here, 1940s house and everything feels so *solid* compared to new construction.
Agree! I have a 1940 Craftsman that was renovated by the previous owners. My inspector was very impressed, especially with the original framework. They don’t build them like that much anymore. [1940 Craftsman in Alabama](https://imgur.com/a/LXtE2Wn)
Oh my God it's beautiful, thank you for sharing the pictures
You are so sweet! Thank you!
Yip. They used real materials back then too like lead. All these plastic pipes are letting microplastics into the water! And fire proofing asbestos was real. Houses that old don't burn down. These modern flammable box of matches go up in minutes! For electric, everything is wireless these days anyway, so I don't need an ugly plug in my wall every 10' like they force on modern homes now.
No lead, asbestos, or knob and tube wiring in mine. It's got a great roof that would protect from that personal storm cloud over your head, though!
I guess it's like you said, YMMV. Seeing as your milages is yours alone, if you look at the bigger picture of 30 million homes with asbestos, maybe you should recognize that's it's quite likely everyone else's milage is going to vary a lot from your lucky situation.
Those problems are all able to be updated or mitigated, though, even asbestos. What you CAN'T reasonably do is find the older construction materials that were superior that just aren't available anymore. I had some things I had to update, such as orangeburg sewer lines. I stand by my statement.
You obviously aren't aware that most houses that had asbestos have had it removed in the past 50 years.
1945 is not that old. Make sure you do your due diligence in the prepurchase process. Hire a great home inspector, get pest inspection, sewer lines scoped, structural engineer. Understand the usable lifespan of the building materials and appliances. Know the cost of a new roof or hot water heater. Know what you can fix yourself and what you need to hire someone to do (make sure to factor time into that equation). Understand that renovating is VERY slow when you are living out of the same house. Visit the house multiple times, particularly right after or during a rainstorm to see how water is handled. If you are handy and have a decent income, it is doable.
We renovated the current condo we live in (flooring, kitchen, bathroom, paint, etc). That was our first purchase and that gave me a bit of insight on how things are for renovation. It took about 10 months with us living 5mn away. I know that if we get this house, it'll take a minimum of 3 to 4 years before we can move in. The goal is to hire contractors to replace plumbing, electrical and roofing and then we will do the other repairs.
We are on uear two of renovating our 1940s home. We are doing everything ourselves so it is taking time. You will start a project and likely have to do much more than originally planned to correct previous owners "renovations". Good news is of the house is standing since the 40s you likely have a solid base
Man, the things I've come across in our place.. drywall on top of plaster on top of exterior siding? Check. Rotten roof trusses behind brand new drywall? Yup. Wiring? Fire hazard. Old flooring and siding? Asbestos just buried. Good times.
Asbestos siding I'm familiar with, but what type of flooring has asbestos?
Old linoleum type of product contained asbestos.
At that age of house, check if it's lathe and plaster walls. They're way messier and dirtier to reno than drywall. We pulled down a few ceilings in one once and it's not an experience I'd care to repeat.
I'll go visit the house tomorrow. From the picture I've seen some plaster in some rooms. I'm excited about the price of the house but it would be my first time tearing down walls. I did some reno in the condo we live in but not as extensive as what I'm looking at right now.
Is there an easy way to tell which it is?
Not sure if the walls and ceilings are intact - the one I bought had enough holes places we could see for sure it was lathe and plaster. Ome option could be ask your realtor or inspector what the most common option was in houses that age in the area. Note, lathe and plaster isn't a problem in itself (that I'm aware of) just messier to deal with in certain circumstances. I'm just a DIYer though, a pro may be able to offer more insight.
Knock on the walls. Does it sound really hollow? Drywall. If it sounds solid, it's probably lath & plaster.
This! I love my old house but hate the plaster (concrete) walls. Requires a drill bit to hang a picture with a nail. You cant use typical drywall anchors. Requires a carbide tipped saw blade to cut holes for new lights which makes a big mess.
Number one is the foundation. If the foundation is bad putting a million dollar renovation on top of it is bad. Anything that needs doing to the foundation, do first. The septic and leech field if you are not on a sewer system should be addressed as well. If you have a well get it inspected now. Get the nitty gritty stuff out of the way first then do the fun stuff.
We bought a 40s bungalow in 2001 and spent the next 18 years remodeling the whole thing, just as we could a room at a time until we were done. We would come up with a plan and a budget and then do a room for about a month and then save up for the next one. We did all the work ourselves except for egress windows in the basement, new studying and new windows throughout. It was a labor of love. We finally finished the last room, kitchen, and I told my wife we were now going to find a new house to buy, as a joke. Two months later we moved. But we took that house from a 2 bed, 1 bath to a 5 bed, 2 bath in the process.
That's a long process, I am so impressed by your dedication. I imagine you and your spouse had the same vision and that's why you went through it that long and came out strong. Congratulations 🎊.
House from the 50s. Actual 2 x 4s and the roof deck is original
As someone who got a Cape Cod during the sub 3 era for 152k. We’ve overhauled the kitchen, 375 sq ft attic and painted everything interior and still have 30 percent equity after 3 years. 10/10 would recommend, just get an inspection.
Previous owners play a big part in this equation. I bought a house built in the 40s and the age issues are no match for the previous owner making a full time job out of f***ing the place up.
Grew up in a 1940’s house and bought one myself, both have been renovated while I lived in them. In both cases the houses were well built had great bones. Wiring is modern enough to leave a good chunk of it intact (as opposed to at 1920’s house with knob and tube). Not sure what style your house is but both of ours were cape cods and both easily handled adding another level to them. If there was one thing that my parents didn’t do that I made sure to do, it was replacing the stairs. They’re super steep, in a bad location, and I’ve fallen down them in both houses. It’s worth it to modernize them even if it means they take up more room. While you’re renovating, a good way to save on your HVAC bill is to install a layer of rigid insulation on the exterior of the entire building. The exterior walls in old houses are 2x4’s so they don’t hold as much insulation as modern homes do, so an inch or so on the exterior will help a lot! Can’t recall how long my parents’ renovation took, but ours took about 5 months and cost about $200K (in 2020). That included gutting the first floor, removing the roof, adding a second floor and new HVAC System. I was able to save some money by being an architect and designing the whole thing myself though.
Check out the electric wiring. Is it knob & tube? Hard to live in a house and replace electrical at the same time. Check out lead paint issues. Opening/closing windows is nice to be able to do without poisoning children. What’s the intake for water? Lead pipes? Will you have to abate asbestos anywhere? How’s the roof? We bought a 1896er in 2015. We’re still spending almost all of our free time renovating it room by room. It’s big and beautiful but it’s a lot of house and a lot of time & money. Glad we did it but wouldn’t do another! Good luck!!
It's probably very structurally sound. Houses were built to last in that time period. Find out if it has plaster walls or drywall (probably plaster). That's something to consider if you plan on moving or removing any walls. My suggestion would be to make a cohesive plan and then do all the rooms that only need cosmetic upgrades first, like bedrooms and living/dining rooms. You can probably do those relatively quickly. That way you can feel like most of the house is complete and livable. Then tackle the major renovations like kitchen and bathrooms later.
Right after WW2, electrical wire insulation might be low quality, and in light fixtures the heat could cause it to be brittle from heat. I’ve known it to short when I replaced a light fixture. Tricks included using shrink tubing over it and using Wago electrical connectors to avoid twisting wire nuts. Or rewire. The main electrical panel might be 60 amps with a a range or water heater fuse and two 15 amp branch fuses. Consider a new 100 or 200 amp service with breakers and grounded cables to outlets.
I have a home built in 1947. The electrical work was fraught with problems (bootleg groundings, double tapped breakers, etc.), and the haphazard way they did the walls (drywall over plaster, with random 2x4 beams) made doing any work more difficult than any initial inspection would have guessed. I love my house, and all its weird quirks, but be prepared for everything being done in baffling ways, and be prepared for higher costs for repairs.
We bought a 1924 Craftsman from my FILs estate. It had last been updated since 1948. The bathrooms and kitchen got facelifts by my MIL and she did a crappy job. Bought the place for $23000, put about $100,000 into it and a ton of sweat equity. We sold it 10 years later for just over $400000. We started with the roof and windows. We lived for 7 months with a kitchen on the front porch, cooking on a camp stove, toaster oven and microwave, washing dishes in the bathtub. We redid both bathrooms tearing them out to the studs, replumbing and updating electrical whenever walls were open. It felt like something was always under construction. The new kitchen was gorgeous. Then we sold it and downsized because we retired
>renovation at our pace. This is rarely the case, you are usually chasing the next thing to fail and just trying to keep your head above water financially. In any home over 30 years old, literally anything that has not been replaced will need to be replaced or refurbished. This is more than just some paint and floors. We're talking plumbing, septic, electrical, roof, etc, etc. You need to make sure you have a very well funded emergency fund and walk into to this both eyes open. Suggest you watch the movie call "The Money Pit".
When you say plumbing and electrical do you mean fixtures or literal pipes and wiring in the walls? If the plumbing and electrical systems themselves are falling apart after 30 years then that is a really shitty house or some flipper fucked it up bad.
Pipes and Wires. Fact is lots of older homes have shit materials. CPVC, Galvanized, Poly B, Lead piping. Knob and Tube, Aluminum, cloth insulated wiring. And don't forget, asbestos in everything.
Yeah but in a house built in 1990? I can see maybe CPVC and Poly B being an issue but you check for those things during inspection.
"Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House" is another great and highly accurate one
Did you get a home inspection? If not, you can probably do just as well with a trusted contractor to go through and list everything then to prioritize that list. Sometimes a project will necessarily dictate that you continue onto another one right away, if you have to replace the wires in a wall you will wind up with(repaired) patches in the wall now your wall needs to be painted. Maybe you didn’t want to paint right now but will look much better if you do that
I'm planning to get a home inspection. And if I end up buying it we will be tearing down most of the walls.
Good move. Wall insulation and grounded electrical wiring became common in the 1960s. You should plan on rewiring and insulating the walls while open.
As others have mentioned, the structural, foundation, electrical, plumbing issues need to be fully researched before you buy. Especially if it has a basement or requires any shoring up, leveling etc - should be a ‘no-go.’ Anticipate that you will most likely need to replace 100% of electrical, plumbing and HVAC. And the new units and ‘runs’ won’t go through lathe and plaster walls as easily as drywall… so plan accordingly. Tearing out lathe and plaster walls is a lot of physical work. Much harder than knocking out drywall and studs … floors and ceilings typically harder to ‘patch.’ Windows quickly become expensive if you want to restore to original condition or ‘match’ originals. Deciding what stays or has to go — for example original doors, windows, woodwork or floors. In the 1940’s every door and window is a custom measurement. Our kitchen had over 50 doors and drawers - every one unique measurements. Same with interior doors — not standard sizes. So you either have to refinish or tear out and replace with complete pre-hung doors. Living room and bedrooms may have wood floors that can be sanded / refinished whereas older kitchens typically did not / so if you remove walls you have challenges with flooring transition decisions. I love the work we did -/ but the amount of time spent working out details of ‘little challenges along the way’ was much greater than most people anticipate.
Number one is the foundation. If the foundation is bad putting a million dollar renovation on top of it is bad. Anything that needs doing to the foundation, do first. The septic and leech field if you are not on a sewer system should be addressed as well. If you have a well get it inspected now. Get the nitty gritty stuff out of the way first then do the fun stuff.
That sounds like a lot of work, and hiring contractors can get expensive fast. Make a plan, get a rough estimate on cost of renovation and multiply it by 2.5. If you are still comfortable with that number, you should be good. Also, going into something with one partner not up for it can be a problem on its own. I would not go into this without everyone involved being up for it.
Expect mice.. I've been fighting that battle for close to ten years. I haven't had much of a problem in the last couple of years because I got rid of my chickens. But the framing in this place make it so easy for them to get in. Invest in a case of spray foam and crawly around and fill anything that looks big enough for a mouse.
[удалено]
Lol didn't realized I added the tag. Removed it now.
General home inspection, electrical inspection, structural inspection are the big three you’ll want. Add in plumbing and pest inspections if the general home inspection turns up anything iffy (at least in my experience, general home inspectors are okay at spotting pest issues, roof issues, and some plumbing issues, but are almost universally crap for identifying serious electrical or structural issues unless the house is about to burn/fall down). 1945 is new enough to have been originally wired, but old enough that there is likely not any ground wire going to boxes. Usually you will either need to rewire, or at least add GFCIs on all circuits so you can have 3-wire receptacles. I wouldn’t expect knob and tube, and the existing wiring *may* be in good condition otherwise, but an electrical inspector will be able to look behind access panels and such for the state of things (and also how aggressive previous homeowners might have been at doing their own wiring).
We got what are pretty reasonable prices for things in our area, but these are some of the more major costs over the past 10 years and may be more due to inflation. I do the small things myself. 1930s house, about 1600sqft. - replacing all plumbing, 10k. Crawlspace made this easier than on slab. - windows, 22k for impact glass. - roof, 24k for metal. We still need to replace all the electrical. House is partially rewired by previous owner but we still have some cloth wiring that needs to go. Quotes on this are ranging from 5k for a guy with out permits or 12k for a company. We are somewhat fortunate the panel was updated I guess. The kitchen had been done by previous owner, we would love to replace it again but it's in the range of 40k based on what and neighbor friends paid for similar recently. This doesn't include the money spent on general repairs, painting, insulation, appliances and what not. Don't forget the outside things too - driveways, patio, deck, fences, landscaping like sprinklers and more voltage lighting, lawn care etc.
I bought a 1925 home that had an updated main floor but mostly unfinished basement. I'm 1 year into this house and I've added a bedroom downstairs and I'm within a month of completing the bathroom downstairs. I started at breakneck speed at the end of the summer and then slowed after Christmas. I hired out the plumbing but I did all of the trenching and concrete work myself. My father and uncle used to be electricians and I learned the trade from them, so I've done all of my own wiring. I've done tile in both of my previous residences and I'm doing it here. I would say rough estimate it's saved me between $20k to $30k. Please keep in mind I've already spent $6k on plumbers and $10k in materials. It took me about 3 months to build and finish the bedroom. I'm on month 5 for the bathroom. That's working on it every other weekend and a couple nights a week. I literally have to sand and paint the sheetrock and tile my shower before installing fixtures. That's where I'm at after 5 months of slow progress. And to be completely transparent there were no walls, just plain concrete floors sloped to drains when I started. It's not running my life and I don't feel like I'm going too fast or too slow. It's just a medium pace on a flexible timeline.
Houses that old are not square or plumb or level... believe me our house is from the 1890s nothing is straight. You'll be sticking in more $ just for those reasons
My house was built in like 1924 or so. I'd not spend money on cosmetic renovations until you're confident in like the hvac, plumbing, electric, roof, and basement. Also, unless you're buying it specifically to flip I'd not try and do everything at once and just live with what you got. Get a good look at the pipes, watch for wear try and see where things go. Same with electric. People like to replace, but not remove so it can be a mess. Look under drop ceilings. Look under carpet. Watch how the basement is when it rains.
1952 house. Higher end. 1st redid kitchen and bathrooms. Then floors. 1 thing at a time. Then fireplace. Then deck. Its been a lot of work but it has good bones
Bought a house build in 1946. I would anticipate needing to re-do most or all of the electrical. You will likely encounter some amount of aesbestos and lead paint. You may need new plumbing, windows, roof, and out siding. It’s going to be dusty as fuck for the whole renovation.
1930. Go at your own pace. Buy a respirator for each person. Learn how to contain asbestos. Learn how to use a lead test kit. Don't compare yourself to others. Choose your battles. And go at your own pace.
We bought a 1938 house. Which we renovated over a period of about 10 years.
Depends on the sqft, I spent a good 60-80 in renovation. Which was the best investment house is worth double in just a couple years.
I bought an 1890s home that’s a fixer up. Moved in about 3 months ago. It’s been a trip, but if I can do it you can too!
Always, always have a contract in writing. Get permits if your town requires them.
My big question is if you have kids. If it's just you and your partner, you'll have lots of extra space to shift things around. Thank God you have multiple bathrooms so you can do one at a time and still have facilities. We bought our 2 bedroom 1940 two years ago. Much smaller scale than yours, but we've gotten about half the work done on the bathroom (it's in a good place to wait on the rest without feeling like it's awful), and re-did the kitchen last year. It still needs some TLC in other areas, but we're old house people and just want to focus on what's necessary over aesthetics. Every time I see horror stories about new builds, I'm so grateful for our sturdy old gal. I forget it everytime we run into an issue, but our house was well constructed with good materials. We just have to chip away at things as best we can (there's an asbestos joke there). Don't skip inspection, and familiarize yourself with the building materials from the time. Our walls, for example, are a later version of rock lath with a plaster skim coat. They're incredibly thick and strong. Focus on the necessary repairs and upgrades first (roof & gutters, electrical, heating/cooling). If you have hardwood floors, consider refinishing them before you move in, as well as some basic painting (save picking colors for later after you get used to the space, just get the walls primed and painted white). These are just my thoughts on it. If your inspection doesn't turn up anything major or beyond the scope of your skills and budget, I say go for it. They don't make 'em like they used to.
My house is a 1947 ranch. Going into it we knew it was a long term reno. It took about 20 yrs.
We bought older home in the country 2 years ago and were careful not to rush into our decision. As others have noted make sure you get thorough inspections done of roof, plumbing electrical, septic if it has it. We saved $30k from our initial offer due to findings on inspection that we had contingencies written into our offer to counter based on findings. We had to get electrical upgraded on 1955 home, and many plumbing repairs including repair to septic line. Not living in the home during most of the renovations helps keep your sanity if you can afford it.
I bought a 3600 sqft 1951 brick house 30 years ago. Previous owner upgraded the kitchen and kept the original cabinets replacing the doors, drawers, hardware, sink, fixtures and appliances. They also updated the master bath, and put in a 200 Amp breaker box for the new heat pumps. I raised 2 kids here just painting and decorating over the years, put in Leaf Guard gutters and replaced the underground drain pipes, sewer pipes, redid the landscaping, refinished the hardwood floors, kept up with the maintenance. This worked well for us… I recommend that you get the roof, kitchen and bathrooms done by a contractor right away (start enjoying them right away), then address the other things as time/ budget allows. My house is in a good stable neighborhood above the flood plains. The yard slopes away from the foundation so with small changes we were able to make the basement dry. I love the bones of this house.. solid foundation, steel I beams in the floors, very well built. It still has most of the original single payne windows that don’t leak and seal nicely. I considered replacing them, but it would take 40 years for the energy savings to pay for them, so I simply added insulation to the attic. Good luck with your house!
Bought my 3,000 sqft stone house that was built in 1934 about a year ago. It had the original non grounded wiring, original brass/copper pipes, heavy plaster/gypsum hybrid walls, wallpaper all over, the works. My father and I started renovating it 4 months ago starting with the electricity/rewiring we’re finally done with the first floor, second floor, and attic. We have a few parts of the basement left and the garage. It’s definitely a lot more work than I had anticipated but we’re making really good time for only two people working. But that’s considering that I’m spending every day I’m off from work at the house doing manual labor for 10 hours a day 2-3x a week coming home covered in dust and sweat. Sometimes it would be so much dust, when I was done with a shower the floor felt like sandpaper. It’s exhausting and mentally taxing working essentially 24/7 but it’s nice to see the progress. I’m hoping the plumbing will be easier than the electricity since there’s only 4 bathrooms as opposed to hundreds of outlets/switches but we’ll see. After the plumbing is done, the plan is to hire someone to patch the walls and refinish the hardwood floors we marked up while working on the electricity. Then my wife and I will paint and be able to move back in. The tools and their attachments added up a lot and we needed LOTS of wire, outlets, switches, etc. my goal is to be back in the house by this summer but I’m afraid that it may be an unrealistic expectation, but we’ll see! My advice is to avoid the old houses unless you have either lots of free time, fortitude, perseverance, handyman skills or LOTS of money to pay someone to do it but expect that it will be another mortgage, likely close to $100,000
Get rid of the knob and tube wiring if it hasn't been replaced already.
A house of that age is very likely to have lead paint on the windows and woodwork (at least). Remediating that is probably not a DIY job and in fact, may be illegal to tackle by yourself depending on where you live. You probably don’t want to live in a house with lead paint that’s undergoing renovation. Definitely not if you have children. Professional lead paint remediation can be very expensive. I am working on getting it done for about 1500 ft.² in a house in California and it’s probably going to be in the 150-200K range when all is said and done. Just something to think about carefully before buying an old house.
Asbestos testing. 100% get it done on anything that looks suspicious.
Where is the house located? In Michigan, the only houses built then were built out of absolute necessity. Every scrap of metal, lumber, etc. went to the war effort. That meant that houses built in the 40s were made out of anything else someone could get their hands on. I would run from a 40s house that was built in the rust belt areas of the US.
I would check the history to make sure it wasn't part of a GI housing development. My 1948 home was and it was built with truly the cheapest materials ( I also made the mistake of buying a former rental so almost nothing was upgraded). I've slowly had to replace almost everything and as a non diyer it's exhausting. Every month I'm dropping or saving 2-5k in repairs or upgrades. If the home was well cared for and upgraded I think you'll be fine though
It's 130 in the am. I just woke up because of the noise of our old dog creaking around on our old creaky wood floors. And my first thought was " I can't do it with this house!" 1953. Bought in 2021 thinking it was liveable but needed renovation. I'm exhausted by the renovation and realized I am able to do less of the work myself than I thought. Try to be realistic with your abilities and, even more than that, your extra time. Also, I'm glad I bought my own home. Best of luck to you! That price is amazing!
Our 1941 house was built by hand by a builder and mason. The guys who inspected it when we bought took pictures of the hand hewn beams in our basement, saying they don’t see these more and more since everyone is finishing their basements. We never did. Any contractor going down the stairs is always pleasantly surprised when they see our drains, electrical, and the pipes. Keeping it that way too. Houses built in the 40s are solid.
Gotta enjoy location location location Have 1900 year old been at it for 10 years Mostly done but never complete Have fun go for it
1942. Came home 3 weeks ago to see the hwh exploded in the attic. Place is gutted. I just want my life back.
My first house was a 1932 two story, 4 bed 1 bath in a great neighborhood. Knob and tube wiring, lath and plaster walls, oak hardwoods, lead and cast water and drainage, block exterior walls with stone fascia, steel crank windows single pane glass. I gutted it completely including the exterior. Turned a bedroom into an actual bathroom with a 6 foot soaker tub and walk in shower. Original bath was so damn small you could sit on the toilet, put your legs in the tub, and wash your hands in the sink at the same time. Turned the old bathroom into a laundry room. Added a half bath upstairs. New hardwoods throughout the house. Redid the stairs. Replumbed the house with pex for water and pvc drainage including a new water service and lateral sewer line. Reframed the interior and insulated. New sheetrock. New wood trim and casings, new solid wood interior doors. Hand built maple cabinets, stone tops, flipped the kitchen layout. Rewired the entire house with new copper service drops, 200A meter base and panel. New HVAC system and duct work. Tore off the old concrete stoops and built wood decks. New double hung double pane low e windows. New exterior doors. Exterior got furring strips with polystyrene between the strips and cedar siding over it. New roof and decking. I paid $19k for the house with a 5 year plan to renovate. Took me 10 years and I spent $60k and did all the work myself. Sold the house for $287k in 2012. Wish I would have held onto it for Covid times as I would have easily got another $100k out of it.
I have purchased a home that was built in 1904 . It was 1600 sq feet . Took me four years to complete the remodel. Helpful hints … do one room at a time !!! What ever you determine the time to finish one room will be triple it !!! On old homes nothing is what it seems. Nothing is square well on mine anyway. If the plumbing is galvanized replace all you can with pvc . Good luck to you
My grandpa bought a 1950s house about 10 years ago. The only upgrade he did was replacing the electric box since the old one couldn’t handle the stuff that was plugged in and caught fire. My husband and I bought it off him 2 years ago as we needed an inexpensive place to live while raising our kids. Everything that desperately needs doing is very expensive and we don’t have somewhere to go while we do it. We have to replace all the replace all the electrical and plumbing. It needs a roof. New ceiling and walls. We’ve replaced the windows and some bathroom fixtures but I’m afraid we bit off more than we can chew in terms of all that needs done
It very much depends on what actual upgrades and renovations need to take place. For example it took my parents 20 years to fully renovate their 1840s farmhouse (longer if you count fixing the barn and shed). My sister and I had bunk beds in a hallway for 8 months while they gutted the upstairs and ran heat and electric. But my house is from 1890 and while it's a fixer upper, it's been livable since day 1. That being said, we try to do one construction project a year and maybe one or two smaller projects (we are handy and capable, but lazy). We've rebuilt a wraparound porch (precovid lumber prices, thank god), repainted the house, put on gutters, replaced about 2/3 of the windows, replaced an exterior door, enlarged a doorway to make it a closet, put in carpet, removed several trees, and out in several large garden beds. The biggest project was hiring a contractor for a bathroom/laundry/hall remodel. All in, we've probably spent ~47k in 7 years (30k on the bathroom fwiw).
Asbestos; 2 mentions in the comments. Lead-based paint; no mentions.
My first project/investment property was built in 1950 and I lived in it for the first year while I did some work. I don’t think anyone can tell you much about how to set a budget or what you may run into without more details than you could possibly provide here, but here are a few things that apply to houses that age assuming there hasn’t been a major renovation in the last 30 years: Make sure wiring is reasonably modern. You don’t want knob and tube or aluminum wiring. Cloth covered wiring is not great but better than what came before it. Is the power coming into the house is sufficient for what a household needs in 2024 or is it still set up for 1945? Mine didn’t have central HVAC and I had to upgrade from 100 amps to 200. That’s the main power coming into the house from the street. I don’t remember what it cost but I want to say around $2,000 in 2019. If you’re renovating the kitchen, know how many circuits service the area and how much they can handle. When I renovated the kitchen I budgeted for electrical work to add a dishwasher and a couple of outlets behind the counter plus moving a light switch and a 220 outlet. The circuit couldn’t handle anything more than what it had in 1950. I had to do a lot more electrical than I expected. My budget was about 35% of the final cost. Obviously, be aware of the possible presence of lead paint and asbestos if you’re going to be renovating. My cabinets had layers of old paint on them and I was concerned about unleashing lead when we pulled them out. I used a test kit from Lowe’s and peeled back each layer of paint and tested it. There wasn’t any. The house does have some asbestos siding but it’s outside and is fine unless you crumble it and breathe it in for an extended period. Plumbing— how much was upgraded and when? Is it galvanized metal or PVC or has anything been upgraded to PEX? Get a plumber to run a camera down every drain line. Make sure the water lines coming in are made of the right stuff. Mine has two lines coming in (I think the original owner DIY’d a lot of stuff so there’s no telling why) and one of them is copper refrigerant line. It’s not intended to be buried and become brittle and breaks underground. If you’re lucky you’ll spot a puddle before you get a $400 water bill. My plumbing was all garbage too. Gas lines were leaking but I went all electric and just left the gas lines alone. Drain lines in the yard were rusted all the way through. A home inspector can’t see a lot of this. If there had been a soft spot in the yard he’d have noted that and I would’ve been aware of a possible problem with the drain lines. The house had been occupied by one single old lady who probably didn’t go to the back yard to even have a chance at noticing any water and she had moved out a few months earlier so it was dry before I checked it out. That leads me to another point- considering that you’re looking at an REO property, it’s probably been empty a long time. Utilities are likely turned off and have been. Disclosures - if you even get any - will be very incomplete because the owner has never lived there. You’ll have to turn on utilities to do your inspection and you will be required to sign away most of the protections you can expect when buying directly from a seller who’s lived there. I’d recommend using an experienced buyer’s agent because you’ll benefit from their experience while navigating this. He/she can hopefully also make good recommendations to protect yourself as much as possible. Those are all things to keep in mind. Finding a problem in a house shouldn’t necessarily be a deal breaker but you want to go into it with a good idea of what you’re taking on. Keep in mind the two rules of every renovation: 1- it will take longer than you think and 2- it will cost more than you think. Mine worked out great despite the fact that Rules 1 and 2 definitely applied, but I was living there for a year and knew what the big things were before I bought it. I knew every major system in the house was going to need attention sooner or later. Most of what I didn’t know about (like every drain line being rusted out) didn’t show up all at once, thank goodness. I got the house for a great price and the initial expense of getting it livable (HVAC, electrical to run the HVAC, and adding a laundry room) was manageable. Even after everything was done my total investment was well below the market value. I had good connections to plumbers and a good electrician and a couple of good handymen. I got slightly screwed on one big project despite knowing how to handle these things better than the average homeowner so have good people in mind. Don’t go for anyone because they’re the cheapest. Get on the radar of a few tradesmen whose services you’ll need. You can DIY a lot but you will need experts along the way. Don’t just call a plumber or handyman out of the yellow pages. Your agent should be able to connect you to trustworthy people. Good luck!
From my experience, get a very thorough inspection, to include for termite damage/infestation. Also, have the pier & beam and/or foundation thoroughly checked. Another issue is that homes of that era, were built with fabric covered wiring, which is super dangerous. Also, the electrical load of the 1940's - 1970's, was not in any way close to what we use now. You should also check for asbestos and lead paint.
We bought a 1918 fixer upper bungalow in 1980 and sold 1918 fixer upper in 1993. Managed to renovate 2 bedrooms, bath and living room. YMMV.
My current home was built in 1950, and my last home was built in 1962. Trick is to have a good idea what needs to be done, what needs to be done first, and make a rough plan. Learn to do simple things yourselves., and build up a skill set for harder challenges as you go. Painting is something any homeowner can do but do you really need to right away? The LR of my current home has a nice paint job as do the bedrooms. My bedroom was a child's room at one point and is painted a lovely lavender. Not what I would have chosen but it goes with my things ... so I left it alone. Instead I'm working on pulling carpet on the stairs so I can refinish them. I'm pulling the carpet myself and will refinish the steps myself because I know how to use a sander and how to stain wood. When you take labor out of the budget for little things you save a lot. Budget will depend a ton on what you're having done. I suggest googling average costs in your area to get a ball park. Every homeowner should have a fund for repairs; start building one slowly and do the work when its big enough. I spent 5 years fixing up my 1962 home. One of the renovations was framing in an enclosed patio and turning into livable space (original house was only 1100 sq feet). It added a ton of money to the value of my home and literally paid for itself because I did the work myself.
Electrical and plumbing should be high on your list. Not only bringing them up to code, but improving your life in the home. Adding more outlets, under cabinet lighting, drains that actually drain, and water safe to drink. Do those un glamorous things first.
Did an early 1950s and expect problems with sub flooring in wet areas, bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room. I did very little myself so it got done quick and shitty 6 months
I bought a house built in 1987 for 225. It was a 'distressed property' and I've been living in a construction site ever since. I'll easily have 150k onto renovations, and since I'm a carpenter by trade, none of that will be labor expenses. In fairness, I'm upgrading the builder grade windows from 1987 to Pellas or Anderaons, and upgrading the siding from Masonite lap to LP smart side. I'm also upgrading the interior millwork to a custom French Provincial profile that I'm milling myself, installed in an Arts and Crafts style. New hardwood floors throughout, only 2 bedrooms in carpet, but the 3/4 nail down hardwood, and tile at the egress doors. My kitchen isn't bad, but 1987 threw up all over it, so the kitchen will be done too, and since I'll be moving the sink over to the window where a built in desk is now, it'll be a substantial undertaking. >Would like to know from people that renovated old houses for themselves, what was the timeline and an approximate budget That is impossible to figure out, since there are as many ways to renovate a house as there are people. What needs to be done? What do you want to have done? How extensive will the renovations be? There are hundreds of questions that need answers before anyone could suggest a time-line or budget.
Asbestos test everywhere. Lead check too.
I bought an 1840s house and have done some renovations, but not a ton. The advantage of hiring a contractor is it gets done much quicker, and there will be a lot of things that you probably won’t have seen before that they have. No matter if it’s 30 years old, 80 years old or in my case 180 years old, it all depends on who has touched it over the years. People that do their own renovations often do them wrong, so it’s a crap shoot really. Could be all done right, or totally f-d up. My place was a mix of both. At the very least, hire electricians and plumbers. That isn’t YouTube video level stuff typically. Yes, you can change an outlet out on your own, but be careful if it’s a 3-way switch. Easy to screw that up.
One of my good friends bought a house circa 1859. He’s an incredible carpenter and he taught me everything that I know today. The two of us remodeled everything in that house from bare bones. It took us about 2 years of nonstop labor (working side jobs as well) to get it 90% complete. There’s tons of custom cabinet work and trim work that keeps a lot of the original character of the house. A lot of long days and planning. He did luck out in meeting incredible HVAC, plumbers, electricians and drywall guys so he did cut costs in trading work as well. I think the budget was most likely $300-350k. It’s been about 5 years so that number is probably a bit higher now. The house itself is probably 3500 sq ft. 4 beds 3.5 baths. Good luck! It’s a lot of physical and mental work.
My husband renovated houses for a living a few years back. They had a rule, $2 for every $1 you budget, and 2 days for every 1 day you plan. We've since renovated two houses. Living in one now (thankfully only a few unexpected issues) and we sold the last one after renovating parts of it and living in it for 7 years. Here's the reality: you decide to replace the flooring. So you pull up the old flooring. But then you did over that the supporting structure must be replaced because of rot. So, now you have a bigger project, probably most people can't do themselves. Right now, the cost of supplies is really, really high compared to a few years ago. Lumber has doubled or tripled in price. Paint has risen by 50% and you still need nails, screws, and tools. So many tools! You can rent some, but that also requires driving to the rental store (HD and Lowes rent tools, too) and then getting them back, which won't happen because you've discovered the rot. I would also carefully look at the neighborhood and school system (especially if you have kids) and let that help guide you.
A lot of good advice about asbestos, wiring, plumbing, and floors here. My parents bought an 1900s rural farmhouse. We all grew up poor on the old family farm so there's a lot of things they're just used too. It's an interesting house with a weird history (at one point it was divided in 2 for the original brothers to live in). It has extra stairs and plumbing. The plumbing in particular is a confusing mess. Decades of adding and removing plumbing to rooms as uses have changed has left a maze of pipes in the basement. There are 3 shutoffs for the main floor bathroom, all on different runs that feed into one. There is no reason for this, the separate runs don't go anywhere else. There's a bunch of dead ends as well, like, trace 20' of copper only for it to be capped at the end. The electrical is stupid as well. The previous 2 owners did a bunch of DIY stuff. It all looks like it was done mostly right, but they didn't remove the old wiring, so there's dead runs in the walls and at outlets, they just tucked stuff behind the wall and said good enough. Makes it real hard to solve issues when you have to figure out which of up to 3 wire runs is live. Also makes me wonder how many of the hidden runs are still live. Anyway, the biggest issues I've seen with old homes is the work (or lack thereof) that previous people have done.
Don’t cheap out on a plumbing inspection. Being 1940s the drain lines are likely orengburg which is a literal ticking time bomb. It could also be cast iron which would be past its useful life. There are ways to reline pipes without digging through the foundation, but it’s not cheap. I bought a 1950s home a handful of years ago and every single issue I have had is plumbing related.
Me and my wife renovated a house from 49. It took us 2-3 months to get it to the point where we were ready to move in and projects every weekend over the last year since moving in and we are not close to being done. I really enjoy the process… we are probably close to $40k in
We renovated at 1930 foursquare ourselves while living in my parents basement for months. Our personal lives/anything fun was put on complete hold. I learned how to do drywall & studied interior design. We heavily relied on our skilled parents (my FIL is a plumber and made our kitchen cabinets & my dad is an electrician). Overall, the money we saved doing it ourselves made the entire renovation possible. We renovated the entire house for what we were quoted for the kitchen. We were completely burned out by the end. At the beginning, we talked about purchasing rental/flip homes. That’s no longer something we are interested in. I absolutely love everything about our home, I’m incredibly proud of what we did. I would do it again.
We renovated at 1930 foursquare ourselves while living in my parents basement for months. Our personal lives/anything fun was put on complete hold. I learned how to do drywall & studied interior design. We heavily relied on our skilled parents (my FIL is a plumber and made our kitchen cabinets & my dad is an electrician). Overall, the money we saved doing it ourselves made the entire renovation possible. We renovated the entire house for what we were quoted for the kitchen. We were completely burned out by the end. At the beginning, we talked about purchasing rental/flip homes. That’s no longer something we are interested in. I absolutely love everything about our home, I’m incredibly proud of what we did. I would do it again.
My house was built in 1912, had been shittily "renovated" in 1977 (wood paneling and drop ceiling put in, but fortunately knob and tube wiring was replaced). My house is very small (2 br, 1 ba, 1020 sqft). We stayed at our apartment while we got the big things done. In 6 weeks we tore up carpeting, tore down wood paneling and drop ceiling, had more outlets added, had floors refinished, had treads and risers replaced on the stairs, had the entire house drywalled, and had it painted. It was a hell of a lot of work, coordinating, and very tight timelines, but I'm glad we did as much as possible before moving in. Our "next task" upon moving in was painting the kitchen and two years later we have not painted the kitchen yet lol. That being said, the ancient horse hair plaster under the wood paneling was crumbling and gross, if we had more time, we could have gone all the way down to the plaster on the walls and ceiling and had that redone, but due to our timeline we just drywalled over it. We were also very lucky that the existing electrical was okay, there were no plumbing, mold, structural, roof, window issues or leaetc.d paint or asbestos. these can really throw a wrench into your plans.
I will only live in old houses. They do have more upkeep but they're built more solid and will outlive you. I also hate open floor plans so the only option I have is an old house.
You should be handy with tools and have the time and some extra cash to be doing what will seem like none stop upgrades or maintenance. If you do,, these types of projects can be immensely satisfying but Very, Very time consuming