Old Houses and Coal

lets just say I know that plank construction is way outdated construction technique. however, structurally it has held together over a century, and structurally speaking the bones of this old home are still very solid. it has its problems. wiring is a joke, heating it overall is difficult, heating upstairs is very difficult, insulating is difficult (not much wall cavity, some but not much) all things considering I do not have access to free firewood so firewood does not make sense for me. the previous owners had additional land on another property so they just harvested their own firewood. when they got cold they just burned more wood. if the record on file with national fuel was an indication, they never used the furnace. when we bought this home it was still on windows from the 1920's single pane, still had old horsehair plaster with no insulation in the walls to speak of. the only place that was more modern was the 2nd floor which had double pane windows, drywall, and insulation.

meanwhile my parents have a much more modern ranch home built in the 1970's. they have still aluminum wiring, and when they got a really bad 5 feet of snowfall the beams were creaking. my mother was very concerned about the noises coming from her roof. the kitchen ceiling has a crack in the drywall. these are never good signs on a home that was much more expensive. I have never heard noises coming from roof, no signs of structural integrity problems. not really a surprise considering some of the massive timbers this old farm house is made out of. my next big expensive that I am expecting is to have to roof replaced. the house had a full tear-off 20 years ago and im just going to have metal installed over what is already there.

no matter what you own, unless its brand new or fully remodeled it is going to need something. houses are money pits.

i burned 3 tons of coal last winter and it was a fairly mild winter. it cost me around $700. coal is a blessing in a old home like this. any other method is going to be prohibitively expensive. I love them black rocks

i have been here almost 10 years. I have never had any reason to doubt the structural integrity of this very old home

i have been here almost 10 years. I have never had any reason to doubt the structural integrity of this very old home

I can do better than that. About 8PM one night a tornado took down an 80 Ash tree and dumped it onto the roof of the house. We were watching TV and did not know until the following morning. 8x3 rafters lined with red oak boards saved the roof and the house. Try that one with a modern home.

Hey CN, are those rafters on 2' centers, like my house?
ad356, I wouldn't give up the space, or architectural design of your house for any cookie cutter modern house out there these days. As long as your heating system can comfortably maintain the extra "air currents" for a reasonable wintertime price, who cares? I enjoyed reading your heating system tales, and glad to see you have one that works for you. Mine still needs some honing in, but fortunately our winters aren't as bad as the northern boys.

ad356 wrote:unless its brand new or fully remodeled it is going to need something. houses are money pits.

Even brand new can have significant problems. Not every "builder" should be allowed near tools and wood ....
You're right, since yours and mine are still standing after so many years, the old timers did a lot right.