It begins with a vision. Mostly idealistic, with a bit of materialistic potential, then the thing happens. At closing there is always trepidation. Did we embark on the right course? Is this home, farm, ranch or municipal dwelling what we really want? Are we taking too big of a chance? There are many more doubts and questions than these when the decision to purchase a historic old house or building is involved.
Buying a historic house or building involves immediate acceptance of a lot of work. This is especially true if the building has been neglected. Selling price often reflects the fact that maintenance and upkeep, modernization and repairs have been postponed and neglected. Why should a seller invest thousands into a place they intend to sell. It may be that the owner is elderly and could not continue maintenance and the children or heirs want to unload it.
In current economic times we often hear that ‘It’s a buyer’s market.’ That may still be the case where there is a glut of homes in foreclosure. With politically motivated rescue programs it has often been extremely profitable for high flyers to default on their mortgages and get the home they own almost for free. Oh yes, every other advertisement on radio everywhere offers services of ‘Abogado and Abogado’ as well ‘Live Free Forever Debt Services’ that proclaim they’ll relieve the burden of mortgages so that the defaulter’s home is a home run.
Dishonest? Well since the U.S. government and taxpayer is the patsy in the end, since everyone else is doing it, since there is no ’shame' associated with being a cheat in America anymore, why not. But it has taken many houses that otherwise could have been scooped up cheap off the market. There are still bargains to be had in real estate and the intrepid can seek them out. Real estate may be the last stable investment in the U.S. Banks are paying ¼ of 1% interest and the Federal Reserve less than that on Treasury Bills. If a person can invest in property, repair and restore it, hold onto it until the economy bounces back, it can likely be sold for double the purchase price if not more.
Reality? The reality is that restoration of a neglected home or building is a lot of hard work. If contractors have to be used, it is very expensive. Employees in building supply stores will fast become your friends. Some offer classes on how to do basic repairs. Everything from wiring to plumbing. Ah yes you will have to learn to become a plumber and a painter unless your budget allows big bucks to call in the pros.
We bought a farm to create home for wild mustangs. It is charming in the rolling countryside. It included a stone and wood Swiss bank barn on the property that set it off spectacularly. The barn is a registered historic site. The house was there at the time of the Civil War. Both the house and barn were used as makeshift hospitals after a major battle that resulted in 51,000 casualties. A family lived in the house and farmed the land until divorce. Thereafter the wife remained with her children. Maintenance was neglected. The farm was put on the market. We bought it ‘as is.’ It needed work.
The historic barn was part of a registry of Pennsylvania Historic Barns. A barn historian associated with the organization paid us a visit and inspected the barn. He found that the beams and lumber used were hewn by hand. He pointed out differences between hand sawing and mill sawing that occurred later. The historian confirmed that the barn was built about 1810. We received a small plaque to affix to the barn. The historian suggested that the original color of the barn wood, once it was painted, was white, not brick red as some local barns on the Gettysburg battlefield national park were painted.
The wood was raw in places, deeply gouged by the elements and time. Ancient coatings of whitewash had to be removed. The barn was very tall making access to the higher portion difficult. A man lift rental runs about $1,500 a week. Ladders pose dangers and moving a very heavy and tall ladder is difficult plus time consuming. The first decision was how to remove the old coating then what to use to protect the wood.
First stop was the Benjamin Moore paint store in town. We remembered those television ads that showed how painting and restoring historic structures required some good advice. We got it. A decision was made to use stain not paint.
“If you paint it you'll find that in a couple of years it will start to crack and peel. Paint peels. Stain will be absorbed by the old dry wood and preserve it. This stain is self-priming. You do not need a separate primer.” That’s what we wanted. We put in the order for Benjamin Moore Commercial Coatings Super Spec. We chose Exterior Latex Acrylic solid white stain.
As we began to power wash the barn we realized what a big chunk of work we bit off. The wild horse foundation we volunteer to help in the West was in crisis. Our hopes were buoyed by the dream of getting our place in shape so that we could bring a demonstration herd of Spanish mustangs to the farm and relieve some of the crowding on the South Dakota sanctuary. The horses would be ambassadors for wild mustangs everywhere since people in the East do not often realize the peril they are in as removals occur on public and tribal lands. It was enough to encourage our work day after day as we dressed from head to foot in protective gear.
The Benjamin Moore instructions made it clear that proper safety precautions had to be observed. We had no way of knowing whether lead based paint had ever been used on the barn. We had to wear respirators as well as goggles to protect from any vaporized paint. A kind neighbor had a bucket truck and brought it over so we could get to the highest places on the barn.
Once we did the best we could getting the old coatings off we let the wood dry thoroughly. Painting began on sunny fall days. Since it was hard to paint the highest parts we let that go until we got what we could reach easily. It took a lot of time and energy. The result was immediately evident. We admired our work every evening, even if it seemed we were only making slow progress.
We decided to paint with rollers and fill in with brushes. The Benjamin Moore paint dealer said spraying Super Spec exterior latex would be fine, however, when we described the condition of the wood and showed him some digital photos, he suggested spraying would have to be followed immediately by brushing the stain into the wood so it penetrated properly. There was also a caution on the cans about crystalline silica in the stain that was dangerous if inhaled as vapor. Wearing the respirator masks was uncomfortable during the power washing, a factor in our decision to paint by hand.
Neighbors stopped by to compliment the work. Every time we quit we dried the brushes and rollers on a wooden fence that ran around the barn yard so as not to waste the stain. We didn’t finish before winter set in the first year of the project. Benjamin Moore recommends applications when temperatures are above 50 F. We began again in springtime and finished the main structure. The antique stonework is testimony to the skill and hard labor of the first craftsmen that built the barn. The newly stained wood not only looked good but would be preserved.
We next began work on a large shed that was used to store machinery. That wood is milled lumber and of more recent vintage. On a break in town we stopped by an exhibit by the historical society. They were selling 2014 calendars. What caught our attention was that they were to benefit the barn historical society. When we came to the page for May 2014, we were surprised to see our barn pictured in the color photograph. It looked terrific with its new coat of white stain.
A heavy cast iron radiator leaked in the upstairs bedroom in the house. Alas the leak was in the back of the huge radiator against the wall. It always seems that a home repair problem occurs in a place that is almost impossible to get to. We turned off the hot water and sought out a plumber. He had a shed lined up with old radiators that he pulled out of homes that he modernized. A used radiator that matched our measurements he offered to sell us for $200. For what would amount to almost $1,000 if the plumber did the work. He said he would have to send a crew to take our old radiator out and put his used radiator in.
He wasn’t wrong when he said that it would take at least three strong men to get the old radiator out and down the stairs, the same to get the replacement up the stairs. It was a dilemma. We estimated our huge old radiator weighed almost 400 pounds. Too heavy for us to handle alone and we didn’t have any hydraulic lifting equipment. We kept asking around. We stopped at a place that looked like a junk yard to see if they had any used radiators for sale.
“We used JB Weld when our radiator leaked,” the woman that answered the door said. That sent us to the computer to check on waterproof and heatproof epoxy patching materials. Hercules Chemical produced a good one and JB Weld another. We bought them both and decided to experiment. We had various iron, steel and copper pipes to try them on. The manufacturer’s instructions indicate that the epoxy, once melded together like putty and applied, would dry in an hour and could be worked, if necessary in four hours. The weld created would withstand temperatures of 500 F and be waterproof. The instructions indicated that the epoxy would be harder than the original material it was used on.
We tried to loosen the large nuts that held the radiator on either side of the hot water pipes. They were old and would not budge. We applied Liquid Wrench and let them stand overnight. Using a large pipe wrench and a sledge hammer the next morning worked. The fittings came loose. We disconnected the radiator from the pipes. Water leaked out despite having the hot water off and the radiator valve closed. The valve was old and didn’t work so water still came out of the system as well as out of the radiator.
We were somewhat prepared for water leaking out. We bent tin pie plates to go under the leak as well as buckets to pour the water into. Some of the water was black with gook. We were glad we were prepared to catch most of it. Despite plastic bags some water leaked onto the wall to wall carpet and stained the ceiling below. It was mostly contained. The idea was not to remove the radiator but simply to tilt it forward against a strong table that would support it. It worked. The table held it upright and permitted access to the two foot long crack in one of the fins.
Old paint and rust had to be removed first. A cordless drill with a wire brush did the job. Then the area was cleaned carefully and allowed to dry before the epoxy putty was squeezed together forming the sealant to go into the crack and along the radiator. Preparation included inspection of the radiator, brushing any rust off and cleaning it.
The epoxy weld was completed and allowed to dry overnight. A high temperature paint was used, the kind sprayed on automobile engines and exhaust systems to prevent rust. We coated the radiator with it. Tilting the radiator back in place proved easier than we expected. Getting the pipes to match required the skill of a good neighbor who used wood as levers to pull the pipe into proper alignment.
The barn looks great and we are satisfied that its antique wood will be preserved. The hot water is back on and when winter comes the radiator won’t leak. What’s next? There is always something with old buildings. We found taking repairs a step at a time and asking advice will make home repair safe, satisfying and within budget.
