What to know about old houses?

[passionatearts]

If you're not afraid to do some remodeling work, owning an older house is great! In November, I bought a 1950 house in the Skyview neighborhood and spent time renovating it, and I'm very happy with the results. By the way, if you can, look for that "diamond in the rough."

[Tomtc]

Thanks for all the great feedback guys!

Adding insulation sounds like a good idea. I've thought about that. The houses are smaller, but what kind of $$ does it take to increase the attic insulation to a more modern amount?

[passionatearts]

Originally Posted by Tomtc

Thanks for all the great feedback guys!

Adding insulation sounds like a good idea. I've thought about that. The houses are smaller, but what kind of $$ does it take to increase the attic insulation to a more modern amount?

I paid about $3,000 to insulate about 1,000 square feet of my 1950 house with R30 insulation. Trust me - it's well worth every penny. Not only will better insulation cut down your energy bills, but it will also provide your house with better sound-proofing, too.

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by Tomtc

Thanks for all the great feedback guys!

Adding insulation sounds like a good idea. I've thought about that. The houses are smaller, but what kind of $$ does it take to increase the attic insulation to a more modern amount?

I've now done two houses with the Owens Corning Atticat product from Home Depot. Helped a friend and did my house back in April.

AttiCat Blown-In Insulation System

The machine is free for 8 hours with purchase of 10 bags @ ~$27/bag. I did 20 bags (~$540). This was enough to add 12" in a single story 2800 sq ft house. My wife loaded the machine while I sprayed the insulation. It took about 2 1/2 hours. Since the bags are hard packed there is minimal mess. Afterward, while sweeping up, I barely filled one dust pan with insulation.

I plan to add another 20 bags in the fall. That'll get me up to near R-60.

[gpurcell]

I would caution against blown-in insulation. The previous owner of my house did it over knob and tube wiring which was a Very Bad Thing to do. It also seeps in through all of the many crooks and crevises of our house and creates a steady stream of dust falling down.

[austin-steve]

TCAD and most other sqft measurements (including appraisal and the numbers you'll see on a survey) are based on perimeter measurements, not interior. If you are going to try to measure yourself, make sure you know the standard against which you are comparing.

[kingugly]

Blown-in insulation can be a great thing. I would just caution to watch out for vents and recessed lighting. You'll want to add a protective aluminum shield so the insulation doesn't cause them to overheat.

I did a combination of blown-in and roll out. Roll-out R-25 is $10 for 75 sq ft which is pretty cheap.

[kingugly]

Originally Posted by kingugly

Roll-out R-25 is $10 for 75 sq ft which is pretty cheap.

Sorry, it's 25 sq ft for $10.