For those living in homes built in the 1950s-1970s (West: wood floors, lease)

[TXbywayof]

Can you tell me about the energy efficiency of homes built in this timeframe? Were any built with double pane windows? How is insulation? Did you feel you had to upgrade energy features?

Also, if you have any thoughts on electrical, plumbing, and foundation, or quality of construction in general, please share. Zeroing in on the west side.

[EasilyAmused]

I've owned three westside homes built in that era, rented a new home, and built a super custom home.Most of your pre-70's homes are going to have some form of upgrading at this point, and it also depends on what your budget is.

If your budget allows, try to buy a custom home built during that time. They have better layouts and more generous room sizes.

My thoughts in General:
Homes in that area were built with much higher quality material than the new, tract and semi- customs of today. The 2x4s, or 2x6s in many cases, are like concrete. The labor was skilled,and the homes were not built at break neck speed. My latest one was built with all copper pipes and wonderful real wood floors up on screeds.

Yes, up to date AC units and newer windows will help the house. Spray in insulation is relatively cheap. I found my bills in the older homes pretty much on par with the new ones when I just had the new ACs and some spray insulation. After the new windows, my bills were very reasonable for a 4000sf home. Mature trees and bigger lots keep the air around the house cooler, and that is major help. Detached garageskeep the heat away fom the house as well.

You won't get the wow factor of high ceilings, it will always feel somewhat old, but the location of the home will more than make up for higher ceiling. BTW, more often than not those two story ceilings make it damn near impossible to get the temperture lower than 75 upstairs in the summer.

Foundations... They can be an issue. But if the house hasn't had an issue in 60 years, it most likely never will. And if the house has had foundation problems, most likely will have some under house plumbing problems.

Electrical. If the panel hasn't been replaced, you will need to. About 3500-5000. The originals are fire hazards.

Neighborhood. You will have a pretty good feeling what the personality of the neighborhood is, as older areas are usually a mix of younger families all the way through to those in their 80's. I prefer that to the insanity of eveyone in their 30s keeping up with each other.

In general, you can keep updating your home through the years and it will have Everything the new builds have, and will be just as beautiful. But you will never get the ceiling height...and if you can handle that its all good.

[gwarnecke]

We looked at a bunch of homes from that era before eventually picking a 1979 custom contemporary. 1979 was new enough to not have asbestos, lead paint or aluminum wiring, but not new enough to have PVC pipes (instead of galvanized), and that got us just about right away. First week in the house, a pipe in the attic failed and spent all day leaking down through the second and first floor. We bit the bullet and had all of the horizontals re-plumbed after that.

Would definitely recommend paying a premium for a home that has had wiring and plumbing updates done already.

Agree that the quality of construction in most homes of this era beats most of the newer homes, but efficiency is a world apart unless you've done the upgrades. Ours has cathedral ceilings, and will NEVER be as efficient as a new home (hasn't been as bad as I expected though). A 60s-70s tract house with low ceilings and broad overhangs can be made quite efficient with proper attic insulation and window and A/C upgrades. The mature trees that you're likely to find around these homes help too. Homes from that era usually won't have double-pane windows unless they were built near a busy street or highway and were trying to keep noise out.

[Cathy4017]

The real problem with homes built in the 1950s is the lines going to the house.

In most areas, the homeowner is responsible for replacing deteriorated gas/other lines that run from the house to the point where they connect with the city/provider. It may be only a few feet, but it can be very expensive, time-consuming and involved to repair/replace.

Very much agree that homes built during that era are much better construction than the present time.

[desihorn]

We bought a 1960s home in the West and EasilyAmused is right on point with the build quality. We had the security installer trying to drill into the studs and he could not stop talking about how tough those studs where. We had to change our drain pipes at a cost of about $10K. Did not want to deal with clogged drains ! New double pane windows, spray in insulation and mature trees help us with energy efficiency but it is somewhat negated out by an attached garage, large single-pane skylights and possibly poor vent and piping design (just an hypothesis). The electric circuits have all been upgraded in the house as well. We also have a very efficient A/C Unit. All in all, the bills are not bad...The most I have had to pay is $160 (@ 10c) . Our house feels hotter in the summer and I think it has to do with the skylight which I love. Even though there is no reasonable financial payback on it, I may just have to spend the money and upgrade those skylights.

The previous owner had some work done on the foundation and we have not had any problems and have a warranty for it. The plumbing is not where we would like it to be and it manifests in low pressure in some outlets and in this current cold weather a long wait for hot water in the morning. We are now at the point where we need more space and are seriously considering a remodel and addition. Though I would love the freedom of starting from scratch, I love the house and the location, and can't stomach tearing down my perfectly good place :-)

[TXbywayof]

Thank you all. One of my criteria for moving was a more efficient home and it does sound like I would still need to do more than my share of upgrading and maintaining. Ah, what we do for location.

Desihorn, I will share with you what I did for my parents who have a skylight that made their living room hot in the summer. Get two tensions rods. Buy insulted muslin and sew a pocket on each end. Slip the tension rods in at both ends and easily install over the skylight. They still get the benefit of the light but without as much heat pouring in.

[mcmummy]

Originally Posted by EasilyAmused

I've owned three westside homes built in that era, rented a new home, and built a super custom home.Most of your pre-70's homes are going to have some form of upgrading at this point, and it also depends on what your budget is.

If your budget allows, try to buy a custom home built during that time. They have better layouts and more generous room sizes.

My thoughts in General:
Homes in that area were built with much higher quality material than the new, tract and semi- customs of today. The 2x4s, or 2x6s in many cases, are like concrete. The labor was skilled,and the homes were not built at break neck speed. My latest one was built with all copper pipes and wonderful real wood floors up on screeds.

Yes, up to date AC units and newer windows will help the house. Spray in insulation is relatively cheap. I found my bills in the older homes pretty much on par with the new ones when I just had the new ACs and some spray insulation. After the new windows, my bills were very reasonable for a 4000sf home. Mature trees and bigger lots keep the air around the house cooler, and that is major help. Detached garageskeep the heat away fom the house as well.

You won't get the wow factor of high ceilings, it will always feel somewhat old, but the location of the home will more than make up for higher ceiling. BTW, more often than not those two story ceilings make it damn near impossible to get the temperture lower than 75 upstairs in the summer.

Foundations... They can be an issue. But if the house hasn't had an issue in 60 years, it most likely never will. And if the house has had foundation problems, most likely will have some under house plumbing problems.

Electrical. If the panel hasn't been replaced, you will need to. About 3500-5000. The originals are fire hazards.

Neighborhood. You will have a pretty good feeling what the personality of the neighborhood is, as older areas are usually a mix of younger families all the way through to those in their 80's. I prefer that to the insanity of eveyone in their 30s keeping up with each other.

In general, you can keep updating your home through the years and it will have Everything the new builds have, and will be just as beautiful. But you will never get the ceiling height...and if you can handle that its all good.

Really every single electrical panel needs to be replaced?
It was interesting, an inspector told us the panel wasn't up to code. However, two different reputable electricians told us the panels were fine, not to replace.
Thoughts EA?

[EasilyAmused]

Thoughts: If it's original from the 60's,I would be suspect of it. If ONE inspector finds its not to code, and the house burns down, another fire inspector might find its not to code. Insurance invalid. Better safe than sorry.

If I recall correctly its a "Federal" panel that you really need to get out of there.

[Squidlo]

Federal Pacific panels and aluminium wiring are the 2 big electric worries from my research. The 1975 home I purchased has another potentially problematic panel, "Zinsco type". I have worked on the wiring some and have zero issues with the breaker operations. I may upgrade down the line to a newer type.

I will echo the "concrete like" wall studs. I remodeled my kitchen and had to reshape the air box intake for the HVAC system. I thought I had a dull blade in my reciprocating saw so I traded it out. The new blade wasn't any better, the studs are that dense.

My biggest gripe is that whoever floated the concrete floors should be whipped. It's pretty wavy in the kitchen. I ended up grinding down one spot after removing the tile. If we mess with the floor again we will just re-float it. There are some small cracks in the slab, but nothing that indicates major settling has affected the house.

Single pane aluminum framed windows lose a lot of heat/cooling. That is on my list.

The previous owner replaced the roof, added a radiant barrier and additional attic insulation. My electric bills are not bad at all (3k sq ft). Comparable to the mid 90's 1800 sq ft place I leased in Kingwood.

Brick fascia at the 40 year mark, has had some or needs some work. We will be re-pointing the east side of my garage soon.

Galvanized iron pipe and old valves under the sinks. I replaced all the valves with new quarter turns. No worries for now.