Old House Issues

Recycling an old house is a wonderful reuse of space and materials and a worthwhile undertaking. You have to be prepared, though, for the challenges as well as the rewards. Recently I helped a couple looking for a larger home in a mature neighborhood. They were preparing for both children to come and the possibility of long visits from extended family. Two great houses both turned out to have big renovation issues. While they had planned for things like replacing floors, windows and perhaps renovating a kitchen....we had found a house with aluminum wiring. Now THAT is a major renovation issue we had not planned for! While many of the 2 million or more homes with aluminum wiring never have a problems, a significant number do and the risk of fire is high.
The other house also had a problem not planned for but infinitely easier to solve; still expensive but simpler to deal with and not as critical. The concrete block retaining walls were bulging on three sides of the property. Fortunately, they could be dealt with in several different ways over time and since the house is not on a slope or built into a hill it was a much less serious problem.
For information about aluminum wiring use the link above.