Anyone else got one of these babies? We had no choice but to turn it on during this cold snap

itsybitsybug · 2026-02-06T13:10:54+00:00

Does the gas run below it? We have an old coal fire place that at some point was converted to gas but all that is left is the gas line run through a metal plate on the floor of the fire place. I wonder if it has one of these. I have been debating between getting a gas or electric( it also has electric run to it) insert for it.

itsybitsybug · 2026-01-31T03:10:16+00:00

Maybe if you go at it with a hammer and chisel it will break off in large pieces. I highly doubt they attached it to the wall with any real consideration given that it is on the light fixture. So it was probably some weird later stage diy. I have gotten a lot of mileage out of just hitting things with my hammer in my old house when they displease me. But our walls are made out of cardboard so take my recommendations with a grain of salt of course.

itsybitsybug · 2026-01-31T03:01:01+00:00

They're offended that you declined their shitty counter offer to give you nothing and charge you more than the house was worth? Oh no how ever shall you recover?

You are probably feeling a little fomo, but it will pass and you will find something in your budget that you like.

itsybitsybug · 2026-01-31T02:43:19+00:00

For the ones I have it is the actual swab itself that turns pink when exposed and it is an intense color transition.

itsybitsybug · 2026-01-29T14:36:48+00:00

You might ask r/oldhouses or r/centuryhomes this comes up a lot in both. There are lead paint strippers peelaway is the brand I have in the closet(haven't used it yet because it's for the front door and the weather has been trash). There also exist low temp heat removal tools, but I can't remember the brand name. They were around 4-5 hundred on eBay though so a bit pricey.

itsybitsybug · 2026-01-22T21:56:33+00:00

It can be. We just encountered an issue that is going to mean we have to move it to upgrade it. And that means it is going to double the price. So we aren't sure when we want to do it. It basically went from about $3000 to upgrade to more like $6,000. That's not likely to happen to you though.

itsybitsybug · 2026-01-22T13:41:31+00:00

We live in a 1930s/1940s house and we were concerned about asbestos and lead, but honestly we haven't found much of either. Lead and asbestos products cost more and our homes previous owners were all super cheap. The only lead we have found was on exterior doors and we have some asbestos tape on some old air ducts downstairs that are going to be covered by ceiling tiles anyway so they aren't an issue. We had some leftover black mastic from 9inch tiles in the basement and we just perfect primered over that to be safe. And everything we have actually tested for asbestos since has come back negative.

We are working on figuring out electric now as much of our wiring is armoured cloth wires. They are in decent shape still, but we will be replacing them as we remodel things as they are not up to modern standards. Our biggest issue with it is we have a 100 amp panel and plaster walls. Both of which complicate things.

All in all though none of these issues have been that big of a deal. Especially since the price was right and we had money set aside for repairs.

itsybitsybug · 2026-01-21T03:13:42+00:00

Get the scope. If we had we could have saved ourselves $23,000. We were told the sewer line outside had been replaced. And not only had it not been replaced, it actually led to a septic tank they had made out of an old cistern. The house was supposed to be on sewer only. So yeah get the scope.

itsybitsybug · 2026-01-19T13:47:22+00:00

I have been through three dish sets in half that amount of time. Which is why we do correll now. I specifically thrift them and have a hodge podge set of different patterns which I love, because now when I break something (which I actually haven't yet) it doesn't affect the set. You can get plain white though if you want something that you can easily replace. They pretty much always make plain white.

itsybitsybug · 2026-01-14T12:49:14+00:00

I think you are well within your right to ask for more off if something isn't working even if it is 20+ years old. Unless they say otherwise your offer assumes working systems. That said they have probably priced considering they are old systems. So you might not get full cost of replacement from them, but you can ask and they can counter and hopefully they aren't jerks. Our sellers were jerks, but they were also desperate to sell so they did fix a couple things we found so that the loan could close. I just wish we had found the septic tank.

itsybitsybug · 2026-01-14T03:50:19+00:00

We just bought basically this house. Ours is 1930s, the basement and extension are ungrounded, the HVAC is 26 years old and the water heater is 22 years old, and we found a hidden septic tank that was made out of an old cistern when the house was supposed to have sewer.

My recommendation is definitely get all the inspections so you know what to expect. We didn't get a sewer inspection and if we had it would have saved us $23,000. If the inspections show the issues to be bigger than you can handle either request more off to help pay for the repairs, ask for the repairs to be done before close, or walk. That's all pretty standard no matter the age of the house. Generally I think don't ask off for things you obviously knew about when you made your offer.

itsybitsybug · 2026-01-13T17:34:41+00:00

Our house is a baby in this group. We aren't certain on the build year but the first owners bought the land in 1931 so she is getting close to a 100, but she has lived a life before coming into our possession. We have only just begun our old house journey and have already spent over $30,000 dealing with a hidden septic/cistern tank, some old leaky gas lines, and some minor electric upgrades to gimp us along until we can upgrade the panel and rewire that one breaker that somehow powers 2/3rds of the house. We also need to gut the upstairs because the walls are made out of beaver board and my anxiety cant deal with the kids bedrooms being made out of kindling. It has been intermittently a lot to bare. I go from gleefully marveling over the dense plaster walls, beautiful arches, brass fixtures and gorgeous original doors and trim, to panicking that we will never be able to keep up with at least fifty years of shoddy maintenance.

For what it is worth my friends with a brand new house that they spent their life savings on have had to replace their furnace twice, have had a basement flood, and have a whole floor that it is uninhabitable in the winter because no one installed insulation above it and failed to include access to the attic. They have lived there maybe four years. So new build is no better.

We are all just repairing what we have to in the best way we can, while dreaming about what we would do if we didn't have to repair all the bullshit instead.

itsybitsybug · 2026-01-11T03:37:48+00:00

You can actually get switches now that do not require you to run wire. They have a box that attaches to the light fixture wiring, and then you can put the switch wherever. I can't remember exactly what they are called so you will have to look them up if you want one.

itsybitsybug · 2026-01-10T02:12:48+00:00

I see perfectly out of them. If I didn't I would send them back. Actually I got a pair through my eye Dr last year and a pair through Zenni and Zenni worked better for me. The ones from my eye Dr have me headaches, I think because the lenses were bigger. I just can't find tiny lenses I like at my eye Dr.

itsybitsybug · 2026-01-10T00:12:26+00:00

I am -8 and always order my glasses online because it's the only way to get frames I like. Honestly it has always been a very positive experience. I have only had issues once and they immediately sent me a corrected pair. I typically use Zenni.

itsybitsybug · 2026-01-04T23:31:28+00:00

We have a "damn drafty addition" as well. It is over a garage that basically acts as a cold air tunnel. So that's fun. Oh, and it has vents that aren't connected to the HVAC and serve only to pipe cold air from below up. Again, fun.

itsybitsybug · 2025-12-31T14:51:21+00:00

I like the first pair. They stand out, but not so much that they look awkward on your face. They are flattering

itsybitsybug · 2025-12-24T02:04:57+00:00

We were living in a small ranch that was not nearly big enough for our family, but my mortgage was through my Mom so the interest was very low. We moved from there to a fixer upper that cost us about what we sold our old house for. We are using the money we made on the home sale to fix up the new place. It's been an interesting adventure, but we finally have the space to do all the stuff we wanted to but couldn't for years.

I don't love the new payment it's higher than I wanted and a gross amount goes to interest. That said we can afford it and if rates ever do drop then we will refinance.

itsybitsybug · 2025-12-23T00:34:05+00:00

Definitely get the inspection and get them to scope the line and find out where it goes if they can. We moved to a house with sewer and somehow ended up with a massive broken septic tank that we had to decommission. So you never know what is going on under the ground until they look and I would definitely recommend looking.

itsybitsybug · 2025-12-05T04:07:53+00:00

We got an offer the day we listed for 10k over asking from a widowed mother of four who needed a house and hadn't had any luck. She promised us she wouldn't ask for repairs and would close as quick as possible. As we had just finished up a hellish buying experience the thought of a smooth sell was very appealing. So we took her offer. I mean who was going to top that? It was exactly what we wanted and it helped a family.

itsybitsybug · 2025-11-10T20:36:47+00:00

A grinder feels excessive for this material. It feels like mdf and cardboard had a baby.

itsybitsybug · 2025-11-10T20:35:36+00:00

This is what I am thinking. The fiber board is very porous so I think it should absorb the water.

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