Here’s a fun one for a Friday: As an owner of an old house… did you take the tried and true advice to “listen to what your house says it wants” before making updates or remodels?
- If so: What did your house tell you — and how did that affect your plans?
- Flip side: Did you not take the time to listen to your house… and make a rash decision you later regretted?
It’s pretty clear what the fabulous evaxebra’s old apartment was telling her: Don’t you dare mess with the pink bathroom!
Anita says
It is so nice to hear simeone else agree with my philosophy. Lots of people ask what our next project is, (1938 with a lot of 1980’s and 1990’s throughout). Though I have my list, it is about that time where i get really serious about a ‘fun’ project when a sump pump will fail, sewer line collapse or what-have-you disaster strikes. The upside to all this is that our house will be mechanically sound, and leak and rodent free for when we do (if ever) get around to making it beautiful. We will also have had plenty of time to plan and should have fewer unbudgeted expenses. At least we will know where the messed up things are when it comes time to fix.
nina462 says
NO! Sad to say I did not listen to my house…or look in the basement (behind the furnace) before I replaced my windows. A month after I replaced the windows, I found cute little ‘frames” that you could insert in the original windows to change the look.
Has anyone else ever seen these? I still have them –
pam kueber says
Mullions?
Elaine says
Those mullions were so popular in the early 60s. We had diamond pane ones in our 1964 colonial.
Mol says
You BET! I have a 1930 house and found that what it wanted was the to be what it was then. Matched every color that the house was in 1930. All I need to do is take the kitchen back to this time. LOVE MY HOUSE and WHAT IT HAS TO SAY! Glade I followed directions.
Marybeth Segars says
I wish I knew what mine wants. I have a 1955 ranch with what I think to be the original aluminum siding. Unfortunately, it’s damaged with holes driven into it over the years. (not by me) My neighbors have mostly replaced their homes’ siding with (yawn) thin slatted new siding. I know my home does NOT want that. Does anyone know if aluminum can be repaired? I’d much rather change the paint scheme than put up siding my house doesn’t want.
Mary Elizabeth says
Marybeth, before you do any repairs or replacements, you should go to a siding contractor who has an architectural designer or design book of the various brands and styles of siding and look at all the possibilities there are for vinyl siding. You would be surprised at how many different styles there are. It doesn’t just come in the narrow, standard width you are describing. You can also get wider siding (probably in a similar width to your original aluminum), and different shingle-look treatments, so that you can do a front entry, for example, in a different color and style of siding. Explain that you want a retro 1950s look, not an “update.” Also, there are several books you can buy or take out of the library about architectural features of ranch houses. (Some have been talked about on this site.) Look through them and find a picture of what you want and show the contractor the picture.
Your aluminum siding can be repaired and repainted, but then it will have to be painted again every so many years, which in my opinion is a waste of money and effort. There are many advantages to residing your house, in addition to aesthetics, such as adding extra insulation at the same time.
pam kueber says
Marybeth, I think you need to do a lot of research on this subject to get to the best decision.
I am not an expert.
Maybe a place to start: Try Consumer Reports.
Mary Elizabeth says
Exactly what I was trying to say in my long-winded way–do a lot of research into the right look and style and into the best quality siding products.
Kari says
Are you sure the aluminum is original to the house?
I know it used to be common practice to put new siding over old. My parents bought a Victorian in’56 & re-sided it twice- but I know the original clapboards were still underneath both layers. You might want to check if that’s the case with your house.
Chad in the Crooked House says
I know that people replace aluminum siding because it dents and eventually the finish gets dingy. I would definitely repaint it if it were otherwise in good shape. It wouldn’t peel like wood because it doesn’t shrink and swell as much. Maybe the holes can just be caulked? It wouldn’t be perfect but it would be cheap.
If it’s not salvageable, I’m a fan of fiber cement siding. It looks solid, much more like wood than vinyl siding does, and is available in lots of widths. There’s a premium version that’s thick and looks very close to wood clapboards. You can see the regular thinner kind on my house here if that’s any help. https://chadscrookedhouse.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/siding-post-6-almost-painted/
Kathy says
I bought not one, but two old houses. I can hear what each needs clearly–I just wish I had the funds to do it all!
The first one was beat-up rental property that has been slowly fixed up as we can afford it, and is angling for a complete exterior makeover, maybe next summer. I have dreamed of ripping off that old asphalt shingle siding and restoring the clapboard underneath, stripping original window casings and refitting new wood windows, and adding a new front porch with pillars matching those on the side porch, since we bought the place ten years ago. Trellises, landscaping and concrete and drainage improvements made it “good enough,” but not the beauty I can see in my head, our future retirement home.
My current house is lovely in its own way too, with vintage pink kitchen and powder room and citron full bath, but is also full of expensive head-scratching challenges, with heating issues, odd framing, leaky plumbing, and more. This summer we are dealing with some structural issues, and I hope to paint the exterior to bring out the Craftsman bungalow hiding under a 1962 remodel. This is not our forever home, but I want to leave it in good condition for the next owners, so we have focused on the structural and mechanical, rather than the beautiful.
But to feed the soul, both houses say it is time to bring them out of their tired old 60’s shells to the c. 1920 beauties they are, with the best components of the 60s restored to nearly new condition.
Paul says
When I bought my vintage 1950’s Cape Cod bungalow and really wasn’t quit sure what, if any renovations, I would partake, a friend told me “The house will let you know what it wants…”. It has proven to be true! If its not an emergency, take your time and get to know your abode and it will guide you in the right direction!
Elaine says
My wonderful renovation contractor has a late 50s California ranch that his parents built when he was a boy. It has been empty since his mother passed away several years ago but he maintains it well. He showed it to me recently because he knows I love MCM. Well, now his house is talking to me. I’m afraid to tell him what it wants, so I’ll put here.
It wants the stove moved to the peninsula between the breakfast area and the kitchen. Now move the refrigerator where the stove was.
It wants the garage addition that blocks the view of the River and closes in the fireplace removed and replaced with a nice set of windows across the front of the house. OK, now build a nice big garage at the back of the house so it can block the noise from the US highway passing by right there. A driveway off the highway will work well. There is a light half a block down to allow easy exit.
It wants the solid front door replaced with one that has glass lights and painted bright orange. It wants a bright fanciful MCM porch light on either side.
It wants the formal colonial chandelier between the kitchen and the fireplace replaced with something more space age and closer to the ceiling.
Sigh, there are more things it wants but I am trying to tell it to tell him, not me.
Molly Evans says
Loved this, Elaine. It’s telling you because it wants you to tell him or for you to buy it and do that for it. Why don’t you write the owner contractor a letter “from the house” just like you did here? I’ll bet he’d get a kick out of it at least — and just maybe he’d get interested in helping it out.
Elaine says
You may have something there, Molly. My husband is now talking about buying the house. Maybe it’s talking to him too.
Linda says
Always! I’m glad I am not the only one! It’s what I tell people who ask for my help. HappySpring!
Tom says
I have to listen to my house. It’s a 1950s MCM butterfly roof house perched on a steep hill. If you touch anything it has to be done right or:
– the house slides down the hill from erosion.
– the roof will leak
– a surface won’t be level
So I go into every project knowing that when I pull things apart to get them back to original condition, it will take twice as long and need to be redone twice in the process…
Trina says
My house and I have had several fights with various contractors, masons and good meaning friends. Out by the street, in front if our 1956 brick ranch is a stone wall. Over the years, English Ivy has taken its tool on the wall. The previous owner had started to dismantle the wall stone by stone. The house and I wanted someone to rebuild the wall, but EVERYONE else had other thoughts… just replace it with a concrete wall… they make these great fake blocks that go up fast….what ever you do, get rid of those stones. This fight went on for over a year before a friend offered to help us rebuild the wall. Finally someone listened. The wall was restacked, I replanted and now the house and I are happy!
Amy says
…and the house sighs, “aaaahhhh” with relief!
I hear my house saying, “thank you for respecting me and loving me for what I am – not trying to make me into something else!”
Isn’t that what all of us want, too?
pam kueber says
Yes, it is!!