... but definitely stake down the tent. Free-standing tents that are not staked down are dangerous in even moderate wind. I'll always recommend Eureka tents. I have a Eureak Lodge (discontinued I think). It is VERY well made and easy to put up. The price is a little higher (maybe a lot more than cheap tents), but what is the price of waking up in a puddle with everything you own soaked from a hard rain on a leaky tent? I've noticed a lot of cheap tents covered by an odd assortment of blue tarps obviously strung in an attempt to keep them from leaking. Yuk!

Lol, lazy, good one! Deee, these guys are father and son, they are wonderful AND reasonable, not usually common plumbing virtues :/) I am still waiting, Mitch, for the floor guys to return. He has called two days in a row now to say they are coming the next day... Mtn and vedazu, I had my checkbook and a pen out and thought I didn't hear the amount right, so I waited to see him write it down on the invoice! I was a reporter for a small town newspaper many years ago, fresh out of college. Sometimes we wrote spoofs of our real articles. The poor girl on the society desk (cross my heart) was a hoot and wrote wonderful satire. She eventually couldn't take it any more and went back to school for a masters in social work to work with homeless people in Washington DC.

If I were But you, I would also have my house checked for termites. But don't be surprised if you are told you need a different kind of treatment. Because as you have already seen on this thread people have stated that they had their ground treated. some have used oils, and others have had theirs tented. I had termites in my garden and put down baits to kill them. It did not kill them at all. Then the house next door had their house tented. Not long after that I found some termite damage in my house. I called the same people that my neighbor used and had them come out. I thought maybe some of their termites had escaped and came to my house. Nope. I had a different kind of termite. They had to drill holes in the slab of my house to poison them. We didn't even have to leave the property because the poison they put down would only hurt the termites... unfortunately because I was hoping it would get rid of the palmetto bugs as well. I had asked about the termites in my garden and he gave me some stuff to put down and said I needed to keep the pets off for 12hours. A few years after that I had a wind storm take down a live tree, when we went to cut the tree up to remove it we found termites in it. I had been under the impression that termites only ate dead wood. WRONG. And guess what it was even a different kind of termite from the one in my house, my garden and the neighbors house...... So I guess there are many various types of termites and different kinds of treatments....... So I tell everyone, have their house checked..... not just because their neighbors have them because you may have them and have a totally different kind..... Good luck.

bpath let's start with I wouldn't be interested in renovating a house like this! I appreciate the history and all but find FLW houses majorly depressing and this one is no exception. However..... I think if you're going to live in this house you have to approach any renovations with an eye to original design intent. Doing that especially in the bathrooms with modern materials and what is now considered normal necessities in terms of shower size, # of sinks etc might be difficult in the original footprint - kitchen would be the same issue. I had a similar basement sink in both of our old houses. Not a clue about the levels - hadn't noticed till you pointed it out but it is confusing. ODD that roof repair estimate doesn't include all the interior damage so it's VERY light. You're being quite generous suggesting that some of the houses built today will even be around in 100 years!!! The house is valued based on all the needed updating and repair which is massive $$. Schools for that house are exceptional and it's 2 blocks from probably the best park and public beach on Lake Michigan in the area. Once that house is updated, taxes will triple.