That's not too bad! At least the post is in the pantry and not through your flatware drawer.

I can't believe you have cast iron radiators in what I'd consider a pretty new house!

Enjoy the process. This is the fun part... :P

That's very true. I guess in that regard, I'm lucky. Thanks for the silver lining spirit, fori!

When we tore down the old workshop, we found a bunch 1938 newspapers that had been used for insulation. Some surprises are more fun than others.

We took out our old radiators in our remodel as well. Thought we would wait to see if we needed before installing. They are stil in the basement...not sure they will ever go back! It is cooler, but not cold. So far have not msised them!

GardenAmy,

Did you replace them with toe kick heaters? If so, how many radiators dad you have in the kitchen and how many toe-kicks did they add?

Brings back memories. Our 100 yr old house had straw for insulation (fire hazard!). We found all sorts of things in the walls including animal skeletons. Oh, and lots of nearly 100 yr old newspapers. What fun that was. And at one point the second story started sagging dramatically because they removed a wall around a chimney they didn't know was a major supporting wall. All turned out well in the end.

Yeah, we found a mummified bird. And some small liquor bottles. House built in 1919.

We found that when they remodeled the 1940 kitchen in 1961 they'd just put new cabs in front of old electrical switches and outlets, also they'd just hidden the old light fixture sockets in the ceiling. I think they were all still live. Amazing there was never a fire in 50 years.

"support beam" and "figured it was an old plumbing pipe" are not consistent.

Beams are horizontal members.
Columns (AKA 'posts') are vertical members.

Reducing a beam size is often significant enough to need a structural engineer.

The same with posts, though replacing with a smaller but just as strong post is possible (especially in metal).

Making a mistake in either can be VERY expensive (as in things start falling down, and not always all that slowly).

Two problems crop up over and over in moving waste stacks.

Maintaining adequate slope (1/4 inch per foot) over the new run, and noise from waste running in the pipe.

Having clean outs for horizontal runs remain accessible is another problem.

This post was edited by brickeyee on Wed, Feb 27, 13 at 13:03

Yep. After six years of planning and saving, we gutted a terrible 1970s kitchen in our 1911 Craftsman, only to find that when previous owners added a flat-roof addition in the 1950s, they just cut out the back of the house and added on, and there were no posts or beam holding up the second floor. Plus, the flat roof scupper had apparently failed, over the years rotting out the corner of the house (including sill plate), which was hidden between cabinets and metal siding. Needless to say, this is why 18 months later we have a beautiful new beam, roof, and period-perfect siding and windows, but don't have a kitchen.

Oh, the misfortune, Mizinformation! I totally feel for you. well, at least your exterior must be spectacular.

I should have clarified - the vertical column or "post" is in fact structural, and must remain. It was wrapped in a wooden box and ran from floor to ceiling alongside my counter so it was unclear what was inside until demo day. Structural engineers were brought on board as consults to our GC and the decision was that some form of support must remain in order to avoid any future horror stories. It will be replaced with something more in line with today's materials and code and will be built in to our pantry where it will hopefully remain out of sight.

In terms of the waste stack, they've accounted for the proper slope necessary for the new run to go. Good point though, to make sure there is an access point should it need to be cleaned out. Another reason I hate septic.

Overall, I think we've troubleshot the problem pretty well. It just goes to show that remodeling a kitchen in an older home is a lot like having a birth plan for delivering a child: Plan all you want, but expect the unexpected!

What kind of flooring will your kitchen have? If it's tile, you could do radiant heat under it. If not hot water radiant, then electric mesh style might be an option.

Is the spot where your contractor wants the radiator to remain under the window in the location where your adorable window seat with all the great storage was planned to go?

Rebeccamom123-sounds like a wise general contractor. If he breaks a sweat, don't forget to breath. Loved you birth analogy and hope the worst surprises are over for you both.

Laughable - Oh NO! I draw the line at giving up my window seat and built-ins. I have big plans to spend lots of quality time on Sunday mornings in that spot, with a big cup of coffee!!

He was thinking it could go under the window that is right around where my peninsula turns out off the wall, almost parallel to where my stools will be. He says it would be completely inconspicuous there. He knows me way to well to even suggest taking my window seat away! And nope - I have hardwood flooring going in. But that was a smart suggestion that I didn't even think about.

Rebeccamom - No, we did not put toe kicks in either. We also made plans to add them later if needed. We have a gas fireplace in the family room and radiators in all the other areas so surprisingly the kitchen stays warm. Especially with the stove on. We did keep all the plumbing and just capped it in the basement. If we need to add back the radiators we will probably add cast iron baseboard to minimize the space taken up. We had no insulation in our walls either when we opened them up so we added and it is so much warmer. This is our first winter after the remodel, and so far so good. Then again, quite a mild winter this year in Buffalo!

Our last house had no insulation either. Built in the last 1950's. What were they thinking?

We found a preserved lizard skeleton when we gutted our kitchen. Poor thing got stuck under the cabinets. I donated to my children's elementary school Science Room.

When we put in a gas fireplace we found an old roll of Diamond aluminum foil in the chase. Not dating from when the house was built (1910), but probably from the 50s or 60s.

We found old business card like papers (1899) and receipts (1901) and hand written letters (1901 and 1902). A wooden umbrella handle, some metal decorative bands, a fabric sample book, and some old blouses. Structural nightmares around every turn, some far too recent to be acceptable. Horrible septic, no working well, and poorly done new electric that should have burnt the house down. Wood stoves were the only heating this house had ever had, and up until this past year, we had heated with stoves, but have upgraded to a wood furnace plus the stoves. Some walls still don't have insulation and some drywall is hiding crumbling plaster. We'll get to it one day.

Here is the first page to the 1901 4 page letter. The envelope and letter were in amazing shape for their age.

We haven't had those kind of surprises yet, but sounds interesting! A year or two before my grandfather passed away he was chuckling about my great-great-great-aunt's house. Apparently back in the day after she passed away those in charge of clearing the house got lazy. The took a bunch of old stuff, including at least 2 really nice victrolas (sp?), and shoved it all into the eaves in the attic. And then walled both sides in to hide it! Someone is in for a surprise!

We had a raised panel ceiling in the basement of an ancient house. One day while trying to locate a dead mouse we found a previous owner's stash of girlie magazines. You never know what you'll find!

Wow! We haven't started demo yet but I bet we are in for some surprises in our 1923 bungalow. It is great fun stumbling upon little tidbits that help tell the story of the home, though of course, the costly surprises are not fun.

I'd hang on to the cast iron radiators. We have most of ours but sure wish I had the few we are missing and didn't have the aluminum baseboards instead. The coolest stuff we found in the walls during the demo were a full woodpecker skeleton, an antique salt shaker, and a Christmas movie on 8mm film dating from 1959 - the owners of the house then was the town mayor.