Help! Old Brooklyn railway house with weird gap in walls!
Allie A.
2 months ago
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KW
2 months agolast modified: 2 months agokandrewspa
2 months agoRelated Discussions
How to find out about your old house
Comments (19)Columbusguy, our county auditor also has a website with similar information. Unfortunately it only goes back to the 1950s, so my house was already 50 years old by then. I had to go to the courthouse and look at the deed/title record to go back to the beginning. Another house was on our lot previously, so it was a little hard to date the house exactly based on that alone. Like you, we are also on a corner lot. The house next door is exactly the same as ours and built by the same family - the daughter (married to the owner of the company that made the bricks for the two houses) lived in the house next door, and the son lived in this house. Their parents lived across the street! I love my family, but I think that would have been too much family togetherness for me! And every so often I feel unreasonably upset that they split the lot in two (our house is technically on a half-lot). How dare they build two houses without considering ME?! PS: I love driving through the old Columbus neighborhoods to see the houses and other architecture. I watch the Columbus Neighborhoods show on PBS whenever they show it just to see the buildings! Brickeyee, I had my title search done by a title insurance company. I would not use them again or trust them to do anything related to my house ever again. After several serious mistakes (like my name not being on the title transfer paperwork) I noticed a typo on the title (which reads "South" instead of "Fourth," and they refused to fix it "without hiring a surveyor to re-survey the property." In doing my research, I had copies of the previous titles - transferred by them the past 2 sales. Their spellcheck had corrected the previous title's typo of "Sourth" to "South" instead of "Fourth." She tried to tell me that the street names could have changed over the years so they couldn't fix the title. Yeah, lady, it makes perfect sense to go Second, Third, South, Fifth, Sixth Street. Now I thought the purpose of title insurance was to guarantee the accuracy of the title. It's just money down a rat hole....See MoreNeed help (re)designing kitchen in 1920s house
Comments (101)It would be nice to have accurate measurements, especially for that stairway entry/landing area and just outside it. Until we know more accurately, I just offer a small riff on Lisa's great plan. A 33" fridge allows the Hoosier cabinet to be enjoyed from the dining room. I really like the idea of a door from the office. One can work in the office and keep an eye on items cooking If kids are in the future, the office can become a playroom and one can cook and keep an eye on the kids. A 12" deep pantry cab next to the DW with the one Lisa put across the aisle will be more than enough storage for everyday dishes and glasses. I would install a drawer in the middle of each for utensils. I think I'd do glass doors on top with solid on the bottom. About the two tall dish pantries, something like this for the drawer placement. And the pink represents where I would consider putting windows on the sides instead of a solid panel. You could do it just on the one side facing the kitchen. Or on both sides. If done on both sides, the light from the window on the stair landing would filter through contributing to keeping the kitchen light and airy. Not knowing what they intend to use the basement for, I've wondered about the wisdom of closing off that exterior door. It seems like there would be times when it would be so convenient to have it like if something big needs to be hauled to or from the basement. It gives a nice straight shot instead of having to somehow squeeze it around tight corners. And safety issues. Also, what if you're cooking and burn something? Even with a good hood, the more windows and doors you can open to eliminate the smoke, the better. I simply wouldn't want to lose the close exterior access point just so I could have a table and chairs right outside that door to enjoy my coffee on a summer morning, eat lunch or dinner, or sit outside with a book while waiting for dinner to be ready, whatever. Or what about when you want to BBQ? Nice to have outside access right next to the kitchen for that. I just like outside! And I don't see any reason to lose that access point. Also, if there is an emergency, like a fire or an intruder, the more you have outside access locations, the better. That's another reason why I would also like to see the pocket door for the office on that landing. No, I don't live in Paranoia Land but, rather, by the Scout motto. I think when you're remodeling it's good to consider these kinds of issues and plan for escape routes for worst case scenario situations if it can be done at reasonable cost and effort....See MoreAre rounded corners an upgrade in homes today, are they old school?
Comments (41)Our house (built in 1992) has bulldozed corners and the original owners has applied the baseboards with a 22.5 miter to a short pc to round the corner then another 22.5 to the next wall. It looked fine but we put in all new flooring and used the prefab rounded corners with a taller plain baseboard and I like it much better....See Morekitchen re-do in old house
Comments (21)This drawing shows the dining room, detail on the little storage room they want to make into a half-bath, and a correction to the kitchen drawing. I messed up the measurement from the floor on that window in the kitchen next to the back door. It's actually 40.5" above the floor so cabinets could fit under it. The oak trim throughout the house is 4.5". My son has proposed cutting into it or removing it in order to fit things. Buehl, I'm not sure how to make a little hallway and bath out of that small storage room, unless the toilet's in a stall and perhaps a little sink in the hallway? Mama goose's 2nd plan seems like a good fit, but I wonder how to make a counter running up to that back window work with the pantry/MW/fridge complex....See Morecpartist
2 months agoKW
2 months agodecoenthusiaste
2 months ago
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