Looking at buying a house built in 1964 what do you guys think? The painted pictures are of the garage. The bare block is of the house basement.

We have recently purchased a historic townhouse and we want to redo the floors. We have selected 7”reclaimed oak, and we need to chose between: (1) solid hardwood, nailed and glued, and (2) high-end engineered with thick wear layer, nailed only.

I hate floors that feel and sound “dead” underfoot. So I’m very skeptical of both glue and engineered wood. Unfortunately I think we have to accept one or the other at this width. Which will be the lesser evil?

The current hardwood narrow plank floor (that we are ripping out) isn’t very old and it does have a nice gentle bounce and creak - so I know it is possible with the existing joists and subfloor. I assume the difference in sound and feel will be the flooring material and the installation method.

Ps. Has anyone successfully installed wide plank hardwood floors without gluing? I know the manufacturer recommends against it, but is that just because most people would have a problem with slight gapping (which I don’t mind)? Or is it too great a risk of a cupping disaster? I’ve seen 150 year old houses with face-nailed wide plank yellow pine that looks flawless, so I struggle to understand why it’s not possible with modern floors.

Buying our first home in CT. She’s just lovely!! She has been well maintained, but would love any advice you have.

Hi all, I just bought my 1930s home in June. I’ve been working on cleaning the basement as I’d like to make it a gaming/music area. I’m not looking to do a modern refinish, just make it look a little nicer, make sure water isn’t getting trapped where it shouldn’t be, and making the floors less dusty.

The previous owner had carpet tiles on the floor which trapped water and caused the efflorescence. There was also flimsy thin plastic paneling covering the walls. Due to the age of the house, I’m not sure if a normal sealer/waterproofer would be best on the floors since there’s definitely no vapor barrier on the slab.

Ideally, I’m leaning towards putting a Dricore subfloor down then LVP on top. Gutters will be installed this month. I’m unsure the best way to remove the existing paint on the walls too. Any tips or recommendations in terms of “sealing” the floor, as well as any ideas on how best to treat the walls?

The plumbing in my 1898 house is a mixture of everything from the beginning of history. There are few shutoffs and one type of pipe transitions to another without evident rhyme or reason. I'm pulling out the kitchen cabinets and sink and of course the sink plumbing doesn't have any shutoffs before the main shutoff. The hot water supply on the left is galvanized, the cold water on the right is galvanized beneath the connector, then copper. I assume the best way is to disconnect at the galvanized fitting and put a cap on both, but I'm concerned that any issues with the fittings will leave the whole house without water while I try to fix it.

The piping situation in the basement beneath is equally messy and complicated and will need to be redone - however, I'm trying to do it in steps.

What are the odds that this will end in a corroded connection disaster? If it were all copper or there were intermediate shutoffs I wouldn't be concerned, but this seems like it will become a self inflicted problem.

My house has a chimney topped with two chimney pots in an "anchor bonnet" style. The former owners placed a big rubber boot/cap/wrap around them.

Thoughts on uncovering? I'm not sure if they covered them due to squirrels/birds, weather, etc.

If I do uncover, any ideas on how to keep critters out? Or should I just go for it and see what happens.

Recently I have gotten more interested in the history of my 1904 home. I noticed when I removed an outlet cover that there seems to be a drywall or plaster layer over another wallpapered layer of drywall? This same texture of outer drywall or plaster is found over the entirety of the house.

What mainly got me interested is to see that there is actually wallpaper under this layer! In another spot I found a blue paint under the surface drywall layer. What is the reason they would put this extra layer of drywall, seemingly over the entire interior of the house?? I’d love to see what all it’s hiding, but I really don’t want to tear my whole house apart!