I'm so wired right now!

OK, I'm not wired YET, but I soon will be. Marshall began dismantling the knob and tube wiring yesterday while I was up in Philadelphia for work. He called me after the first two hours of work. I was at Haverford getting ready to go out for breakfast. Here's how our conversation went:

"Hi Marshall, thanks for calling! Have you started?"

[Pause. Marshall's very serious generally so this was not unexpected.]

"Yes, we got started and, well, I'm really sorry to tell you this, but it's bad."

"What do you mean? What's the problem? [Images of explosions running through my head.]"

"Well...[pause] it's pretty much all knob and tube except the kitchen, and we're going to have to rewire pretty much the whole house. I'm really sorry to tell you this. It's pretty much the worst case scenario. I really hate to give you bad news."

"OK! No problem. Just let me know if there's anything you can do to make it cheaper but still safe."

"Yeah, I'll see if there's anything I can think of. I'm really sorry." [third time he's apologized.]

"Hey, nothing to worry about. It's an old house, and it's going to have fabulous new wiring when you're done."

"I'm so sorry to have to call and tell you this."

Etc, including various specifics, a couple of good cost-saving ideas, peppered with repeated apologies. I think I eventually convinced him that I am not, in fact, shocked by this news, and that I am not suicidal. After all, we dodged the oil tank bullet, so why on earth should we expect to dodge this bullet? What it comes down to is this picture. Here's why I'm so weirdly cheery:

 See all that horrid cloth-covered wire? This morning I got to the house early and wandered through, looking at all the outlets and switches that Marshall and his guys exposed yesterday.After this is all done, I'll be free of probably the single most important source of anxiety with an old house. And I'll have so many circuits. The house currently only has THREE. Not good.

So, the only thing I need to decide now is when to deliver these guys my first batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies, since they'll be working on the house for about two weeks. Talk to you later!

More "before" pictures

Early possession means I have a key to the house, which means I was able to take a leisurely Sunday morning visit to the house to take some "before" pictures for your viewing pleasure. I can't wait to be able to show you the "after" pictures!

First up: the old furnace air intake. Every old house I've looked at has one of these, either intact (and inactive) or removed and patched. But none has as fabulously tacky a patch as my house! It's plywood. Note the aesthetically, um, interesting offset. Also visible in this picture: the transition from entry-hall flooring to kitchen flooring, and the lack of that final little piece of molding at the bottom of the baseboard that covers up the edge of the floorboards--I'm going to have to add quite a bit of this molding throughout the house.

 At the top of the stairs is a charming linen closet. I love linen closets! This one is in pretty awful shape. I need a couple of replacement shelves and a nice coat of paint followed by some lovely flowery shelf paper, as old-fashioned as possible. Note the crappy paint job. It's this bad all over the house.

Next up: door hardware. This is the master bedroom closet (note closet size--teeeensy). There is some original hardware, some replacement, throughout the house. I'm definitely going to take at least one trip to the salvage yard in Richmond. I haven't been there yet but I hear great things.

 Eye candy next. This is the window in the stairwell. Isn't it wonderful??? It has a weird piece of molding nailed to the right side, presumably as a lock. I'll be fixing that.

Here are two closet doors have been stored in the shed in the back yard for a long time. I thought you'd enjoy seeing them behind the piles of stuff the seller will be removing. I'm hoping they can be salvaged. Fingers crossed! There are two more doors in the cellar-I haven't been able to measure them all to figure out what's what.

Another view of the shed. It's really marvelous but is in appalling condition. I hope it can be saved, but I don't know yet.

Next up: the cellar toilet. Apparently these were pretty common back in the day. I'm really glad for the utility sink next to it, which will come in handy if and when I decide to paint the exterior of the house myself. I can do all my cleanup down here!

Remaining in the cellar for a moment, check out the awesome panel boxes. I was thrilled to know that these will continue to support all my new electricity, so I don't need new ones! What a relief to save a bit of cash there.

 Here's a nice shot of the kitchen window, which shows you just how ugly the baseboard heating system is. There are pipes snaking all over the house. And this morning, since I was at the house alone without other voices and hammers echoing, I learned that they make a really eerie sound--you can hear the water trickling through them. I am so glad I'm removing this stuff. There will be tons of little round holes to patch, but it's worth it.

 I finally got to measure the ceilings. They are 9 feet high on the first floor and 8.5 feet high on the second floor. Truly wonderful. Here's the only transom door in the house, between the living room and dining room. It needs a new window.

A quick glimpse of the worst of the floors. This stain is in the middle of the dining room. But I hope you can also see how stunning the floors are. I've taken a bunch of "befores" in the expectation of having a lot of fun with an "after" post about these next month.

The kitchen cabinets are definitely funky. I'm hoping that a coat of paint and all my fun belongings (cookbooks here, of course) will make them appealing and wonderful for at least five years or so. Then I can think about remodeling the kitchen if I want. But I don't want to take on too much right now, and I really enjoy the current layout.

That's it for now! And hey, feel free to leave comments/observations. I would love some feedback!

Knob and Tube Wiring

There has been a bit of excitement this week, since I learned that it's pretty much impossible to insure a home with knob and tube wiring. Apparently this is a very recent development in the homeowner's insurance market. But even though it is an unexpected cost, I know it's going to need to get done eventually anyway.

So, the owner is kindly allowing me to take early possession of the house in order to have the knob and tube replaced before we close.  My wonderful realtor has been scrambling to find me an electrician who can take on this project immediately. It looks like she is going to be able to secure her favorite electrician. We'll know tomorrow.

This means I have a house key, which is pretty exciting. It also means I need to hurry up and get new fans and light fixtures asap.

Today I met with two HVAC installers to get estimates for replacing the old heating system and adding air conditioning. I learned a ton and will look forward to getting their estimates back. It's going to be the biggest purchase I make by far, and very important since Virginia has equally hot summers and cold winters, and is generally pretty humid. It's a challenge to decide how much to spend for resale and my own comfort, without totally breaking the bank. Both installers were thrilled and surprised to see that I have a nice big cellar with plenty of space for ductwork.

OK, folks, that's it for now.