Geoff MRT

I bought this house in 1998 from my township at tax sale. This picture is after I pulled the plywood off of most of the windows and was waiting for the first of 3-30 yd cans to get there. One dumpster was filled with mainly contents. The next two were for plaster, lathe and that addition on the back.




This picture was from 2003. I just got the thing painted right before my first son was born.

genecarp

wow, beautiful, congrats, was it a top to bottom reno?

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buildenterprise

Awesome! I love those homes, nice that you saved it.
I used to date a girl in Leesburg, can't remember the name of the street she lived on. Growing up I lived in Estell Manor, then Millville, then Maurice River Township.

threaderman

Beautiful home,great work.

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neolitic

Beautiful work!

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Geoff MRT

Yes. There wasn't much of a choice. I thought about trying to save that wonderful "hunting scene" paneling but, old MDF with formaldehyde isn't in vogue these days...lol. Many of the interior walls and ceilings are still plaster.

The house was most likely ordered (pre-mail order days) and delivered to the train depot. We don't have an exact date but by researching the deeds, it's somewhere between 1884-1888. I have to get back to work on it as parts of the inside have changed a few times. Now that I have kids (boys) the door to the balcony will become a window with the lower sash screwed shut. My wife wants to add a 3 season porch on the back. I told her the tools are on the truck...have at it.

Geoff MRT

We may even know each other if you do work at the shore. Although I've worked inland for a year, most of my work was from OC, SIC to SH.

genecarp

its difficult to tell from the photo, is the exterior all wood? or are there some low maintenance composites hiding? what type of windows did you use?

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buildenterprise

Yea, same here, doing alot of work in SIC-mostly decks. Was working in SH and Avalon alot back in '04 to '05 for Bob Stocki, he folded so that's done.

Geoff MRT

The clapboard is straight cut cedar. There are no composites on the house. The fascia is primed pine and the eves are sanded plywood. The columns are the original columns and are turned logs, not staved. The siding is painted with satin finish to try to make the paint last a little longer. I had to prime with tannin blocker as nearly half the old clapboard and the additions needed new cedar. That was almost half the budget.

The windows are true divided light and single pane. When I started this I was being a purist...OK, cheap. I figured I'd make fitted storm windows and I'd save a few thousand on the windows. Well, a few years later and some outrageous heating bills later, I'm going to replace them with some insulated windows. I'll never have white vinyl on the house so, I have to save some more cash before that happens. All told, there are 25 windows to replace.

The balcony was a "F-U" to the township. The township wanted to demolish it as it sat vacant for nearly 10 years. I wrote them a letter expressing interest in the house and instead of selling it to me for a dollar, the put it up for auction. I was the only interested party and paid $10K. I figured it was OK as it's 1-1/2 acres. I asked them to let me slide on the permit fees as it would be back on the tax rolls. Nope, $1,200. (that's a lot of 2X4's). So, on the permit plans it showed a simple flat roof extension off that side. I was going to build a tower but, couldn't afford it. Instead I built the low-slope roof and dormer with a balcony. The inspector said, "Is this on the plan?" I said, "No, with all those permit fees, I couldn't afford any more paper to draw it on."

He just winked at me and passed the framing.

Jcllc

Looks great, nice to see people out there still remodeling these old homes.

AtlanticWBConst

Beautiful home. Beautiful designs added on. Nice work.

Thanks for sharing that with us.

Also, thanks for sharing the background info, the purchase, and the dealings with the town. Very interesting.

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Geoff MRT

Thanks for all the nice responses. I have more projects pics to post as soon as I figure out which computer they're in and where the hell I put them.

I love older houses and grew up in a 1730's house. Colonial era hoses are my true favorites. Victorian era houses are, I think, the pinnacle of wood-frame construction and design. Especially the Queen Anne and Carpenter Gothic designs. If you think about hand-sawing timbers and true-measure lumber, it was quite the task. Saving them from demolition is my favorite work.

I built a 3500 SF house for a friend last year. (I hope he never reads this) It's a rancher that's 80LF across the front with a great room and kitchen with vaulted ceilings, all truss work. We added 3 dormers across the front to break it up but, I can't stand the house...lol. It bored me to tears. He's happy and that's what's important but, I'll stick to rehab-ing the houses that are one step from the grapple. and adding on to houses like mine.

Geoff MRT

These are some pictures from 2003 when I was just finishing the living room. This room used to contain the stairs, a hallway and a little closet. The front door was a single, 28" where the window is on the left in the first picture. The stairs were only 26" wide between the wall and the newel post Next to them was a 30" hallway that was below a hallway on the second floor, equally narrow, that went to the front bedroom.

The front doors now were from a architectural salvage shop in Manahawkin, NJ http://recyclingthepast.com/ as was the window at the landing on the last pic. (I've gotten some good deals from them and don't mind giving them a plug) The doors aren't normally open and are more for decoration. I seem to have a hang-up on symmetry. They weren't finished by this point anyway.

The ceilings are only 7'-4" in the house. So much for crown molding. By the time I got the house, the trim in the house was pretty much gone. It was the typical fluted casing with corner "bullseye" blocks. I moved the stairs to the center of the house and re-used the newel post and matching posts from the top of the stairs to make a staircase. (below)


I was still in the process of building the staircase...and the hardwood floors...and the trim...and the kitchen....and the upstairs bath...lol

That's Molly, our bloodhound. She's no longer with us but, what a sweet dog.


This was an almost finished room when we decided, "hey, what a great place for a staircase..."






I found this window when looking for front doors. I built this frame out of two layers of 5/4" cypress and covered the exterior with lexan to protect it. The window came in a metal frame and it took almost a whole day to get it our without destroying it, I got it in and my father says, "it's upside down...that's the Holy Ghost and it's supposed to be coming down to earth." Yeah...ok. He'll have to forgive me, I like it better like this,





Some kids like "ZERO-DARK-THIRTY" on Christmas morning...and some don't.


And last, when my wife complains that the house isn't completely finished, I show her this picture of what's now our MBR.

Remember THIS???

neolitic

[quote=Geoff MRT;416786]
That's Molly, our bloodhound. She's no longer with us but, what a sweet dog.

[quote]
Bet she was a great helper.
Murphy Brown was mine...she could
sleep right under my horses til she
was practically buried in saw dust.


[quote=Geoff MRT;416786]
The window came in a metal frame and it took almost a whole day to get it our without destroying it, I got it in and my father says, "it's upside down...that's the Holy Ghost and it's supposed to be coming down to earth." Yeah...ok. He'll have to forgive me, I like it better like this,
[quote]


That's what Dads are for!
Your turn will come.

Thanks for sharing these.
Glad they are over here where they belong.

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Jason W

Awsome!!! Great job, thanks for posting.

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Cole

Wow! Fantastic job!

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skylands

Excellent job. Thanks for posting.

skymaster

Truly awesome job you did. PS: Dad's right

72chevy4x4

great looking work-it sounds as if you've found a lot of satisfaction in fixing up the old house. congratulations!