Insect damage and wood rot,,,and some nasty mold[s] --

by John Meeker , Thursday, July 28, 2016, 15:15 (3043 days ago) @ ~JM~

are the first things. an ice pick/wood puncher is good.l A big strong light is good. Some kind of extension poker/scraper/gouger is handy, Old clothes and GOOD dust mask can let you get a bit more into hard-to-see places.

I guess the guys have covered most of it, but the 'surprises' and variables are the stuff that really sinks the money line. Also, septic field, plumbing, and well water/locally can all have some expensive solutions.

Personal note...started doing re-hab labor in St Paul, Minn Ramsey Hill District -- around late 70's It was a nice relief from management and Corps. Later I took those skills and parlayed them into antique restoration, and then conservation. You pick up a lot of insight into what people want to do, what they think they need, and the hard realities of stretching both ends against the middle to make them work.

Romantic and cool is just fine, if you are prepared to almost totally spend as much or more than "NEW" -- good sound new, with maintainable structure. ----- than to "This Old House" it. Most of those shows don't really go far off camera, or into the accountants office, for a Public reality Report. Some do, and if it's a positive, it's about 100% guess, that they chose verrrry carefully: The Project.

Just adding this in here, because I currently own two building dating well before the
civil War.....one is timber-cut-2" plank. It's nailed and pegged to a hewn log timber frame. On a river rock foundation. The other one, is what was once a country store from c. 1840's As the town grew out, around 1945 it was switched [same original family], to a succession of doin's, and structurally had growed just like Topsy -- over the decades. It was a variety store/millinery/tailor shop/hairdresser/rental/bookstore....and then we bit...needing business space. A 20" X 30" main room with ten-foot ceiling s does look big, when it's empty. ;~`)

Anyway...moral of the story -- "Beware..you just might get, more than you were looking for. Fortunately, we are in sight of the major structural stuff being done, finally, and the finishes within a year or two -- just in time for someone else To Romance The Auld, and welcome to it.