Comments on: What Does It Take To Renovate A Home?

By: u st p

u st p — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:50:59 +0000

I’m interested in getting some quotes for a second story porch. Do you know anyone in the area I can contact? or are you doing that yourself?

By: stacey (ben)

stacey (ben) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:24:39 +0000

Hi bogfrog,

Interesting question. I have no idea if it is original or not. The house actually had a major overhaul in 1992, so maybe they put it in then? I am leaving it, because I love it! It let a lot of light in though the back of the house, which a shorter door frame would not.

By: bogfrog

bogfrog — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:33:35 +0000

very exciting topic! So what about the arch visible in the LR/DR area? Do you think it’s original? I was doubtful about this and ended up removing the arch. Material stuffed inside indicated that the arch was added around 1955, house was built in 1912. Wonder if yours is similar!

By: Stacey (Ben)

Stacey (Ben) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:26:32 +0000

Hi Cristobal,

Are you looking to do this yourself, or do you just want to know about my project? For my case, a lot of the wiring was done post-construction, so they just ran the low-voltage wiring (cable/phone) along the baseboards and into the jack in the wall. It comes into the house either in a small hole drilled into the brick, or through the window. Sweet, right? Lots of old houses in DC did it this way because, well, it’s cheap. So, to re-do it we are first going to remove the old wiring by just unpinning it from the wall. to install new wires is more complicated since it involves removing the baseboards to hide the wires. The phone/cable company will do this for you – or you can call a contractor to do it.
E-mail me if you want more information on this.

By: D.A

D.A — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:51:59 +0000

huh?

By: cristobal

cristobal — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:48:01 +0000

you said youre getting the phone and cable rewired… is that a contracted job, or will the phone/cable companies do that? (even if its not their previous handiwork?) we have so many phone jacks and so many wires running into each room…who do you call to get all of the existing stuff taken out, and only the current hookup needs met?