The Historic District

earthdad wrote:Should I leave the ceiling exposed and the new steel I beam?

The idea of open beams, open plan and visible I beam doesn't really seem to go hand in hand with your stated intention of "I hope to restore as much as possible to keep the legacy of this home alive." What am I missing?

Your not missing anything Mick. My ignorance on the fundamental truths and what the bare bones constituents are of a "true restoration" are being exposed. The grim reality is this house will have to appeal to a buyer. If it was to be truly restored to museum caliber, there would be no bathrooms or kitchen inside the home and the soon to be inventor of toilet paper was still suckling his mothers mamary glands.
Exposing the ceiling would give the man of the house bragging rights, as he could, in confidence, show his buddies with a tape measure how he has been endowed with actual 2" by 10" joists. Steel would appeal to any prospective mill workers as the surrounding towns have been partially supported by the nearby mills and would be a familiar site to the younger couple who have probably met at a local gin mill which touted similar architectural re modifications.
I would consider a wood beam if it could be sized for the load and blessed by a structural engineer.

Umm, earthdad ? Victorian houses did have kitchens inside, and many had indoor plumbing by the 1880's, depending on the town or city where it was located.

You can do a sympathetic restoration - that house of yours has a lot still left to work with. If you're going to gut it, and do a bunch of trendy updates to appeal to some generic buyer - well - you'll be getting some frowns here. I don't know if you've noticed, but everyone here bought an old house - many of which looked old, with old features. Many of us bought our homes for this very reason.

I doubt the "woman of the house" would enjoy a goofy exposed steel support, even if she was the president of the steel mill. This is not an industrial loft, this is a modest family home you're working with. Please do right by it and do not destroy the good in it has survived for almost 140 years. You should hire structural engineer NOW before you go any further, since it appears that the integrity has already been compromised with that hacked up beam.

Also - refrain from mentioning women's anatomy as some kind of insult.

p.s. Here's some toiler paper history for ya: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilet_paper

earthdad wrote:Your not missing anything Mick. My ignorance on the fundamental truths and what the bare bones constituents are of a "true restoration" are being exposed. The grim reality is this house will have to appeal to a buyer. If it was to be truly restored to museum caliber, ...SNIP...

So the choices are to turn it into some sort of open plan HGTV style reno, or a complete museum caliber restoration? Seems like there are a gulf of desirable possibilities in between that you are missing there.

It is of course your choice, but you might not find much sympathy here for something which is not in keeping with the house's original style.

Um...hm. I'm probably not one to talk having made some very un-restoration-correct choices on my project, but...open concept is...not really an old house thing. Even if you are stuck on the idea, the exposed steel seems very loft/industrial, not single family house-at least IMO. You know your market the best though.

Earthdad, have you spoken with an established realtor who represents property in this area ? I don't mean whoever sold you this property - I mean someone there who can show you the last 18 months of comparable solds.

This is your property and you CAN do whatever you want to it. All the CAD drawings and software cannot save your project from bad design or execution, however.

What do I know about your market ? Maybe all the historic homes there have been converted into faux NYC lofts and that's a hot selling point ? If so, disregard my concerns.

Welcome and best of luck! She's a beauty!

I'm not going to take out a wall or expose the ceiling. The impetus to remove a load bearing wall was to relieve the stress on the main beam in basement that has been compromised. The way I see it now, is keeping the wall will allow more crown molding and the original flow of gazing Down the hallway.
These pics I found online are representative of what I'm looking at. Is it accurate?

I'm really concerned about that load bearing wall you have removed ? Or am I misunderstanding what you have done so far ?

I was thinking about installing a beam to open up a hallway. I haven't. I'm actually strengthening the wall and raising it up from the basement with jacks on the center beam.