Our house was built in 1923. We are the third owners. When we moved in (11 years ago), we spent $40,000 and 6 months rehabbing the place (new walls, paint, new kitchen, bathroom upgrades, etc.). Now, i just had to fix a leaky sink-and I’m afraid to touch things, because last time I did this, a shutoff valve went bad (broke off in my hand). I guess I’m getiing really sick of this-we had to repace the furnace 3 years ago…damn,I wish I had a new house! Just the idea of not having to constantl fix stuff appeals to me!
Last month, i replaced the last bit of galvanized steel pipng in the house (it was the outside tap)-it crumbled away. a bit of advice: BUY a new house-its much better for your sanity!
Our house was built in 1989.
“Great!” you say? Not so fast. It’s a log house.
Brick good. Vinyl good.
Log bad.
I’ve recently been earning some money doing home repairs. You think your 1923 house has problems? You should see the shit built more recently. Our most recent Adventure in Flooring involved having to take the first floor of two-story back down to the cement slab foundation, to discover that someone with a size 10 or 11 workboot had walked through the cement prior to its curing and no one had made any attempt to rectify this, the floor was visibly higher in some locations than others, and that was only the start of it. The building is less than 20 years old. The drywall and underlying studs are just as bad. The windows were not properly installed and there have been chronic water leaks the whole time. You know how in the 1960’s they gave LSD to spiders then watched them spin bizarre webs? One of those spiders designed the wiring and the plumbing in the place. I felt sorry for the people who lived there.
Bottom line - new construction is no guarantee of anything.
My house was buiilt in the 30s. Every time I need to fix something, I have to replace everything that touches it. If I have a leak to fix, I immediately buy all the plumbing to the wall, before i start.
First Rule of Home Ownership: S— Never Ends.
Uh-oh. We just put in an offer on a log house built in 1984. A (75% of asking) low offer though, so there may be dickering and/or walking away yet.
So, tell me how bad, please. What issues are particular to log house kits that we need to be wary of? Horrify me while we still have time to run or rationalize. 
So far we’re looking at 30k to pull all the interior wood paneling that is dark, rough textured (dust catcher) and of random lengths and patterns throughout the house (they couldn’t decide on a theme of design besides “wood and lots of it” apparently) and sheetrock it (which means changing all the door frames and electrical boxes to accommodate the new depth) so we can have boring light colored walls and the house won’t seem so dark and den like. And to change the floor treatment, since dark burnt orange isn’t our thing either. But these issues seem pretty typical in the houses we’ve looked at in our area, and not such a function of a log cabin house.
I live in a little Victorian cottage, less than 1000 square feet, 135 yrs old.
I feel your pain, truly I do. If it’s not one thing it’s another. New roof, new doors, new windows. This summer we’re hoping to spray in insulation!
I expressed the kind of reservations about new construction, mentioned above, to the home inspector and he said, “A house that stands a hundred years, will likely stand for two, with care. New construction - no chance!”
It’s irritating and can definitely be expensive. But I still think it’s worth it!
My farmhouse was built in 1825. Yes, it’s really old, 184 years old. Most things are original. It even has the original metal roof, which does need to be painted. In the basement, the beams holding the house up are 2 foot wide tree trunks split in half, and they still have the bark on them. No wussy 2x6’s here! The walls are covered in 1" of real plaster, not cheap 1/4" Chinese drywall. I could go on…
What house built in 2009 will be around in 2193? Most house parts now are designed to last about 30 years, like windows, siding, and roofs. My 184 year old house still has those original things and they don’t need to be replaced yet.
Sure plumbing and electrical will have to be upgraded on an old house, but the old house itself will last far longer than a new house built with the newest fancy parts.
Also with an old home you get character and beauty. Someone designed that home with true activities in mind. It is a usually graceful and balanced with charming touches.
A new home is a smashed together amalgamation of 100 years of architecture thrown together with two objects in mind: impress the neighbors, and have somewhere to park the car. Having a good wall for hanging the flat screen sometimes has some consideration, but only if you are building over 2700 sq ft or so. A decent sized kitchen in a mid sized home? ha! bedrooms big enough for children to share? are you kidding? a back yard big enough for a vegetable garden? now you are really off your rocker.
One of my friends built a brand new home. They liked it ok but there were issues that they had to fix even with a brand new home. The most glaring of these issues was discovered by the inspector who went through the home when the refinanced a year after the build. The entire year they were in the home the bathtub in the main bathroom drained directly into the crawlspace. No one had bothered to connect it to the plumbing. Brand new house.
My favorite homes are between 50 and 70 years old. Old enough to have character, young enough to still have some structural integrity left. (and a well planned kitchen.)