Notes on permits, materials, and the parts of owning an old house in Delaware County that nobody hands you a manual for. Organized loosely around the trades and topics in the directory, added to as they're written.
-
01
Historic District Rules in Delaware County: What Actually Requires a Permit
National Register listing and a local historic district are not the same thing, and only one of them means a review board looks at your windows. A walk through how Certificates of Appropriateness actually work in towns like Radnor and Media, and how to find out if your address is covered before you hire anyone.
-
02
Repointing Brick and Stone in Delaware County: Why Lime Mortar Matters
Most stone and brick built before 1930 was laid up with lime mortar, not cement, and mortar is supposed to be softer than the masonry it holds. Get that backwards during repointing and the wall face itself starts eroding within a few years.
-
03
The Case for Restoring Old Wood Windows Instead of Replacing Them
A drafty original sash usually isn't the energy problem it looks like, and a restored window with a good storm window often matches new replacement windows on performance, for a lot less money.
-
04
Cracks in Plaster Walls: When to Worry and What They Mean
Most cracks in old plaster are cosmetic. A few mean the keys holding the plaster to the lath have failed. How to tell which one is on your ceiling before anyone starts patching it.
-
05
Lead Paint and Repainting an Old House in Delaware County
Any house built before 1978 should be treated as if it has lead paint, and repainting is where most of the exposure happens. What the EPA rule requires of painters, how testing works, and what to ask before anyone picks up a scraper.
-
06
Why Old Stone Foundations Get Wet, and What Actually Helps
Fieldstone foundations were never built to be watertight, and a little dampness is part of the deal. Most real trouble starts with roof water dumped at the wall, and some of the usual fixes, like waterproof paint and cement parging, trap moisture and speed the damage up.
-
07
Slate Roof Repair or Replacement: Reading an Old Roof Before Tearing It Off
The slate on an old roof usually outlives the nails and flashing holding it together, so a leak is not automatically a death sentence. How to judge the stone from the ground, where the line between repair and replacement sits, and why roofing cement on slate is a bad sign.
-
08
Old Porch Repair: Rotted Floors, Columns, and Steps
Porches rot in the same few places on almost every old house: board ends, column bases, steps, and the ledger tying the floor to the wall. Find where the water is getting in and most of a porch can be repaired piece by piece instead of torn off.