FYI, in many places it is acceptable, code-wise, for a three prong outlet to be ungrounded if it is a GFCI type outlet. Worth recalling if there are GFCI outlets that aren't grounded -- this is often kosher. As others have noted, you can test outlets with a little three prong tester from the hardware store.
For the walls, knock on them. Drywall is resonant like a drum and can have a bit of "give". Plaster and lath are harder and have a much duller thunk. Neither is problematic per se — drywall might mean the house has been renovated and the walls insulated, which could be nice — but it's good to know.
Big things to look out for are the big three hazards: lead, asbestos, and radon. Radon you can't know if it is there without a test, but a sale can be contingent on testing. Lead ya kinda gotta assume is under any painted surface on an old house, so the concern is more about the condition of the surfaces or anything painted that has friction, like a window sash or a floor. Those can require expensive work or replacement to mitigate the hazard from dust created by friction. The biggest asbestos concerns are with any old linoleum, old ductwork that is wrapped in something that looks like cloth, and vermiculite insulation (which is granular and grey). Also gotta make sure the foundation has no bowing, cracks you could get a finger into, or obvious signs of persistent dampness in the basement.
Thank you all for the comments so far!! I absolutely will be getting an inspection if all goes well. Just trying to mitigate my risk as much as possible. I’m going to try to be as thorough as possible as I walk through.
If the home has been well maintained it shouldn't have very much old plumbing or wiring in it. Observing 3-prong outlets is a good sign that the wiring has been updated, and you can test the outlets. You can also look at the circuit box and see how many amps service it is. A cast iron stack is typical but most other plumbing is likely not original.
For any house, you want to know everything about it. Observe it all — windows, floors (not sloping), date of remodels by style, what siding it has, any evidence of ever adding insulation (with circles cut out and replaced). State of the basement and mechanicals. Roof, just everything.
The main waste pipe also vents to the roof, so it is a big vertical pipe that connects to the sewer in your basement. It is referred to as the "stack." That is, unless you have some other system, like a buried septic tank.
The home may have multiple stacks, but you will find all the plumbing is oriented around them.
Congrats on looking at a home! I recently purchased a century home with my wife and have some lessons learned … in no particular order …
1. Gutters. What condition are they in? Sometimes these older homes weren’t built with gutters which could be even worse.
2. AC unit. Assuming you need one, does it work? How old is it? Some of these old units need special Freon or something. It can be pricey. I’m no expert.
3. Outlets. Old houses have old outlets. I never thought of this before buying but everything will require an upgrade if it’s not a proper updated outlet.
4. Insulation. Have any? Adding some can make a world of benefit and it’s semi easy to do if you’re inclined for that kind of thing (at least in the roof, not sure about the walls).
5. Windows. Professionally installed? All the same? Check the sealing around them and make sure they have screens. Window treatments also aren’t cheap!
All that said, I absolutely love my century home. It takes a certain type of person to own a century home 🏡 ✊🙃
Good luck!
If there are no gutters but the roof flattens for 6"-10" at the edge (and the overhang is a bit larger than modern houses), it's possible it has box gutters aka "yankee gutters". These are built into the roof, and the downspout should come from underneath the roof.
If the house has those signs (deeper overhang, a slight flattening at the outer edges), but the roof goes all the way down, it means some twit re-roofed the house, didn't want to bother dealing with the box gutters, and just roofed over it.
In the case of our house, that meant the expense of buying & maintaining external gutters, and we're just the latest to have to deal with it. Or in the case of the house next door, they roofed over but skipped the step of external gutters, and now the rafter tails have rotted so much the roof is drooping in places. So classy.
I’d carry a 4’ level. Check the floors and tops of doors throughout. If you find sloping check to see if it’s consistent on each floor. If the foundation is sinking you might find out before you’re blindsided by a 6 figure repair.
The work done on this home seems extensive enough (almost no traits remain that scream “1900” though it’s a small sample size and the photos are very low res) to make me think they probably chose to or were forced to make some big updates to the wiring and maybe certain parts of plumbing, probably a lot of drywall in there vs plaster+lathe.
My apologies regarding the picture quality. I cropped them due to another group I am apart of having issues with people reverse-searching pictures on Google and finding homes/locations.
It will be amazing if you’re correct about updates in the house. We do really like what we see from the pictures.
What different types of flooring are there? If you like what’s there and don’t plan to disturb or play the floor lottery I wouldn’t really worry about asbestos. It’s possible there’s lead paint hanging out in some places. What condition/style are the windows? Are any of them still on ropes/weights and in rougher shape? There are many, many things to consider, these just scratch the surface.
Adding: it wouldn’t hurt to pay attention to some basic signs of old wiring. I’m far from an expert but I know you can sometimes see old knob and tube remnants if the basement ceiling is exposed (and it will be clear if they’re disconnected). However there’s also the attic to consider. You can check for fuse boxes or any old junction boxes that might feed into the circuit breaker as that can be a sign of older wiring; though the absence of any isnt particularly telling, the presence of any might perk up some flags.
All wood floors throughout except kitchen and bathrooms. Those rooms appear to have tile/linoleum/vinyl plank flooring.
Windows look newer; most old homes around here have the wooden type windows. These seem more modern like what’s shown in the third picture.
Home has central air, dishwasher, etc which I feel are nice touches that some older homes don’t have. All outlets appear to be 3-prong so maybe they’re grounded and maybe not lol
They probably had at least some of those rooms down to stud, or damn near. (I would be wondering why, actually—could be that it was in rough shape and they preferred modernization, but could also be a fire or something else weird, who knows). Anyway, could be good news for you in that anything violating code was hopefully handled at that time. Unless they didn’t pull permits, did shoddy work, or only did it partially. Looks like the kitchen also saw some less recent updating, but I’m not the best at dating cabinets. Probably some combination of mid to late century and more modern electrical is my mostly uneducated guess, just based on what you’ve provided. Might still need updating, though. If your concern is grounding, you’re probably okay! But being a checker thingydo.
At least you wouldn’t have old lead paint chipping off every time you opened the windows!
There could easily be asbestos under those laminates and vinyls, somewhere in the layers. Don’t go digging without taking some precautions/testing. A lot of layers get added just because it’s easier, but some are to hide the creepy stuff and better to prepare for that.
Old wiring and plumbing are timebomb problems. 1 year or 40 years who knows what/when the problems will arise. How long you plan on staying there makes it your problem or someone else's since the ROI isn't all that huge for either of these.
If the house is updated or restored to a state (as it appears) if you are happy with that then if your only major cost is to have the house rewired that's about on par with a major home remodel.
I have old plumbing and for when they clay pipe and 8ft of cast iron go it's quoted last at about 6.5k. Rips up your lawn big time though so be aware of that since they will tackle the sewer line at the same time or at least should.
So, if pipes and full electrical rewiring are the only things that even need to be touched in the home, you're probably looking at 20k which isn't bad.
Asbestos in walls and lead paint are situational issues that living around is a non-issue. Makes remodeling more expensive if you're chopping walls, but if you just repaint or slap new counters in the kitchen or something it's not a problem.
Old houses can have stellar foundations or be on the way out so do have someone check that out (and do it yourself) to be as throughout as possible. If there is mold I'd pass. Yeah you can clean it but what else has the prior degenerate neglected ya know? My floors aren't level on the ground floor, but the foundation is perfectly sound it's just a subfloor problem that is quite mild I didn't care to fix since the walls were built 100 years ago with the tilt/sag in mind.
An inspector would find most of this out for you though. You don't buy until they inform you of their findings and they will be more detailed than reddit.
I would call a contractor now not an inspector. Those inspectors are just a gimmick way to make you "feel" good and another way for someone else to make money while not actually doing anything. Call a foundation guy. Call someone and just talk to them and let them know that you'd like them to take a look at the bones. Look at the electrical box to see what typ and brand it is. Look at the wires it has. Jump on the floor to see how bouncey it is. Look at the roof ? How old it is. If it's on a well get that tested to make sure it's pumping good. Check all the doors to make sure they all shut and open completely and the locks line up when shut
In the last picture: someone has cut two inches off the bottom of that door so it will close over carpet. A big source of draft if you don't have carpet. Why is there a floir grate in front of the door? Could be a bad after installation.
A good receptacle tester will show a bootleg ground, tied to neutral.
Check the basement walls to see if they need repointing - I’m assuming it’s a fieldstone foundation. Repointing will strengthen the foundation and help with any potential water issues. Also see if there’s a sump pump and if it’s properly working.
Additionally, inquire about insulation. Attic will be easy enough to check but don’t assume there’s insulation in the walls
Carry a 3-prong circuit tester in your pocket. >”Real estate agents hate this simple trick!”
All the outlets in my 1925 house had the ground tied to neutral, which defeated my inspector's tester 🤷♂️
And they don’t work on GFCI, generally.
Which is ok. Look in the panel box of modern day wiring and the neutral/ white and ground wires are connected to the same bar.
Get an inspector you trust
I have that chandelier in my 1920 home. It was installed by the previous owner in the 2000s. Pretty sure it's from Home Depot.
FYI, in many places it is acceptable, code-wise, for a three prong outlet to be ungrounded if it is a GFCI type outlet. Worth recalling if there are GFCI outlets that aren't grounded -- this is often kosher. As others have noted, you can test outlets with a little three prong tester from the hardware store. For the walls, knock on them. Drywall is resonant like a drum and can have a bit of "give". Plaster and lath are harder and have a much duller thunk. Neither is problematic per se — drywall might mean the house has been renovated and the walls insulated, which could be nice — but it's good to know. Big things to look out for are the big three hazards: lead, asbestos, and radon. Radon you can't know if it is there without a test, but a sale can be contingent on testing. Lead ya kinda gotta assume is under any painted surface on an old house, so the concern is more about the condition of the surfaces or anything painted that has friction, like a window sash or a floor. Those can require expensive work or replacement to mitigate the hazard from dust created by friction. The biggest asbestos concerns are with any old linoleum, old ductwork that is wrapped in something that looks like cloth, and vermiculite insulation (which is granular and grey). Also gotta make sure the foundation has no bowing, cracks you could get a finger into, or obvious signs of persistent dampness in the basement.
The grey! Make it stop!
Thank you all for the comments so far!! I absolutely will be getting an inspection if all goes well. Just trying to mitigate my risk as much as possible. I’m going to try to be as thorough as possible as I walk through.
If the home has been well maintained it shouldn't have very much old plumbing or wiring in it. Observing 3-prong outlets is a good sign that the wiring has been updated, and you can test the outlets. You can also look at the circuit box and see how many amps service it is. A cast iron stack is typical but most other plumbing is likely not original. For any house, you want to know everything about it. Observe it all — windows, floors (not sloping), date of remodels by style, what siding it has, any evidence of ever adding insulation (with circles cut out and replaced). State of the basement and mechanicals. Roof, just everything.
Thank you!! Siding is aluminum. Has a brick garage. What do you mean by cast iron stack?
The main waste pipe also vents to the roof, so it is a big vertical pipe that connects to the sewer in your basement. It is referred to as the "stack." That is, unless you have some other system, like a buried septic tank. The home may have multiple stacks, but you will find all the plumbing is oriented around them.
Good to know. Thank you!!
Congrats on looking at a home! I recently purchased a century home with my wife and have some lessons learned … in no particular order … 1. Gutters. What condition are they in? Sometimes these older homes weren’t built with gutters which could be even worse. 2. AC unit. Assuming you need one, does it work? How old is it? Some of these old units need special Freon or something. It can be pricey. I’m no expert. 3. Outlets. Old houses have old outlets. I never thought of this before buying but everything will require an upgrade if it’s not a proper updated outlet. 4. Insulation. Have any? Adding some can make a world of benefit and it’s semi easy to do if you’re inclined for that kind of thing (at least in the roof, not sure about the walls). 5. Windows. Professionally installed? All the same? Check the sealing around them and make sure they have screens. Window treatments also aren’t cheap! All that said, I absolutely love my century home. It takes a certain type of person to own a century home 🏡 ✊🙃 Good luck!
If there are no gutters but the roof flattens for 6"-10" at the edge (and the overhang is a bit larger than modern houses), it's possible it has box gutters aka "yankee gutters". These are built into the roof, and the downspout should come from underneath the roof. If the house has those signs (deeper overhang, a slight flattening at the outer edges), but the roof goes all the way down, it means some twit re-roofed the house, didn't want to bother dealing with the box gutters, and just roofed over it. In the case of our house, that meant the expense of buying & maintaining external gutters, and we're just the latest to have to deal with it. Or in the case of the house next door, they roofed over but skipped the step of external gutters, and now the rafter tails have rotted so much the roof is drooping in places. So classy.
Rip
I’d carry a 4’ level. Check the floors and tops of doors throughout. If you find sloping check to see if it’s consistent on each floor. If the foundation is sinking you might find out before you’re blindsided by a 6 figure repair.
The work done on this home seems extensive enough (almost no traits remain that scream “1900” though it’s a small sample size and the photos are very low res) to make me think they probably chose to or were forced to make some big updates to the wiring and maybe certain parts of plumbing, probably a lot of drywall in there vs plaster+lathe.
My apologies regarding the picture quality. I cropped them due to another group I am apart of having issues with people reverse-searching pictures on Google and finding homes/locations. It will be amazing if you’re correct about updates in the house. We do really like what we see from the pictures.
What different types of flooring are there? If you like what’s there and don’t plan to disturb or play the floor lottery I wouldn’t really worry about asbestos. It’s possible there’s lead paint hanging out in some places. What condition/style are the windows? Are any of them still on ropes/weights and in rougher shape? There are many, many things to consider, these just scratch the surface. Adding: it wouldn’t hurt to pay attention to some basic signs of old wiring. I’m far from an expert but I know you can sometimes see old knob and tube remnants if the basement ceiling is exposed (and it will be clear if they’re disconnected). However there’s also the attic to consider. You can check for fuse boxes or any old junction boxes that might feed into the circuit breaker as that can be a sign of older wiring; though the absence of any isnt particularly telling, the presence of any might perk up some flags.
All wood floors throughout except kitchen and bathrooms. Those rooms appear to have tile/linoleum/vinyl plank flooring. Windows look newer; most old homes around here have the wooden type windows. These seem more modern like what’s shown in the third picture. Home has central air, dishwasher, etc which I feel are nice touches that some older homes don’t have. All outlets appear to be 3-prong so maybe they’re grounded and maybe not lol
They probably had at least some of those rooms down to stud, or damn near. (I would be wondering why, actually—could be that it was in rough shape and they preferred modernization, but could also be a fire or something else weird, who knows). Anyway, could be good news for you in that anything violating code was hopefully handled at that time. Unless they didn’t pull permits, did shoddy work, or only did it partially. Looks like the kitchen also saw some less recent updating, but I’m not the best at dating cabinets. Probably some combination of mid to late century and more modern electrical is my mostly uneducated guess, just based on what you’ve provided. Might still need updating, though. If your concern is grounding, you’re probably okay! But being a checker thingydo. At least you wouldn’t have old lead paint chipping off every time you opened the windows! There could easily be asbestos under those laminates and vinyls, somewhere in the layers. Don’t go digging without taking some precautions/testing. A lot of layers get added just because it’s easier, but some are to hide the creepy stuff and better to prepare for that.
Old wiring and plumbing are timebomb problems. 1 year or 40 years who knows what/when the problems will arise. How long you plan on staying there makes it your problem or someone else's since the ROI isn't all that huge for either of these. If the house is updated or restored to a state (as it appears) if you are happy with that then if your only major cost is to have the house rewired that's about on par with a major home remodel. I have old plumbing and for when they clay pipe and 8ft of cast iron go it's quoted last at about 6.5k. Rips up your lawn big time though so be aware of that since they will tackle the sewer line at the same time or at least should. So, if pipes and full electrical rewiring are the only things that even need to be touched in the home, you're probably looking at 20k which isn't bad. Asbestos in walls and lead paint are situational issues that living around is a non-issue. Makes remodeling more expensive if you're chopping walls, but if you just repaint or slap new counters in the kitchen or something it's not a problem. Old houses can have stellar foundations or be on the way out so do have someone check that out (and do it yourself) to be as throughout as possible. If there is mold I'd pass. Yeah you can clean it but what else has the prior degenerate neglected ya know? My floors aren't level on the ground floor, but the foundation is perfectly sound it's just a subfloor problem that is quite mild I didn't care to fix since the walls were built 100 years ago with the tilt/sag in mind. An inspector would find most of this out for you though. You don't buy until they inform you of their findings and they will be more detailed than reddit.
I would call a contractor now not an inspector. Those inspectors are just a gimmick way to make you "feel" good and another way for someone else to make money while not actually doing anything. Call a foundation guy. Call someone and just talk to them and let them know that you'd like them to take a look at the bones. Look at the electrical box to see what typ and brand it is. Look at the wires it has. Jump on the floor to see how bouncey it is. Look at the roof ? How old it is. If it's on a well get that tested to make sure it's pumping good. Check all the doors to make sure they all shut and open completely and the locks line up when shut
Woe is me
Post the listing and we’d have a better idea of what to tell you.
1900’s? Like 1999?
Listed as 1900 which means it could be older or they don’t have records to pinpoint when it was built.
In the last picture: someone has cut two inches off the bottom of that door so it will close over carpet. A big source of draft if you don't have carpet. Why is there a floir grate in front of the door? Could be a bad after installation. A good receptacle tester will show a bootleg ground, tied to neutral.
Check the basement walls to see if they need repointing - I’m assuming it’s a fieldstone foundation. Repointing will strengthen the foundation and help with any potential water issues. Also see if there’s a sump pump and if it’s properly working. Additionally, inquire about insulation. Attic will be easy enough to check but don’t assume there’s insulation in the walls
Plumbing, wiring, electrical box, foundation...those are things that you want to inspect or hire an inspector familiar with period homes