When this Federal was built in the early 1800's (I believe 1809) who would have ever dreamed that we would be blogging about it in 2010? Our town of Chillicothe, Ohio (Ohio's First Capital) has a wonderful mix of beautiful early American architecture. We are no strangers to old houses (this Federal will be our 5th, but, by far, our oldest and most needy!). It endured a fire about 5 years ago, and has been patiently waiting for someone to come along and restore it as closely as possible back to its original beauty. We took ownership on 02/22/10, with high hopes of saving it. We are currently taking out those materials that can be recycled, and trying to clean up the rubble left from the fire, which is exactly what we need to go do more of now!
Starting a project like that is perhaps the hardest part. It's not easy to get going.
ReplyDelete1) Clean up & assess - this is where you are now. Removing the debris so you can see what's going on with her. Part of your assessment should be calling in a structural engineer to make sure she's still sound. If not, he should be able to make recommendations on what to do to fix her.
2) Structure - Make sure that you can work on the building safely and that she can be occupied again in safety. Once you do that, you're ready to move on.
3) Dried In - A contract term meaning that the shell is weather tight. Roof, windows, etc. need to be closed up next to keep rain, animals, etc. out.
4) Repair - This is where you start to salvage what you can/want to from the interior.
5) Replace & Upgrade - This is where you get to start bringing in modern changes.