All The Structural Things I Have To Fix In My Very Old House 

vicariously living my dreams of home ownership through these videos

The windows, if you save them, you can design a greenhouse with them. Quality doesn't really matter when building a greenhouse as long as they don't leak.

I love “the year of” mentality when it comes to structural stuff. I’m going to start doing that. This year for me is “the year of foundation repair”. It’s been difficult and expensive, but I’m so happy it’s finally getting done!

The way you describe things and tell the story of your home is so amazing. It’s colorful and delightful and engaging and hilarious. My best wishes for you and your home.

Ariel, as a longtime viewer and lover of your house content, I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say KEEP UP THE SPONSORED CONTENT!

I am looking forward to the year of the spooky room. 👻 That room has so much potential.

A lot of times, old windows are drafty because the glazing needs to be redone (the material that actually seals the glass to the wood frame). If you can find a glazier or someone who works on old buildings, it can be redone and you can keep your home’s original windows and take care of the draft.

Just a recommendation: I live in Maine and we have hard winters similar to you, and when we updated our heating supply in our house we got heat pumps and also a backup propane heater (the most efficient one we could find). Although we use the heat pump 95% of the time, in the dead of winter they do not run efficiently… at all. The propane heater has saved our home from frozen pipes and kept us warm many a times.

I'm impressed that the plumbing/septic were all good considering the state of electric. It was knob and tube wiring, yeah? That's been considered dangerous for so long. Although I guess it's easier to ignore shoddy wiring that hasn't burned the house down yet versus poop backing up into the house. Lol. Also, you have to keep the costs in perspective. Yeah, $25k for a roof is wild... But a good metal roof can last like 50 years. $500/year, on the other hand, sounds like a bargain for a safe roof. I've renovated or helped renovate a bunch of houses and I wouldn't have considered a single structural issue you encountered to be a deal breaker. Old houses are old. This just goes with the territory. If the oil tank for the furnace were buried or leaking, that would be a deal breaker for me, but only bc they aren't common where I live so they're VERY expensive to clean up. In terms of eco friendly, you literally salvaged a house and made it financeable, adding it back into the real estate market. You basically reduced, reused, and recycled an entire house. That's huge and shouldn't be undervalued.

As a German hearing “I never open the windows” actually hurt me physically 😂

"I need you to help me install a light up here. And rewire the entire upstairs." That's homeownership in a nutshell. So many things to keep track of and pay for. Thank you for being open and honest about what things cost and how you're doing it all. It's strange, how personally we all take money, even though it's (in my head) one of the most impersonal things in the world.

never clicked faster on a video notification!! bissett withdrawal is real lo

I think it’s so responsible of you to put your own wants aside in order to put money into the house and save it! And the fact that you have the years planned out shows how committed you are, the house will thank you one day!!❤ someday all your hard work and sacrifices will pay off.

Yes!!!!!! I am so excited to hear you recognize that old houses were drafty to make them last!!!! As a person obsessed with old house "technology" it warms my heart to hear someone with an old house understand why it's drafty and not just insulate and wonder where the mold came from

You are just so funny Ariel! And I love your little animations and timeline drawings! They’re so perfect! Can’t wait until you write a graphic novel about this house journey 😉

Our house is from the 1850's too, and has all the fun old house charm. I was so excited when I had to re-plaster some sections of wall and saw the horse hair in the original plaster 😂. It's just so neat how things were done! Thankfully the knob and tube was replaced just a year before we bought it, but we still only have 1 outlet in a lot of rooms for now. I love old houses!

You Need a Woodstove. You dont have to use it for heating, but you should have it for emergencies. Get one installed. (you will thank me 1000 times over when the grid goes down in a storm.) Especially if you are going to change to electric baseboards. btw if you do that, make sure they are controlled from the thermostat, not on the individual baseboards.

Your videos are always such a delight. I get to settle in with a cozy cup of tea and watch all the updates on your house! The structural stuff is just as interesting as the fun decorative bits are. Also, love the nails :)

The shortage of contractors is almost insane. I am fortunate that my father and grandfather were able to teach the people in the family who were willing to learn how to do framing, sheetrock, cabinetry, electrical, plumbing and anything else that comes with building a house. And because of that I've been able to help friends and family with renovations.

There are clear acrylic window covers with magnetic strips you can put over the windows as a temporary fix for insulation. Easy to put on and remove.

Okay but the sound of rain on a roof is the most calming thing, so showing it off drying be rain makes the most sense lmao

Ariel!! I bought a house last month that was built in the 40’s and I feel like your videos have helped to prepare me mentally for the challenge that is making it a home 💗 it can easily get overwhelming but I’ve loved how you tackle one small project at a time and now I can totally relate!

Love watching you talk about how you are working on the house over time. I live in a house built in 1910, and I know it needs a lot done to it. Media examples only ever show homes getting done in one big gut job (possibly a few big restoration examples) and that's so unrealistic for many people. Plus, my thinking about these projects is often in line with yours. It is reassuring and you've given me great ideas for how to think about projects.

"i never open the windows" *is absolutely horrified in german* b-but what about lüften? loved the video though and hearing about structural issues with your old house!

My Granny's house is one of the original cottages in a village just outside of York in England and she had single pane windows too. She had extra panes applied in front of the existing panes that slide open to access the original windows - so that is completely possible!!

I was having a terrible morning and then saw that Ariel had uploaded. DAY INSTANTLY BETTER! No more Bissett blues.

I love that you have a title for each of these years! “This is the year electricity” makes me think of Chinese zodiac signs! 💛💛💛

For the windows, you should consider windows quilts. It’s basically a curtain or blind that is insulated. 1 layer quilt, 1 layer insulation, 1 layer Vapor barrier, 1 layer insulation, 1 layer quilt. I’m going to do this for my single pane windows.

I am 70 years old and grew up in a very old house in the Panhandle of TX. I loved my old house a lot and wish I could have same home today. It was built in mid 1910's or early 1920's It was a lovely craftsman!. The house I live in now was built about 30 years ago...but in the countryside!....I wanted to give you an Idea and I so hope that you see this I am writing. Our indoor electrical panel is in a very small 1/2 bath and I covered the grey ugly door with a "printer's tray" .. check out 2nd hand stores or antique shops....you should be able to find one...I have a lot of them from my treasure hunting...I have tons of old sample wallpaper books from hardware type stores and used them for cutting small pieces to fit in the tray here and there to brighten it up....i then put small trinkets ...sorta like you miniature furniture....People remark how cute this simple thing is ....a lot!!

I can't believe it's been nearly 3 years! Always enjoy these updates. 😊

To the Year of Electricity! May your outlets be plentiful and your lights shine bright ❤️ (Also as a tangent, my family bought a 150+ year old house in NS 20 years ago [in Cape Breton] and everything you've gone through so far with your house has given me war flashbacks from when my fam dealt with the exacttttt same issues. So thanks for that 😂) Looking forward to seeing the big issues solved, and seeing the kitchen complete!!!!

I am seriously emotionally attached to what will happen to the creepy room.

Moving from the west coast to east is a shock. I moved from northern California to Maine. If I can impart anything from my 6 six years of experience is this: keep that furnace, but not on. You can get rid of the oil, but always keep a reserve of wood for the just in case scenerio. I can't count the number of times we hace lost power for about 12-24 hours. The weather systems here in the northeast is very different. Check with your neighbors how often they loose power in the winter to give you an idea. Also, find out how often that river floods, and how high. I live rite on the Kennebec and the realtor said ya their was a small flood. But when i found out how high the water actually got, oof. It passed the house, the street, the school, and i would not have known if i hadn't seen the tell tail stain on a wall inside the firehouse when it was used for a city function. So, ya, find out who's lived in the area the longest and see what they can tell you, and ask if they would trust the local power company to keep them warm throughout the winter. I heard people talking when i first go to maine, about the 'wicked' nor-easter. Never under estimate the winter weather patterns comming off the great-lakes headin northeast. Saftey first,...and second, ...and maybe third. I learnrd the hard way: never rely on a single source of life saving amenities like heat or the ability to boil water/cook. Just stay safe.

You should make Christmas ornaments or something with the old fuses 😊

We renovated our house built in 1819, and had to redo all of these things as well (except the roof). We ended up going with indows (window inserts) to save our beautiful old windows on the front of the house. But there is actually a lot you can do to repair old windows without inserts: reglazing, rehanging the rope/weights, and a lot of it is diy-able if you have the time. For out heat pump we ended up going with the daikin brand with a multihead system. Even if you have ducting in the house, it wasn't built for modern heating/ac and all the multi-head systems are SOO much more efficient. Some of these brands might be different in Canada, as I'm in the US but best of luck and ping me if you have any questions :)

Look into air source heat pump and ground source heat pumps they are very efficient these days and can work at temperatures down to like -20 degrees Celsius and they are good for the environment too

Haha I remember those old fuses. I remember being sent down to the hardware store to buy some new ones. My dad would be so royally annoyed when we blew a fuse. Because yes, you did actually blow the fuse. There was no throwing a switch. You had to replace the fuse. We had bags of them. My mother was infamous for overloading a circuit (she really loves decorative mood lamps) so my dad liked to keep them on hand. He tried so many times to explain to my mother the particular load whatever house we were currently living in could handle. Or if a particularly bad storm rolled through, your fuses would blow and you’d have to replace them ….. that really brought back some fun/tense memories lol. And no, I’m not even that old. When a fuse gets blown in my house I still get that instant annoyed reaction …. Part of my brain still hasn’t updated to the fact that all it means is a quick trip down to the laundry room to throw the switch back on. And ya, we had a few fuse boxes down in a dank and creepy cellar like that, too. You’ll be so enormously happy to have that all done and to not have to go anywhere near that panel down in the nasty place 😂. I guess maybe it’s not as much a consideration from what you stated about the house but electrical heating can be really really drying. Unless it’s radiant floor heating .. which would be divine. Also, I’m sure you’ll hear this from those living around you if you’re in a more rural area in the Maritimes, I dunno if you wanna be reliant on the grid completely for your heating. Having some sort of wood/pellet backup at the very least would be a good idea. Many a winter I lived out there meant days and days without electricity in bitter cold, snowed into the house. Thank god we had a wood stove to warm ourselves and cook on. Just a thought ….

We used to spend a lot of christmases at our family farm in Norway when I was a kid. My grandmother always had seasonal curtains, thick wool ones for winter to take care of the draft from the older windows.

I remember when our neighbors in Portland Oregon paid $12,000 to have their three story 1910 painted in 1994. It was a huge what we call Old Portland and turned out very beautifully but we were all horrified it cost that much. My daughter just had her house painted in Seattle for $6,000…just as big but without that little third story on top and maybe there wasn’t any scraping going on. I used that plastic film (with a hairdryer to tighten it) over the old windows in our 1938 cottage and was amazed at how much it helped. Thought of putting it on the outside too but never got around to it. Also used sheers and matchstick blinds (on the outside) in our sunroom with newer windows to help keep the heat down…don’t have to have heavy dark drapes it’s the weave of the fabric that makes a difference. We also replaced the insulation when we resided (ourselves) that pink stuff doesn’t last forever. And finally planted trees on the south and west sides of the house…Japanese Maples and Clerodendrum trichotomum. Didn’t use air conditioning until it hit 95.

Wow, so much going on in your house! So glad it's coming along in digestible chunks and no emergencies have come up! There are actually flexible inserts that can be put on the inside or outside of your antique windows that serve as sort of an insulation barrier/ storm window protection. They're clear and they're easy to install and un-install. I love them in my 1921 home. For wall insulation - we didn't have any either - we had to tear down the interior back wall of the house and when we rebuilt it we installed rockwool in all the exposed walls. It is a fantastic sound barrier, has greatly improved the temp of those rooms, AND it's made of rocks - so it does not mold when wet. It's the only insulation I know that is made to get damp and dry out again which is what our houses need to be able to do. We're working on installing it in under the floors and in the attic as well - where we've done this (even with no wall insulation) the rooms are much warmer/cooler than before. For the big evil furnace. I have one too, but it's gas not the beast you have! I bought a mini-split compression system for DIYers in our garage from Costco - very affordable and easy to install myself. I did hire an electrician to connect the power though. Very effective so far. At some point I will replace the aircon and furnace in the main house with it them as well.

I really love your videos like this, that go through the whole process and may not necessarily be how to videos but still provide a lot of context. Hoping to become a homeowner myself and plan to buy a fixer upper so seeing all of this side of the process makes it feel a lot less daunting :)

as a german, the fact that you so casually just dropped that you never open your windows shocked me to my core

I lived in an old house that had storm windows, not the cheap aluminum storm windows, wood storm windows. Their was a space between the windows. That traps the cold and heat between the windows. It work perfect.

Thank you for inviting us into all this! I am so here for this project for years and years to come...it's just a wonderful thing!

While hear pumps can be great, I’d consider adding another heat source in case of a winter storm that knocks the electricity out. That is one thing you should consider with life in Canada!

We put mini-splits in on both ends of house, one up and one down at each end.

We also got our home in 2020. My parents know a lot after making repairs, upgrades, and general changes to their home over 35+ years of living there, and they've taught a lot in turn. When I get overwhelmed, though, I try to remind myself of these three things. 1. We have a house- that's the biggest thing out of the way. 2. As long as our water, septic, electricity, and heating work the way they're supposed to- we're going to be okay. 3. We have already made SO MANY improvements to our home! Take things as they come, to the best of your ability. It's okay to ask for help!

Idea for your windows, I’ve been binging Roaming Wild Rosie and she’s renovating a cabin in Europe. But her cabin also has very old single pane windows, but there they have ‘winter panes’ they add on in the cold months. Basically extra panes that you place on from the inside, and boom - you have double paned glass. Such a good idea, and saves the original windows.

The nice thing about wood heat is, you would never go without. In a case like the ice storm of 1998 in Montreal, look it up and you may think twice on relaying only on electric heat.

Here in Sweden its the oposite Wood is cheep and electricity is soo expensive.

"All the walls have an electrical outlet" Me: *you get an outllet, you get an outlet, you get an outlet* I just love how excited and happy you look/are about it^^

I'm looking at your furnace and thinking about what my inspector said when describing my water heater: "See that color? That's how you know it's vintage!" 😂

You've got new roof! Big thing! I'm so pround of you. It's a huge project, this house. But you are very very brave. Following dreams can be exhausting, but I cross my fingers and wish you all the best

This week has been one battle after another with my old house. The list of tasks keeps growing and it is so overwhelming. Everything you said is spot on. Your video is the centering and grounding I needed at the right time - thank you for the reminder that I am not alone and that it doesn't need to all be done at once. One day at a time. One project at a time. Keep up the good work.

If no body has told you yet, there's a temporary seasonal caulking that works really well for sealing old windows. I even use it as a temporary fix for windows that I haven't gotten to properly fix. . My house is a 1914 four square & still has original inside windows. Also hopefully you can buy the aluminum screen windows frames , build them or buy used etc. and instead of installing screens, use the window plastic on frame's and than place install them on the inside of your house window's. I hope this helps.

I too bought an old house in Nova Scotia and have an ancient furnace, fusebox instead of a breaker panel, etc. but I'm using the canada greener homes to fully upgrade my electrical panel and to heat pumps! Hope you're taking advantage of all the rebates and grants and stuff!! I feel you with all of this stuff so deeply, I also have to do some actual structural adjustments at some point - especially because I want to put a tub upstairs...I wish you all the luck going through all this!

When i was younger we lived in a house built in the 1880's. Every winter we bought this plastic that's essentially like big plastic wrap and some double-sided tape. Put the tape around the perimeter of the windows covered with the plastic, then used a blow dryer to shrink the plastic to make it taught. Worked like a charm! P.S. we had oil heating as well. Super expensive!

I just love your personality. You're so naturally funny and it's fun to listen to you.

The new roof looks fantastic! I'm glad our house was updated to somewhat modern plumbing and electricity. Knob and tube wiring can be a complicated fix. We have a 1910 Victorian home so I am getting lots of insight and inspo from your channel. Thank you so much. Great work 👍

Thank you for using my question ❤ I’m taking notes so I have a head start when I hopefully buy my own house one day. Ireland’s housing is in a terrible situation so I hope it can happen. 🇮🇪

I'm a 22 y/o recent grad with no intention of buying a house soon but I am so invested in this series 😂

The original owners may have been quite comfortable in their drafty house, due to better clothing than most of us own today. They likely wore lots of high-quality linen, cotton and wool and sometimes silk, in layers to suit the seasons.

i really like the our restoration nation channel for tips and tricks on restoring old houses. they're in the us south so idt they do much about heating in particular but they always work on old houses and have a ton of knowledge on how they were built to work and how to maintain that

Hi from PEI. We also have an old home with a 100W entrance panel. We have an oil furnace and, more recently, a heat pump. The 100 watts is not a problem. I should add that our hot water is heated by the furnace.

woodfibre insulation can "breathe" in a way thus being able to handle condensation :)

I clicked SO FAST! Love you and your videos🥰🫶🏼✨

Let's do a shout-out to your new hair cut! Love it so much! ❤

I knew too all the things about my 1840’s farmhouse we moved into dec 26 2020. We’ve made amazing progress. One thing that was good on ours was the roof on the main house! And they did do a decent job on the barn, which had condemned signs on it the year before. My son just had a quote just to re-support the deck, not rebuild. $23,000. Get the heck out. Never.

Thank you for this, I also have an older house that has sooo many repairs needed and I get down on myself at times because I want to do cosmetic updates but know I should save my money for the actual repairs. I love your game plan! I might start sectioning my repairs into years too! 😊

It's wonderful to start on your, perhaps, forever house, when you are young so you can enjoy it a long time.

Knob and tube wiring. Best to start from scratch. The improvements look amazing.

I absolutely loved hearing about these upgrades!! As expensive as they are, it's so cool that you get to choose the roof/how many plugs and where (and where you can put your stove and washer/dryer)/the kind of heating. And I love how you are planning on being strategic about insulation! Houses can get SO moldy when there isn't enough air flow, and in a lot of houses that are insulated to the teeth, they have dehumidifiers integrated into their HVAC systems. Thanks for explaining some of the more technical things that have been/need to be done! I enjoyed it!

Anytime you use a licensed contractor (which I thoroughly encourage), you can check their license through your state/province Contractors Board or Registars Board. Using a licensed contractor saves you from shoddy work (there's a compensation fund for that if needed) and there's typically a warranty of 2 or more years.

I don't know if you have gotten to the windows yet, but you might want to look into argon gas filled windows.They feature 2 panes of glass with argon gas trapped in between. They are very energy efficient. Also check to see if there is a window manufacturer near you. It may be a brand you have never heard of but because they are located in a close proximity to you they will be much less expensive than a name brand like Anderson.

Ariel, with all of these high cost projects when are you going to get to redoing your kitchen? Also, any design updates/intentions/ideas on your kitchen? (I loved the artists renderings!)

I grew up in a 1920s house, and we made our ancient windows work with exterior storm windows and new window tracks! When I was little there used to be a pulley and weights system built into the window frame (and they were sooo drafty). My parents eventually got them swapped out for the new tracks and it helped a bunch (we still occasionally used the interior plastic sheeting in the minnesota wintertime however!)

I am LIVING for the color grade you have going on here❤

You’re also sourcing so much great decor through Facebook marketplace! A very sustainable thing to do 😊

I'm really happy to hear about your successful rewiring of the upstairs and your plans to eventually have solar panels

I feel your pocket LOL in 2 1/2yrs I have had to replace furnace$$$$, hot water heater, cooler$$$, roof$$$$$, west side of house because of dry rot so more than just a cosmetic fix. I pray that my A/C holds out as all these fixes cost me almost every cent I had. I'm old so getting a job is not going to happen. Love your channel and all of your redo's

I've been watching for years and felt compelled to comment today. It's really cool to hear you speak about your house with understanding for its history and the skill with which it was built. With regards to windows - in the UK, secondary glazing (second layer of window inside the old one) is often used in historic buildings to preserve the exterior. It can cause ventilation/damp issues though if not done properly. There are loads of examples and resources online that guide building owners over here, maybe that could be helpful in Canada? 😊

I love how you have laid out a step by step plan. My parents house is 150 years old and they have fixed it up really nice. They did choose to put in insulation in the walls. Heat pumps struggle if you get cold winters and have drafty homes. I love our heat pump. We do have a wood burning stove for emergencies. I don’t know if they make them the same in Canada or if you have had one before but our bills seemed higher and suddenly shot up when our heat pump had an issue. Like our electric went from 350 a month to 1000. I cried lol. I learned to set your emergency heat as low as possible because it quickly sends your electric usage higher and to get it checked if there is any price difference in your monthly bill and don’t wait

I am SO THRILLED to fined your videos on your DIY projects 🥹 as a 26 year old hoping and planing and preparing to buy a house next year this is extremely inspiring to watch!! Knowing that I’ll most likely need to purchase a fixer Ive been obsessively absorbing info on home ownership and was so excited to see you posting this stuff!!! I haven’t watch your vids in awhile so one I saw you pop up o was like OMG THE BOOK ARIEL IS A DIYER!!!!!!?? Can’t wait to watch this home evolve! CHEERS to the year of Electric lololol

My grandparents used to put storm windows on in the Fall, and take them off in the spring and replace them with window screens.

Welcome back!!!

Aaaaaaaayyyyyoooo lets go, new vid baby!

15:26 My grandma's house has really old windows so she added a second sort of window on the inside that can slide to the side of need be! It's definitely doable to do something like that. I can try find a picture if you'd like one

your videos always give me such a warm and cozy feeling :)

I wish I had a house like this at your age haha it's so pretty and you'll have your entire 30s to enjoy a brand new beautiful house, which is lovely ❤

We have a big beast of a circa 1930 oldie classic home, it came with TWO oil furnaces to heat her! We just switched to heat pumps (yes 2 yikes!) that run through our existing forced air duct work, and they work like a charm. The (Canadian) feds have a zero % finance loan right now for switching. In a world of expensive, zero % is unheard of. This, on top of the rebates, make it so maybe you could do it along side of your electrical year?! We had knob and tube wiring and had to re-wire the whole house. Now THAT was a bill oi! I love what you're doing. Keep going!

Have you decided on a kitchen design?

Always happy when I find one of your videos to watch!

Love your vids and yr bubbly personality, you are a ray of sun shine.

So well spoken, I love listening to you talk through plans and house renovations 😊

just finished a live in flip we gutted to the studs and I Love love love the HomeRenovision channel on here!

"Get to know your local trades community" honestly sounds like an amazing way to plug into your community. Like, as soon as you have a friend, you have someone who will tell you ALL the details. Also---are you able to get hydroelectric where you are? That would be a neat option if available (no judgement on that: I live in Kentucky... coal is still unfortunately ubiquitous here).

I love this video and we neeeeeed updates. Also! Get those sponsorships 👏👏👏❤️💜

Ariel, please do another video ranking first lines!! I love them so much 😄

I’m renovating an old-ish (1950’s) house in Canada as well! It’s nice to hear about your journey alongside mine!

I am a lover of antique houses. I am so glad that you respect the construction of your house, and that you understand it was not created to be weather tight. Here are some things you can do to make your house more toasty and less drafty. You will be pleasantly surprised at how effective just reglazing your old windows will achieve less draft. You can also get what are called storm windows, which are basically a window that fits snugly against your exterior window, giving you an extra pane of glass. If you lived in a more temperate region this wouldn't be necessary. You can also get heavier thick drapes This adds a layer of warmth. You can also take plastic sheets and put them over the doors to rooms you do not use. If you are really ambitious you can close off entire sections of your home that are unused. My mom plastic sheeting at the top of the stairs. We only heated the part of the house we lived in. You can use window AC units in your bedroom and main living area. It doesn't get that hot where you live, so having one or two rooms with AC can be a way to keep your bill down. I would suggest using a swamp cooler. The draftiness of your house would actually help your evaporative cooler work more efficiently.