Welcome, pine! That is a nice house--I'm guessing 1910s-20s? Of course, we are dying for interior pictures--it is great to get before and after images for projects!

We are a helpful bunch, and look forward to hearing more of your progress and will help with any problems as much as we can.

Great house, Pine; welcome to the forum.

Thanks y'all. It was built in 1913. I'll see about setting up a blog so I can post pictures. We've just pulled up the indoor/outdoor carpet in half the downstairs and are studying on how to get up the 30 year old disintegrated padding and glue. The floors are beautiful underneath and have a shellac finish that we'd really like to preserve. The house has never been updated and we're very excited that we don't have to undo a lot of silly stuff.

I've made a blog: 339wpine.wordpress.com. I'll start posting stuff and see what happens.

Here is a link that might be useful: 339 W. Pine Blog

Welcome! Your house is a stunner.

about that carpet glue, you might try orange oil:

This is from an old thread:

"we had to get a tile adhesive similar to yours off a floor. we tried 3 things: the super-duper toxic stripper (can't remember brand, but it was probably full of methylene chloride or toluene or something great like that), the "safer" stripper, and 100% orange oil. I thought: the toxic stuff will work the best, the safer stripper less so, and the non-toxic orange oil will work poorly or not at all.
The orange oil did the best job! couldn't believe it. But if you use it, be aware of combustion issues with the rags. you don't want to pile them up. Spread them out outside to evaporate so you don't burn your building down.

plus it smells great and is fine for wood. Just let it evaporate before you go to the next finishing step.

we ordered ours by the gallon from the real milk paint co. Use it for all sorts of things.

Absolutely gorgeous!! I'm jealous! (But not of the work ahead of you!)

Here is a link that might be useful: Our 1890 Victorian project.

339, your house is amazing! Mine is a tiny tiny little box and it's challenging to say the least. May I ask what it was used for prior to
you acquiring it? I noticed the EXIT sign.

question for those more knowledgeable than me -- this house has the typical trim with a dark brown finish. was this finish originally dark brown or does it darken with time?

I'd say it's a mixture of both, civ. A dark varnish covered with shellac, which will darken with age. I'd like to see closer pictures of the woodwork with a brighter light to double-check though.

Hey Y'all, Thanks for all the responses. The house was used as a daycare for many years prior to our buying it. We've done a ton of work in the last couple weeks and have years more left to do. We'll be moving in next Friday and can only hope we get the water on. Heat would be a great Christmas present! There'll be plenty more pictures, tons of questions, and moaning and groaning before it's all over.

I cannot WAIT to see what you do with the place. It's got lovely bones. You have a lot of work ahead of you, but what a gem you'll have when you're done!

It's gonna take a lot of "Mexican Coke"s to get this done! Been there...done that. I restored a 1940's Coke machine for my house...I'll bet you get one too!

Hi Pine. You have a lovely new old home! Our home is 1913 too (although a much smaller bungalow). You are so fortunate that the home hasn't been remuddled! Neither was ours, but given our work-lives and our budget we've been working on her 20 years! I wish you good fortune, strong muscles, endurance and much patience. The people on this forum are a great help. I'll be interested to watch your restoration as it unfolds!
-kim

Hi Pine! What a great adventure! We have a 4500 sq ft Dutch Colonial from 1912. We did not live in it for 4 years as we gutted half of it and did all the hardwood floors in the whole house. It took me a year to strip the staircase of 3 stories. It was a lot of work. My passion was much greater than my husband. He hung in there for me. We were finally done with the 'dirty' work and moved in. We are still working on things.... Tile in kitchen, new hardware, painting rooms and kitchen cabinets.....blah,blah,blah....it doesn't end. Even though we still have more, the hardest and dirtiest stuff is done. I won't lie....there have been many times when I have thought this venture was not worth the time or money. But then, when I look around at the areas that are done and decorated.....wow! It is beautiful and it makes me soooo proud. It is definitely a labor of love. Good luck....have fun with it! Your house is and will be beautiful!!!!