Old house tales

Finding the age of an old house isn't as easy as you might think.
By REBECCA SLOAN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
F YOUR OLD HOUSE COULD TALK, imagine the stories it would tell.
Years of secret history would magically unfold, and mysteries would be solved.
You could get the scoop on former inhabitants and find out if that rumor about the Underground Railroad has any merit.
And you could learn who built your house and when it was built.
No longer could your silent, century home conceal its age like a 40-something lady who contends she's 35 on every birthday.
If you live in an old house and often wonder about its exact age, you're not alone. Unfortunately, determining when an old house was built can prove elusive.
Dates recorded on purchase agreements frequently conflict with architectural styles and local lore.
"A lot of people rely on the date written on their home's title, but just because a year-built date is written on a piece of official paperwork doesn't mean it's accurate," said Martha Toomey of Hunter-Stevens Land Title Agency in Canfield.
"Title agencies are only required to go back 60 to 100 years when they are doing a title search, so if your home was built earlier, the actual date of construction might not be the date written on your paperwork."
In addition to old titles, there are other documents homeowners can sift through, but those paper trails may also lead nowhere or prove deceptive.
"You can look up old tax records or property deeds, but those records might not indicate if an original home was torn down or destroyed by fire and a new house was built on the property," Toomey said.
"You might think you're living in a house that was built in 1830 when in reality, the original house was torn down and a new one was built in 1860."
Similar to genealogy
Bill Nicholas, chief appraiser at the Trumbull County auditor's office, said dating an old house can "really get tough."
"It's kind of like doing genealogy. You keep looking for clues and keep trying to follow a trail, but you might hit a dead end," he said.
The good news is that despite the dead ends and despite the fact that old houses can't speak up and tell you their birth year, an old home's construction offers numerous clues about its age.
You just have to know what to look for.
Chris Klingemier of Hartford, who is currently working on his thesis in historical preservation at Youngstown State University, is a sort of old-house detective.
"I've been fascinated by old houses since I was a boy," said 49-year-old Klingemier.
Klingemier, who lives in a circa-1828 home that was once a tavern, enjoys investigating other folks' old houses and helping them figure out when their home was built.
He doesn't charge a fee for his historical analysis, but he does ask that a donation be made to the Trumbull County Historical Society.
Although Klingemier is knowledgeable about all types of old architecture found in northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, he specializes in structures built before 1840.
The first place Klingemier looks when trying to date an old home is the basement.
"The way beams and floor joists were cut can tell you what time period the home was built," he said.
For example, vertical saw marks are earlier than circular saw marks.
"Water-powered verticle saws were used until the 1860s. Circular saws weren't introduced until after 1830 and were water- or steam-powered," Klingemier said.
The patterns made by the old-time saws indicate if the wood was cut with water power or steam power.
"Wood that was cut using steam power displays a very consistent pattern, while the pattern seen on wood that was cut with water power is not as consistent," Klingemier said.
Though hand-hewn beams indicate very early work, they do not necessarily mean your home was constructed before the Civil War.
"Often beams were hand hewn because they were too large to drag to the sawmill. People continued to cut beams in this fashion all the way up to the early 1900s," Klingemier said.
While looking in a home's basement, Klingemier also tries to determine where the home's original fireplaces were located and if the entire home was built all at once or if wings were added later.
Often, old houses expanded gradually as rooms were added to accommodate growing families.
A large addition might have been the result of a sudden inheritance or a change in ownership. Establishing an ownership time line for your home can also help piece this puzzle together.
"Check old records to find out who moved in and when they moved in, when they got married and when they passed away. For example, if an older person died and left a large inheritance to a younger person, you might discover that an addition was added to the home during this time or that the home was remodeled. Or if a son or daughter got married and the home was passed to them, it might have undergone changes during this time," Klingemier said.
A home's foundation can also offer clues as to when it was constructed.
Fieldstone foundations were common all the way up until 1910, but brick foundations were not as common on earlier homes because brick was more costly.
"That doesn't mean a very old house can't have a brick foundation," Klingemier said. "It just depends on how much money the builders had."
After Klingemier investigates the basement, he heads for the attic and looks for more clues.
Even if your home has new asphalt shingles, old roofing materials might lie beneath the new and be visible.
"Wooden shingles were used up until the Civil War, and then slate roofs became popular," Klingemier said.
About nails
The types of nails used to construct your old house can also offer clues.
Square nails were used until the 1840s and 1850s. After that, wire nails were introduced.
But Klingemier said nails aren't always a good indication of age because, "Square nails and wire nails can exist side by side until as late as 1905."
Plaster and lath also provide clues.
Most early lath was hand split and is sometimes called accordion lath.
After the advent of the circular saw, machine-cut lath became popular. Although machine-cut lath is rough, the slats are more uniform in thickness and width than hand-split lath.
Machine-cut lath remained popular until after 1880. About 1900, wire-mesh lath was introduced.
While learning more about the age of their old house, most homeowners also like to learn more about their house's original layout.
Since most old homes have belonged to many families and have been altered or remodeled more than once, you may have to peel back layers of flooring, paint or paneling to find the face of the original house.
New carpet may conceal the home's original hardwood flooring and its original floor patterns.
"Old floor patterns will help reveal the original layout of a house," Klingemier said.
Drop ceilings might conceal the home's original ceiling height, and layers of paint might conceal the type of wood the home's original woodwork was fashioned from.
Opening doors
Old doors also offer clues.
Look closely for marks left behind by original hardware. If your house was built before the Civil War, the original hardware on its doors might have been latch-and-strap hinge rather than traditional doorknobs.
The layout of upstairs bedrooms might have been altered to make way for closets.
Closets were usually unheard of it homes from the early 1800s and did not become common until the late 1800s or early 1900s.
"Closets came into fashion when people had enough money to buy a lot of clothes," Klingemier said.
Bathrooms were also nonexistent until the late 1800s and early 1900s, and often a bedroom was transformed into a bathroom.
While unveiling an old house's original floor plan, many homeowners discover doorways have been sealed off and made a part of the wall.
"Old homes had many doors and windows for air circulation. You have to put yourself in the frame of mind of the people who lived during the time period. They needed lots of doors and windows for cooling," Klingemier said.
A cool place to store food was also important.
If you live in a wooden-frame house and are puzzled by an interior wall that's lined with brick, consider that this wall might have been part of the home's original pantry.
"Pantry walls were often brick-lined to help keep food cool and to help keep mice and rats out," Klingemier said.
Since heat from cook stoves and fireplaces could produce sweltering conditions during summer, kitchens were often located in a smaller wing off the main part of the house.
Kitchen fires were also a concern, and in some cases, summer kitchens -- or small buildings separate from the house -- were constructed.