Out with the Old and in with the New

When we initially started looking at this house, we knew we'd encounter all kinds of things we would eventually have to fix up and/or replace. Fortunately, we knew about this one as a result of our home inspection. Brian Vanden Heuvel of Brian's Home Inspection of Sobieski, WI did a great job on our inspection, and I felt really informed.

Of the list of things that weren't up to code, one of his findings was the sorry state of the water heater. Not only was it old, but it was moved there from another location and reinstalled. Needless to say, it was beyond the number of years a water heater should be alive anyway.

The old water heater.

After having a good discussion with my father about the water heater situation, we decided that we may as well just get a new one now... Especially considering that when the pilot light went out, the gas did not turn off right away.  Yikes!

The new water heater!

Our new water heater works great.  It is an Energy Star appliance as well, which is right up our alley. 

In addition to changing our old water heater out for a new one, we also were able to have an exorbitant amount of gas pipe removed.  We had well over 100 feet of extra gas pipe, and now we have only as much as we need.  In an old house such as ours, I'm sure this is not the first time old, unused pipes will be removed from our basement.

Our "New" Old Home

It has been just about one month since we purchased our "new" old home and it has been quite an experience thus far. Each day is full of new surprises -- both pleasant and unpleasant.

Photo courtesy of Dennis Rosloniec

The home is a three-story Queen Anne Victorian style house built in 1902 and situated in a quiet corner of Green Bay's Astor Historical District. While only three families have lived in this house in its 110-year existence, the last few years it has been vacant and neglected.  Rather than allow this majestic home to fall into a state beyond repair, we intend to give this home the attention it deserves and restore it to glory.

Through this blog we will document our progress as we tackle projects large and small, snapping pictures to share along the way.  Come back often to view our progress!