Justin is WAY too busy redeveloping his sites and creating several more... but he'd be happy to drive through this summer for a look-see and brain-storming session. He's done several houses of this type.
The very first thing you look for in a stone house of this type is the foundation. Are there cracks? If so, where do they come from, and where do they go? Not such a simple thing. Some problems are easily solved, and some can be downright nightmares.
Years ago, we did an 1806 townhouse on Hudson and 11th Street in Greenwich village, that had diagonal cracks (from settling) on the interior structural wall in the center of the house. All four upper floors had them, and patching wouldn't work. The problem was solved by using a 150-ton hydraulic jack, down in the sub-cellar, and each week we lifted the entire house by 1/4 inch, slipped a steel plate between the stone supports and main beam, and in six weeks all the cracks were gone. Easy-peasy. Even the floors and the staircase leveled out.....
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The very first thing you look for in a stone house of this type is the foundation. Are there cracks? If so, where do they come from, and where do they go? Not such a simple thing. Some problems are easily solved, and some can be downright nightmares.
Years ago, we did an 1806 townhouse on Hudson and 11th Street in Greenwich village, that had diagonal cracks (from settling) on the interior structural wall in the center of the house. All four upper floors had them, and patching wouldn't work. The problem was solved by using a 150-ton hydraulic jack, down in the sub-cellar, and each week we lifted the entire house by 1/4 inch, slipped a steel plate between the stone supports and main beam, and in six weeks all the cracks were gone. Easy-peasy. Even the floors and the staircase leveled out.....
- Justin 3-01-2009 6:33 pm