Old houses vanishing in East Houston (Katy, West: section 8, sale, crime)

[Svensk08]

Originally Posted by theone33

Its happening everywhere not just Houston. That whole Eastside area sort of by downtown is straight up barrio. I doubt the gentrification will push it all out because its a good sized.

What are the boundaries of the "whole Eastside area sort of by downtown"?

[Svensk08]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Hilarious for people to talk about this houses as if they were the Missions in San Antonio.
Take your money and go and buy a house in a better neighborhood.

The reality of escalating prices and high demand for old houses in many close-in east side neighborhoods doesn't mean anything to some people. Then there are the rest of us...

[Bike4Life]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Hilarious for people to talk about this houses as if they were the Missions in San Antonio.
Take your money and go and buy a house in a better neighborhood.

Have you ever walked into a Mid-century, Craftsman, or Victorian home? It reflects back in time with a high quality attention to details. Often, guest are surprised and in awe when they visit my Mid-century and my sister's former home in The Heights. This is why my friend is involved in preserving historical homes by moving them to a new location so developers can carry on.

Also, Eastwood has low crime for its economic status and very convenient to downtown. It may not be the pretty side yet but I'm surprised it has taken this long to start garnering attention now.

[RedRat44]

There are still scads of old homes on the East End. Lots of them are 1930s-40s plain-janes though, which is a style that doesn't get the respect and admiration of many. However, they can be restored to look lovely and they're still relatively cheap. Check Sunnyland, Pecan Park, Forest Hill, Mason Park..Pineview Place off Harrisburg just east of 75th has a whole nabe of 1920s homes, a lot of them were kit houses from a local kit-home company.

The unfortunate thing is that most of these have been owned by people who have no sense of or interest in history or aesthetics and the homes have been badly remodeled leaving little in the way of original features. But...if you're one to hunt for oak floors and original wooden windows with weights and have a fertile imagination then you can find a ugly duckling and turn it into a swan.

[RedRat44]

Originally Posted by RedRat44

There are still scads of old homes on the East End. Lots of them are 1930s-40s plain-janes though, which is a style that doesn't get the respect and admiration of many. However, they can be restored to look lovely and they're still relatively cheap. Check Sunnyland, Pecan Park, Forest Hill, Mason Park..Pineview Place off Harrisburg just east of 75th has a whole nabe of 1920s homes, a lot of them were kit houses from a local kit-home company.

The unfortunate thing is that most of these have been owned by people who have no sense of or interest in history or aesthetics and the homes have been badly remodeled leaving little in the way of original features. But...if you're one to hunt for oak floors and original wooden windows with weights and have a fertile imagination then you can find a ugly duckling and turn it into a swan.

The home below is in the above-mentioned Pineview Place. It's less than a mile for the eventual last station of the Green Line. What would this sell for on the Westside? Original windows, fireplace and built-ins? Point being if you think there are no good deals on historic homes east of Downtown then you're not looking very hard.

118 Pineview Dr, Houston, TX 77012 is For Sale | Zillow

[bu2]

Originally Posted by RedRat44

There are still scads of old homes on the East End. Lots of them are 1930s-40s plain-janes though, which is a style that doesn't get the respect and admiration of many. However, they can be restored to look lovely and they're still relatively cheap. Check Sunnyland, Pecan Park, Forest Hill, Mason Park..Pineview Place off Harrisburg just east of 75th has a whole nabe of 1920s homes, a lot of them were kit houses from a local kit-home company.

The unfortunate thing is that most of these have been owned by people who have no sense of or interest in history or aesthetics and the homes have been badly remodeled leaving little in the way of original features. But...if you're one to hunt for oak floors and original wooden windows with weights and have a fertile imagination then you can find a ugly duckling and turn it into a swan.

Pretty hard to turn 80-90 year old windows into swans. Windows do have life spans. I had some of those old windows and the winds in winter could knock you down-inside. If the wood shrinks or rots, no amount of caulking will help.

[RedRat44]

Originally Posted by bu2

Pretty hard to turn 80-90 year old windows into swans. Windows do have life spans. I had some of those old windows and the winds in winter could knock you down-inside. If the wood shrinks or rots, no amount of caulking will help.

Those older windows can be repaired into beautiful and efficient windows. The wood is usually of a high quality. Mine are over 100 years old and are old growth cypress. They've had 1 coat of paint in all those years and are in very good condition. There are epoxies that can repair rotted areas too. It's an art to restore them to high functionality and there are a few around town who do that. Most people have neither the interest, knowledge or skills to repair them so they get trashed for low-quality replacements that definitely have a life span, and make the house look bad at the same time. They usually cut off the sills and install the windows with fake divided lights and slap 1x4 around them as trim. They can turn a vintage bungalow into a shoe box faster than anything else.

Below is a link for a man who has the above qualities and hires them out to others.

Sashguy

[Svensk08]

Originally Posted by bu2

Pretty hard to turn 80-90 year old windows into swans. Windows do have life spans. I had some of those old windows and the winds in winter could knock you down-inside. If the wood shrinks or rots, no amount of caulking will help.

Deciding whether to restore old-house windows or replace them needs to be done on a case-by-case basis. If the sashes and frames are in good shape, the windows can be restored, weatherstripped and made to operate like new...wood frame screens, too! A lot of renovators who opt for replacement tend to install generic vinyl windows that are aesthetically wrong for 1920's-1930's homes.

[diggity101]

If the sashes and frames are in good shape, the windows can be restored, weatherstripped and made to operate like new

They will never be nearly as efficient as a modern double-pane window. They can certainly be improved upon though.

[fnh]

Originally Posted by bu2

Pretty hard to turn 80-90 year old windows into swans. Windows do have life spans. I had some of those old windows and the winds in winter could knock you down-inside. If the wood shrinks or rots, no amount of caulking will help.

Here is an example of swans reborn. Our Seattle home was built in 1900 and restored to historic landmark status after a half century of extreme neglect and a fire, which meant that original components had to be retained whenever possible. (Even the charred original joists in the attic remain with added sister joists, invisible to everyone.)

It's true that they aren't as energy efficient as newer windows but they are oh so much lovelier. The shutters help keep the cold out.