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Nice radiators in this house

Steamhead
Steamhead Member Posts: 17,387

and it's way older than 1936:

All Steamed Up, Inc.
Towson, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting
Mad Dog_2

Comments

  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,519

    1890-1910…my guess.Nyack Is a great little town..Mad Dog

  • DCContrarian
    DCContrarian Member Posts: 681

    Fieldstone basement, plumbing added after construction, sawn lumber framing. Lath and plaster walls, lots of small rooms with no apparent purpose. I'd say late 19th century.

    CLamb
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,519

    Enough already..I'll take it! Mad Dog

    Erin Holohan Haskell
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,519

    Love those back kitchen staircases...Maid's Qtrs...Mad Dog

  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,519
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,519

    Smoking balcony.....

  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,519

    Several.acres..looks like

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 24,872

    I'd agree with @Mad Dog_2 and @DCContrarian on the date, though the heating system may be newer. Could use some work, but hey — nice place for a small family!

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    Mad Dog_2
  • DCContrarian
    DCContrarian Member Posts: 681

    Looks to me like the fireplaces were the original heat and the radiators were added on later.

    EdTheHeaterMan
  • PC7060
    PC7060 Member Posts: 1,445

    nice house as long as you cope with tbe constant traffic noise. Just imagine it as ocean waves breaking.

  • WMno57
    WMno57 Member Posts: 1,408
    edited May 5

    Here it is on Zillow. They say 1895. 35 photos, many with radiators. No boiler photo.

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1002-Route-9w-S-Nyack-NY-10960/32392512_zpid/

    Built in cabinets, exposed ductwork, and an ornate radiator.

    (click on image for larger)

  • WMno57
    WMno57 Member Posts: 1,408

    For the refrigeration Wallies:

    (click on image for larger)

  • WMno57
    WMno57 Member Posts: 1,408
    edited May 5

    And one more. Ductwork in closet and hydronic piping going from radiator to floor above. One pipe steam?

    (click for larger)

  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,519

    My guess was right in there in age. You can get used to anything...Living next to the El (elevated train lines), Next to a highway, airport...Mad Dog

    PC7060
  • PC7060
    PC7060 Member Posts: 1,445

    yes, looks like steam. @Mad Dog_2 remarked on the undersized copper header in a previous post.
    The HVAC in attic is a mess. Looks like a my house when I first bought it. Replaced with spacepak mini-duct with plenum and feed tubes buried in the floor. No more monster in the attic. 😎

    Mad Dog_2
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 17,387

    Yup- and the way that rad is piped, the steam was definitely retrofitted.

    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
    WMno57
  • WMno57
    WMno57 Member Posts: 1,408

    That's interesting @Steamhead . I wonder how the home was heated when it was new? If the zillow build date of 1895 is correct, seems late for wood and coal stoves. Maybe the house is older than 1895, or maybe the builders liked pot belly stoves?

  • DCContrarian
    DCContrarian Member Posts: 681

    When it was built it would have been out in the boonies, technology takes longer to get to remote areas. In 1895 they wouldn't have had electricity, which means they didn't have running water most likely. It's possible to do central heat without electricity or running water, but it's harder. I'm thinking they burned coal in stoves.

  • DCContrarian
    DCContrarian Member Posts: 681

    Looking at the pictures, that house looks like it would be a nightmare to heat and cool. Expensive, and uncomfortable. It looks like there is no insulation anywhere, and adding it is not going to be simple because it was built without a thought toward insulation. The only practical way to add it is probably to gut the interior and start over.

  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,519

    My Farmhouse was built between 1899-1900, and each floor had a Pot-Belly stove for heat. Steam went in later. Mad Dog

    PC7060
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 16,316
    edited May 5

    My 1860s house has very little insulation and yet thanks to cast iron radiators it's very comfortable.

    Yes it would be better if it was less drafty and had better insulation but it's far from uncomfortable. In fact thanks to the Eco steam and TRVs you generally can't tell if it's 0 or 40 outside other than where the cat is sleeping.

    Now get rid of those radiators and it'll be a different game. One I'm not interested in playing.

    Original heating in my case was 2 stoves on the second floor and not sure what on the first. It looks like a stove was in the basement with vents in the floor though. Kitchen obviously had a stove as well

    Single pipe 392sqft system with an EG-40 rated for 325sqft and it's silent and balanced at all times.

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 24,872

    The building Cedric lives in didn't have running water until 1913. Electricity turned up in about 1920, and the steam heating system was installed in 1930. Oddly enough, it did have a telephone starting around 1910!

    In the original house — built in 1780 or so — heat (what there was of it) was a stove on each floor and one in the kitchen ell. That lasted until 1893, when as part of a big extension the north end got central gravity flow hot air, fired by coal.

    No insulation to speak of… but it's comfortable all the same. It does cost more to heat to a given temperature than a modern fully insulated tight as a drum place would, but not as much as one might think.

    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    delcrossv
  • Intplm.
    Intplm. Member Posts: 2,200

    A charming place. Will make for a great remodel.

  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,519

    You cannot beat the character of an Old House...Mad Dog

  • RTW
    RTW Member Posts: 126

    As to original posted video: If there ever was a house that made me feel like I wanted to vomit - this is it! My house was built circa 1760 and was properly upgraded consistent with the period built including cast-iron radiators and three working fireplaces , so I know a thing or two about restoration

    Regards,

    RTW

    delcrossv
  • dabrakeman
    dabrakeman Member Posts: 645

    Totally agree with RTW. This is a classic case of remuddling. Starting with the exterior (practicality aside) all the exterior charm is lost when in gets enveloped in vinyl. Our house was covered in aluminum when we got it and luckily much of the original woodwork was intact or reconstructable underneath. Who knows on this one. The tasteless redo of the fireplaces wiped out probably the original homes nicest interior features. Many othe features s lost as well I am sure . As far as the radiators downstairs and in the upstairs hallways they just don't seem original to me with such a mishmash of styles. Yet, I doubt the house was originally heated by fireplaces and stoves since there would be evidence of fireplaces or chimney ports in each room. Certainly would have had to have more than a single 2 flue chimney. I'm sure someone could still make it a very nice home. Too bad for so many of the actions of the past in these cases though.

    RTWCLambdelcrossv
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 16,316
    edited May 6

    Mine had a single flue chimney and at least 3 stoves fed into it. Kitchen stove was separate and I believe had just a steel pipe as it's jammed up in the floor joists under the kitchen even now. At least what's left. They didn't want to throw that out for some reason.

    There was absolutely no evidence of this until we tore open stuff and found thimbles that were plastered over.

    Single pipe 392sqft system with an EG-40 rated for 325sqft and it's silent and balanced at all times.

  • dabrakeman
    dabrakeman Member Posts: 645

    Yes and it is entirely possible an entire chimney was removed as well. It is the random styling of the radiators downstairs that suggests one of two things to me and that is either it was not originally heated by steam or at some point an owner decided to salvage more attractive radiators for their public spaces to replace more plain styles (maybe similar to the bedroom styles) that were originally in the house.

  • Are people still paying high prices for homes in the Hudson River Valley? Lovely area.

    $600K to buy plus another $400K to renovate…………You've got yourself a nice retirement home.

    8.33 lbs./gal. x 60 min./hr. x 20°ΔT = 10,000 BTU's/hour

    Two btu per sq ft for degree difference for a slab
    delcrossv
  • delcrossv
    delcrossv Member Posts: 1,346
    edited May 8

    Man. What a shame. Salvageable, but almost a strip and re-do. What's with the 8 inch round running through the floors?

    That said, with sufficient time and money it could turn out very nice. The bones are still there.

    RTW called it. Remuddle.

    Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.
    Mad Dog_2