As we drove up the driveway for a relative visit last Saturday morning, the wife commented that the home "sure looks tired." It is an old house, the oldest portion dating perhaps to several years after the end of the Civil War, with two additions, the latest being being less than twenty years old. The old part of the house is sided with steel grey-blue siding, dating before purchase in 1971) accented by deteriorating wood shutters painted black. The house color, and its tired nature was was enhanced by the thick dark grey clouds which obscured any hint of sun. The nature of the outside of the portends a few issues inside the house. Spending a night there is, I determined, it was worse than traveling to a country in the developing world.
The two-story part of the house may date to the 1870's with a later one story addition prior to the 1971 purchase by the current owner. The newer addition, dating to 2008, comes off the one story forming a L shape dwelling. That addition provided a full bath, bedroom, closet, and family room which opens to the kitchen. The one story portion of the house essentially functions as its own dwelling and the two story portion is seldom used. The house has two basements, separated by the additions, under the original two-story is a stone basement, with low ceilings further lowered by duct work to provide central heating. The one story long ago addition has a concrete block basement done after 1971 to replace of an old cistern. The 2008 addition has a crawl space that connects to this basement. Hence, the house is a hodge podge and that is further amplified by three furnaces, one for the old house first floor, one for the old house second floor, and one for the additions.
When we visit it is like we are camping. I realized it is worse than preparing to travel to a developing country. We bring our water for drinking as the water in the house has an odor and we cannot figure out the cause. We bring our own food to consume, and we now bring our own sleeping gear.
The house has five bedrooms, but only one is suitable for sleeping two persons, and that is the owner's room, and is in the 2008 addition. One bedroom is a craft room, another has varied furniture items stored, one has a bed for one person, and the other has been affected by urine and feces sitting above from a bat infestation noticed a year ago. We slept in that room in June 2025, and noticed the smell, but it got worse when a few days after I departed, and my wife stayed with the relation for a few weeks due to an injury. A bat was found in the stairwell.
Given the situation, we do not sleep in that room on this visit. Hence, we brought an air mattress, we borrowed from a friend along with sleeping bags and pillows. In this case we slept in the family room (2008 addition) and my wife's sister and husband set up their air mattress and slept in the living room (original house). As it poured rain over the night, we could all hear not only the rain, but also the deluge of rain coming over the down gutters.
I used the half bath next in the original house, and found it difficult to use to clean up given all the decorations, or some today would refer to as clutter. To add insult to injury, the house with one ply toilet paper, not only is it one play that is translucent, but it is rough. Even toilet paper at the state park campgrounds is better than that.
Thus, it is an experience when traveling to visit. Remediation and other work is required, the downspouts are likely causing a leak in the old basement, and the I suspect the bat urine may have compromised the insulation. The moral of the story is that dwellings need upkeep, and they need regular maintenance. Money and time has to be spent to keep a home in good condition.
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