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Pop Top Inspection
I got a call for an inspection last week on a house that was described as a 2-story built in 1956 with a stone foundation. I told the client that based on the stone foundation and the neighborhood where the house is located I would guess the house was actually built in the 1920s or earlier. (Houses in that neighborhood were built in the 1890s through the 1920s.)
My first impression of the house was that it was a very well-preserved 100-year-old two-story house. The roof on the front had a steep pitch and the roof at the rear (over the upper level rooms) had a very low pitch. But the stairs to the upper level just did not seem to fit in for a house of that era.
As I got further into the house the clues seemed to point to the fact that the upper level was not original. Yes, most of the finishes were "period" but several things were not. The giant bathtub and very cool " Leonard Model B10 Thermostat Mixing Valve" (Patented 1923) fit in nicely with the period radiators, interior trim, doors and hardware, leaded glass transom windows, stained glass window overlooking the stairs, and light fixtures. But the modern double-pane double-hung windows were in sharp contrast to the single-pane single-hung windows with sash cords found on the main level.
As I looked closer I noticed the upper level finishes did not match the main level finishes. The upper level was all drywall; the lower level was mostly plaster. The doors and hardware were different (some of the upper level hardware was reproduction). The radiators were different styles. The wood floors were modern. The main level had an old masonry fireplace; the upper level had a modern pre-fab fireplace.
I popped my head in the very tiny attic and saw modern rafters (nominal size), modern hangers, modern plywood roof decking, modern batt insulation, etc. In the basement and crawlspace the floor system and exterior walls have been shored and reinforced (most work done correctly, some not). Deteriorating unreinforced concrete placed on the inside of the stone foundation appeared to be circa 1920s.
When I laid all the evidence out and looked at the big picture I concluded that the building started out as a single-story house built somewhere between 1900 and the 1920s. Sometime around the mids '80s or later the rear roof was removed and reframed to accomdate the addition of rooms at the upper level (the former attic). This is what I call a "Pop Top". The original structure was modified to accomodate the additional loads of the upper level.
This proved to be a very interesting inspection. I was impressed at how someone took a common, small, old house and converted it into a very nice, highly desireable office building. Sure, I found a long list of problems that are common for a house of this age (structural, electrical, plumbing, etc.) but my overall impression of this property was good.
Below are some pics of the property. You can see the original roofline on either side of the "pop top".
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"Baseball is like church. Many attend but few understand." Leo Durocher
Bruce Breedlove
www.avaloninspection.com
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