Question: My house is about 90 years old. It needs work. As I remodel I try to keep things as close to original as I can, i.e I try to match moldings, use the same flooring, and so on. My current project is the porch. The floor boards are coming loose and I know I have to re-frame portions of it because I can feel bounce when I walk in certain spots. OK, so on to the question: The original framing materials looks like it’s Douglas Fir. It has certainly stood the test of time. But sourcing it (I swear I’m going to ask the question soon) will be both time consuming and expensive as I have to special order it. Should I just use regular ‘Hem-Fir’ framing material so I’m close? What’s your take?
Related Posts
Mark and Theresa take you inside Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s 200th episode where they built 7 houses in 7 days. Listen to a heartfelt tearful…
Old houses often have equally old–and by old I mean weed-choked–lawns. If you live in the Northern tier of the country, it’s a pretty good…
As lovers and students of old buildings know, asbestos was a common building material for everything from siding and roofing to the much vilified pipe-insulation. …
Theresa hints at a secret feature of the Real Wood playset from the set of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in Joplin, MO—part of the special …
Tooling Up in Joplin’s Cunningham Park with Extreme Makeover. It took 10,000 volunteers and multiple builders to make Extreme Makeover: Home Edition‘s 200th—and final—episode a…
2011 Remodeling Show and Deck Expo in Chicago. October 14. Mark & Theresa are traveling to Chicago for LIVE MyFixitUpLife shows at 11:30amCT and 2pmCT…
Here’s an elemental truth about bathroom remodeling: Pound for pound, ounce for ounce, and brick for figurative brick bathrooms rank at the top of the…
Remodeling, retro-fit, renovation, restoration. From products to process, tools to techniques, they are all branches of the home improvement tree. We’re bringing you the best…
Mark Clement, practical contractor for The Old House Web and host of MyFixItUpLife radio show, discusses the predominant roofing styles of homes across the…
Whether you’re a contractor trying to max-out production and efficiency or a DIYer trying to get the job done before Monday a word that should…
I’ve received an advanced copy of Wood Flooring: A Complete Guide to Layout, Installation, and Finishing and I can say it is loaded with outstanding…
Go to almost any lumber yard and the wood you’ll find there is milled on all four sides. Two-by, 4-by-, 6-by…you get the idea. But…
Mark & Theresa take you through the steps to build a custom backyard playset using pressure-treated southern pine. For the complete project plans, materials list,…
A good table saw is essential equipment for getting well-crafted results, keyed in details, and for cutting critical elements required for dialed-in, looks-like-it-grew-there kind of…
I love seeing things in my daily life that make MyFixitUpLife better. Such was the case when I spotted this cool real wood retaining wall…
