Finding Physical Evidence: Second Back Door

My modest little bungalow was built in at least two stages. The first, the main house as seen today from the street, was built in the 1920's, likely around 1922-1923. As I've featured in a few previous blog posts, the rear portion of the house, which currently contains our living room and the third bedroom, was built as an addition with at least part of it built in 1946. With a back door exiting the house onto the back wood deck, I've always assumed that this was the entrance to the house's second living unit back when it was a duplex-- a neighbor had confirmed that tenants entered the house from a rear door. The wood deck was built within the last 15 years by my house's previous owners. Since the house is raised a few feet from grade, it was never difficult for me to peek underneath the deck to see the small set of concrete steps leading to the back door, as well as a concrete patio at the bottom.

However, after speaking with a woman who lived in my house from 1958-1961, something seemed off about her description of the house's previous duplex layout. Having seen the current photos of the house which I had sent her, she had relayed to me that the addition of the deck onto the back of the house had made it look quite different from what she knew. Then, in running through the sequence of rooms which were part of the second unit, she described entrances into the house at both Catherine Cantlin's bedroom (my current living room) as well as into the kitchen of the second living unit. Glossing over this fact at first in my mind, it did not quite register-- during the conversation I simply listened as she ran through the layout, assuming that tenants or family member occupants had shared the front entrance door with Catherine.

But looking back at this conversation the next day, and revisiting the layout she described, the access to the second unit wasn't making sense in that arrangement. Then for some reason, it clicked in my mind and realized that what she was describing in that brief instant was a second back door to the house, one which gave direct access to the unit. Looking at a straight-on view of the rear addition, you can see the main A-framed gable roof portion of the old addition to the left, taking up about 2/3 of the back elevation. To the right is a former porch which was enclosed, with the current back door all the way to the right.

Look at the main structure on the left, and at the blank portion to the left of the windows-- this blank space throws off the symmetry of the gable elevation. In my wandering daydreams of future additions, I have often thought of making this whole rear addition one big "great room", and perhaps relocating the rear entrance to the location of that blank space. Now, it makes perfect sense why I might have thought to do so-- because it had already been that way!

Now, let's looking even more closely. The asbestos shingle siding at this area is not quite straight and true, as you can see some variation as if this portion of the wall is "bubbling" out a tiny bit. There are a few areas where courses of siding are not quite exactly aligned (look below the left edge of the window trim, and also right near the deck railing)-- evidence that a former opening had been covered over and new siding patched in.

Now, even closer. At the junction between the siding and the wood deck, you can see evidence of a wood door threshold I had never noticed before, just peeking out. It may be a bit difficult to tell in the photo, but it is about 3 feet long, the right size for a door, and is clearly different wood than that of the exterior deck:

And finally, let's take another peek underneath the deck at this area. I had done so previously, but only with a quick glance and never with a flashlight, as this corner of the house is blocked by a plastic toy/bike shed which we use and has been there since we moved in. Now, we look underneath the deck here and what do we see?

A second set of concrete steps, with presumably jack-hammered pieces of the old concrete patio piled on it! It is now clear that this was the back door referenced by my neighbor (he never had a reason to get more specific with me). This was the direct entrance into the second living unit in the house, entering directly into what was the unit's kitchen. In their remodel of the house and in the process of reclaiming it as a single-family house (which I still need to get an account of), the former owners of 2001-2014 appear to be the ones who have covered over this entrance, and eventually placed a new closet here on the interior side, turning it into the house's third bedroom.

This was quite an exciting discovery, fueled by my conversation with someone who lived in my house over 55 years ago!

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Finding Physical Evidence: Original German Siding

With a 90-year-old house, even without all the historical research I have conducted, it would be clear to most anyone that the house has undergone physical and aesthetic changes over such a time period. Owners renovating historic and century-plus old homes find evidence of former floor plan configurations, old hardwood floors, and other old or original building materials all the time. One might think that the most likely time to find such physical evidence is during a significant renovation project. While that may indeed be true, sometimes finding a major score of an original building material is as simple as poking your head into an access panel in the attic...

The Current Asbestos Siding

As I have mentioned several times, my house is clad in asbestos-cement shingle siding. The word "asbestos" is a dirty word these days, as it should be since it is a well-known carcinogen. However, prior to this knowledge and up to the 1970s, asbestos fibers were used extensively in the 20th century as a major component in all sorts of building materials, touted for increasing durability and fire-resistance. In this type of exterior siding, asbestos fibers are embedded into a tile of portland cement. Since asbestos house siding is a non-friable ACM (asbestos-containing material), there is no great rush for homeowners to go to the expense of ripping old asbestos siding off of their homes. Left in tact, there is generally no hazard. Earlier asbestos siding can date back as early as the 1920s, with the material becoming more prevalent in the 1930s and hugely popular in the 1950s.

Asbestos-cement siding on the side of my house. At this area, a window had been covered over. The owner at the time mixed the wavy bottom style in, which is a mismatch to the earlier flat bottom shingles. This newer wavy bottom shingle may also be a more modern fiber cement product without asbestos.

Asbestos siding is also today seen by many as an unattractive siding material. It most often came in white or shades of grey (especially prior to WWII), with either a straight or wavy bottom profile, and many times has a faux wood-grain pattern on it. If painted to create a cohesive color scheme with the trim and other materials, asbestos siding can look just fine and even quite nice. I happen to think that the previous owners of my home did an admirable job with the previously-white siding, painting it an olive green and accenting with magenta shutters and a storm door.

Yet, I know for sure that this not the original siding to the house. Although asbestos siding was available in the 1920's when the house was built, wood siding still prevailed during that time period. My siding has the faux wood-grain pattern, which was not available until the late 1930's. This siding no doubt came sometime later on many years after the home's construction.

The Original Siding: Wood "German" Siding

Knowing that there was a major addition to this house, occurring no later than 1946 with the enclosure of a rear porch, it hit me like a lightning bolt one day a few months after moving in. Why not check the attic, in the unoccupied portion where the addition is? I have a walk-up attic housed above the original portion of the house, and there is an opening at the top of the attic steps, providing access above the ceiling at the addition. If I poke my head through the access opening and look back at the outside face of this wall, I would be looking at what was original the rear exterior facade of the house.

Looking up the attic steps, the exterior wall to the right was originally the backside of the house. The access opening is to the right of the window, sort of visible, with a board over it.

I grabbed my utility worklight and headed upstairs immediately, and found it:

Original German wood siding, on what used to be part of the exposed exterior rear wall of the house.

This is what is commonly known as German siding (also known as "cove lap" or "Dutch lap" siding). Whereas wood clapboards and beveled siding are installed by overlapping the upper course over a lower course and nailing through one or both boards, creating an angle to shed water, German siding is a type of "drop siding", milled from wood in a profile that gets nailed flat onto the exterior sheathing. German siding has a coved profile that creates an attractive relief pattern and locks adjacent courses together. It was widely popular in the late 19th-century, especially in the Northeast.

Diagram of German lap siding, courtesy of www.dictionaryofconstruction.com

Image of a building with German lap siding, courtesy of www.cranesiding.net

So now this has me excited. I now know what originally clad the exterior of the house. Don't forget, also, that the 1946 building permit for the rear porch enclosure indicated that this portion of the house too had German siding:

Clip from the 1946 permit application to enclose the rear porch-- notice the words "german siding" at bottom right under the section calling for building materials used.

Originally after making this discovery, but before I received the permit document, I assumed that the replacement to asbestos siding occurred on or around the time that the addition was built. However, the permit proves that this portion of the addition was also clad in German siding in 1946, and makes it highly probable that the earlier German siding was still extant at that time. Now it is more likely assumed that the asbestos was put on in the 1960s, giving it some temporal distance between the Cantlins' spending money on more new German siding in 1946. Asbestos began to become more regulated by the EPA in the 1970s, although sale of this type of siding did continue into that decade.

So, Is There More Underneath the Asbestos-Cement?

Short answer, I don't know, and won't unless I begin to take some of the asbestos siding off (safely and with proper precautions!) along with the building felt directly underneath it. I can, however, posit that it is likely that there is old wood siding there. First, removing an existing siding is an additional expense and was (and still is) often skipped when re-cladding a house. The Cantlin family probably did not go to this expense. Further, when vinyl siding is added over top of an existing siding, the additional depth it creates begins to cause window trim to become recessed within the vinyl trim (yuck). The same thing does not happen with asbestos-cement shingles, since they are only about 1/8" thick. Notice on pictures of my house that the original wood window trim still has a bit of dimension to it between the siding and the front face of the trim.

Window trim is not recessed as it is in vinyl cover-ups.

Diagram from Asphalt and Asbestos-Cement Shingle Residing, by James McCawley, published 1940.

Look also at this installation diagram above for this type of asbestos-cement siding from 1940. The likely method of installation included placing a building felt over top of existing wood siding, then nailing in the asbestos siding directly over that. Although this same method could easily be done over sheathing after wood siding is removed, it is quite possible that the wood siding remains. In areas on my house where asbestos siding has been chipped, cracked, or broken in a few areas, I see either black building felt or another asbestos shingle (i.e. at the bottom course). In a few areas, such as when i try to peek underneath the bottom course or look at gaps in these same locations, I do see wood, but this could easily be sheathing or a wood nailer.

Possibly some more older wood siding, exposed beneath the bottom course of asbestos shingle.

I THINK all or most of the original wood German siding lurks under there, but I can't be sure. Yet.

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Learning About the Home's Expansion by Looking at the Building Permit

Last week, I discussed a visit to the local building department to find out what the Township has on record in the way of building permits for the house. While I didn't find any permits or drawings from the home's original construction date in the 1920's, I did find a building permit dated April 11, 1946 for the enclosure of a rear porch. In actuality, there were three pages included-- a two-page permit application, plus the actual permit itself.

Permit Application to enclose rear porch dated April 11, 1946.

Although it's quite difficult to read, this is the actual building permit, dated April 17, 1946.

So, these are some pretty exciting documents to view, as they document a major piece of construction on the house. Back in the beginning of our history hunt, we could tell that the rear portion of the building was some sort of an addition, since the original foundation ends before you reach the rear living room. Further, this portion of the house exhibits a minimal amount of differential settlement, evidenced by the separation of asbestos siding at the juncture of the two building portions. This document now appears to confirm the assumption and tells us a bit more as well.

The Permit Application

Let's spend most of our time analyzing the permit application, as the permit itself merely simplifies the application information down into a few key pieces. There is actually much more information on the application. So, starting at the top of the application:

Although it's a bit difficult to read this scan of the microfilm, the top of the form includes the Permit Number (#4226), as well as Type (5) and Class of Occupancy (3), which, although we are only hazarding an educated guess here, likely indicates a wood-framed, single-family dwelling. The permit fee, which is typically a percentage of the cost of the work, was $5.00 (more on this when we get to page 2 of the application). The next few paragraphs serve to indicate that the Township Building Inspector (L.R. Brigham) approved the permit application on April 12, 1946, one day after owner John J. Cantlin applied.

The boilerplate print of the application form covers multiple construction project types, including "to Alter, Repair, and Remove, Demolish or to Move any Building." It is always interesting to me to find the signature of a person I've been researching, and John Cantlin's signature appears here, dated April 11, 1946.

Moving on, the application prompts a further description of the proposed work:

As we've already mentioned, the work is to enclose the rear porch. Although the application instructs that applicants shall "furnish building plans and specifications in duplicate", sadly we did not find these. Mr. Cantlin's application does indicate the planned use of 2x4 wood stud framing, joists, and german siding (to match the original wood german siding used on the main house).

And on Page 2 of the application:

Although several additional fields are not completed, the application does indicate that work is intended to begin "at once," and although it is very difficult to read in this scan, the actual permit verifies that the next bit of information is an estimated construction cost of $125 (equal to roughly $1600 today). No architect was consulted on this work, but the contractor is listed as Joseph Dolan of Jenkintown Rd in Ardsley. Sure enough, in the 1940 U.S. Census, 34-year-old Joseph J. Dolan appears at 850 Jenkintown Rd, Ardsley, in the household of his mother, Susie Dolan, along with his wife, son, daughter, and his two sisters and their children as well. The address number 850 on Jenkintown Rd is currently out in Rockledge, not Ardsley, so the street numbers must have changed at a point since 1940. A similar address number, 2850 Jenkintown Rd, is currently right around the corner from our subject house. However, since this batch of Jenkintown Rd households on the census was enumerated amongst households on Hazel Ave and Monroe Ave, I am guessing the Dolans actually lived a bit further down the road towards the Ardsley train station. Nonetheless, Mr. Dolan certainly lived nearby.

1940 US Census entry for Joseph J. Dolan, living in Ardsley at 850 Jenkintown Rd

Curiously, Joseph Dolan's occupation in 1940 is listed as "tree surgeon," not contractor or carpenter. Perhaps Joseph Dolan became a builder after his arborist days, however I tend to think a more likely scenario is that John Cantlin may have hired a handy friend of his to fill in his porch with exterior walls and throw up some siding.

Although a space appears at the bottom of the form for the Building Inspector to indicate that the work has been completed satisfactorily, it has not been filled out on this particular document. This building permit application is not quite the treasure trove of information for which I hoped, but it did fill in a few blanks and provide some more leads to pursue. It also gives us cause to examine the building itself with a closer eye...

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Examining a 20-Year-Old Photograph of the House

Today, we examine a photograph of my house first presented in my post on Browsing On-line County Databases. The Montgomery County assessment office maintains a profile for each property on record, and most of those include a photograph of the house, if a house exists on the property. In my experience, most of these photographs are from the days before digital cameras, meaning by this point in 2015 they are at least 15-year-old photos, or older.

Circa 1990 Photograph of my house, courtesy of Montgomery County PA

This photograph of my home I have pegged to the early 1990's, based primarily on the car in the neighbor's driveway. I'm far, far from an expert on identifying cars, but I think this is a circa 1990 Ford Escort. Assuming that the car was a few years old when the photo was snapped and not brand new, the photo was likely taken somewhere between 1990 and 1995. Thus, I'll call this a 20-year-old photograph.

What can we learn from this Photograph?

Placing the 20-year-old photograph side-by-side with a current photo and looking for differences in details, however slight, can give us some clues about the physical history of the home.

The most obvious difference is the exterior paint color. In the early 90's, the asbestos siding was a white color. Now, it is an olive green. At the closing table, the previous owners of our house relayed an anecdote of them painting the house in their early years owning the home, while the wife was pregnant if my memory serves me well. This would have been the early 2000's. The current green is at least the third color the house has exhibited. We know this because the current asbestos siding is not the original siding to the house, having been installed perhaps when the rear addition was performed.

Landscaping

Probably the next most-noticeable difference is the landscaping, namely the hedge at the front of the yard, which no longer exists (although the 2014 is taken from a bit closer to the house, trust me, it's not there). Not a huge story-teller of a detail here, but in another conversation with my current neighbor, he relayed that the previous owner (2001-2014) had constructed a short berm (mound) against the street to prevent water from running off onto the front yard. For his part, this previous owner tells me that the hedge was not there when they bought the house. The planting bed in front of the porch is also more densely planted in the early 90's than it is now. Again, the prevous owner helps out by telling me they replanted some of the azaleas from that location to along the side of the house.

Windows

Now, I noticed this one pretty quickly and I hope you did too-- there is one less window on the side of the house now than there was in the 90's. If you look at the second window from the front, it is now covered over.

Interior side

Exterior side

This is located at what is currently a full bathroom. The previous owner tells me that this room was always a bathroom during their time here, and a look at the piping underneath the basement shows that it is certainly more than 15-20 years old. Further, you can see the stack vent coming on roof above this window even in the 90's photo, meaning this bathroom was not a recent addition. Most likely, the only significant change here was that the window was covered over when a plexiglass bath-fitter type shower enclosure was installed at some point. While not incredibly exciting, it is still part of the home's history!

The vinyl shutters on the front windows (and one side window facing the driveway) were added post-2001. Their reddish color compliments the overall olive green building color nicely, although shutters likely never existed here (one shutter had to have a large notch taken out of it to fit against the porch beam). When the time comes for me to do significant work to the outside of this house, I will wrestle with what exactly to do here. I rather like what they add to the curb appeal, yet they are historically inaccurate.

Other Tiny Differences

The downspout on the left-most porch pier has now been moved from the front face to the left side of the pier, a welcome change visually. You can also see in the current photograph that the incoming electrical service attaches to the house at a mast (pole) that was likely added to comply with current electrical code or after a service upgrade, possibly as part of the 2001 transaction.

Conclusion

Photographs preserve a moment in time. They can prove invaluable when other records exist, but they are even more helpful in enriching the story of the subject being captured. Any house history researcher would be grateful to score an old photograph of their subject home, especially one of vintage from the early years since its construction. Photos can potentially be found from a variety sources: old newspapers, historical societies, previous owners, and perhaps even insurance companies. My search for additional, and older, photographs of the home will continue, but even a relatively recent photograph can display a wide range and amount of changes that a house can experience over a 20+ year period.

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