With brick or stone houses, the walls themselves carry the weight of the roof and so have no vertical timbers.  If the walls are out of plumb it means that the foundations are either gone or are in need of major repair.  Whether a house is of brick, stone or wood, there is one further place for knife testing—­the ground floor joists.  Cellar dampness may have taken its toll.

The fact that a sill, joist or other timber is unsound does not mean that the house is beyond repair.  Many old houses with all their sills gone and some other principal beams no longer serviceable have been restored, but the necessity of such steps ought to be realized in advance and the cost taken into consideration.  It is far from pleasant to discover that one has unwittingly bought the bill of expense this type of replacement means.  “Let the buyer beware” generally rules in the selling of old places, and the purchase of a knife and an hour or two of poking its point into the principal timbers may save time and money later.

“The next time I buy an old house to put a new frame into, you’ll know it,” was the heartfelt declaration of a man who left his knife at home when he went house hunting.  “The owner and the agent knew the sills and beams were rotten but didn’t think it necessary to mention the fact.  What I didn’t see wouldn’t hurt me until after I had bought the place and begun repairs.  Then I learned plenty about decayed timbers and the cost of replacing them.”

After the timber frame, consider the exterior.  The foundation will probably need some “pointing-up,” that is, replacement of mortar in the joints or cracks.  The question is, how much?  Will it have to be a complete job?  Has frost worked such havoc that some sections must be re-laid?

If the cellar indicates standing water during heavy rains, drainage must be provided.  Notice whether any cellar windows have been closed.  Countrymen are prone to do this as a cheap and easy method when the framework gets beyond repair.  Replacing stoned-up windows is not expensive or difficult but just one more thing which must be done.  Notice the extent of the cellar.  Old builders sometimes did only a partial job of excavation because of economy.  Such a cellar was ample for storing root crops, preserves, and hard cider in the days before furnaces.  It may be wise to complete the work of excavating.  Do not expect to find cellars under wings and sheds.  It was never the practice.  If they are to be converted to uses for which excavation is desirable, this is another item for the adding machine.

With the foundation and its needed repairs noted, begin appraising the condition of the walls and roof.  Sometimes a shingle roof will be found in good order or at most have one or two minor leaks which can be repaired.  More often an entire new roof is needed and, in extreme cases, new boarding beneath.  As with sills, roofs sloping to the north and east are more apt to be out of repair and for the same reasons.