re: #54 Cato the Elder

Trouble is, the house was built in 1904, to the standards of the day.

It’s a Baltimore row house with party walls so thick the neighbors could run a shooting gallery next door (with guns, not needles) and I’d never hear it. The staircase is solid wood with treads that show almost no wear after 106 years. Ripping anything out would be hellishly expensive.

Jeez. The only good thing is we’re in the middle of an East Coast cold snap, so things may work out before it all gets too ripe.

Do your work, maggots!

Still, be glad you have such a well built home. I grew up in a house from that era in Chicago.