The House Itself
Highland Park is one of Birmingham's original streetcar suburbs, platted in the 1880s and built out heavily between 1900 and 1930. The bungalow Yolanda was buying was a classic example: 1,650 square feet, a wide front porch with tapered columns, deep eaves, a clipped gable roof, and a layout that put two bedrooms and a single bathroom on the main floor with an unfinished attic above. The basement was partial, about half the footprint of the house, with the rest sitting on a low crawl space.
The exterior was original cedar lap siding, painted a sage green that looked recent. The windows were a mix of original wood double-hung sash and replacement vinyl from what looked like an early-2000s update. The roof was an architectural asphalt shingle, probably twelve to fifteen years old by appearance. The interior had been partially renovated. The kitchen had been opened to the dining room, the bathroom had a 2010s tile finish, and the original hardwood floors had been refinished.
What the Inspector Found That Wasn't a Surprise
The inspector was a guy named Devon Park who'd been doing Birmingham inspections for fifteen years and specialized in pre-1940 homes. His report identified a long list of findings, and reading them in order, most of them weren't surprises for the house's age.
Knob and Tube in the Attic
Devon found active knob-and-tube wiring in the attic, supplying the second-floor lighting and outlets. The basement panel had been updated to a 200-amp service in 2008, but the rewiring had stopped at the first floor. He flagged the K&T as a major defect and noted that most insurance carriers won't write a homeowner's policy on a home with active knob-and-tube. He recommended a licensed electrician evaluate the scope of remaining K&T and provide a quote for full removal.
Original Cast Iron Drain Lines
The basement plumbing was original cast iron, including the main waste stack and the drain lines running from the kitchen and bath to the sewer connection. Devon noted active corrosion on the bottom half of the main stack and recommended a sewer scope to evaluate the lateral line beyond the house.
Single Pane Original Windows
About half the windows were original wood sash, single-pane, with sash cords and counterweights. The other half had been replaced with budget-grade vinyl in the early 2000s. Devon noted the original windows had failed glazing on three units, broken sash cords on two, and visible wood rot at the sill on one. He recommended evaluation by a restoration window specialist rather than replacement, given the home's historic character.
Termite Treatment History
The WDI report came back with evidence of prior termite damage in the basement sill plate and at the front porch posts. The damage was old and inactive, treated with a perimeter system that was current as of an annual contract renewal four months earlier. Devon's report cross-referenced the WDI findings and noted that the prior damage hadn't compromised structural function but should be monitored.
What Did Surprise Yolanda
A few items in the report caught her off guard. None were catastrophic but they were the ones that made her stomach drop a little when she read them.
The first was a finding about the chimney. Devon had run a borescope down the flue and found that the original clay tile liner had multiple cracked sections and was no longer functional. The chimney itself was structurally sound, but the gas water heater that vented into it was at risk. He flagged this as a safety concern and recommended either lining the chimney or rerouting the water heater venting before continued use.
The second was a foundation finding. The poured concrete foundation under the basement had a horizontal crack running about twelve feet along the east wall, about three feet below grade. Devon noted that the crack appeared old and dry but recommended evaluation by a structural engineer to confirm it wasn't actively moving. Horizontal cracks in basement walls can indicate lateral soil pressure, which on Birmingham's expansive clay is a real consideration.
The third was the HVAC system. The house had a single-zone heat pump installed in 2015. The unit was working but the duct system was the original gravity-fed octopus from the 1923 coal furnace, retrofitted with sheet metal trunks in the 1950s. Devon found significant duct leakage and several unsupported runs in the crawl space. He noted that the HVAC system was functionally working but that distribution losses were probably 30 to 40 percent of capacity.
What I Told Her About the Findings
We talked through the report on a video call after she'd had a day to sit with it. I told her the inspection was a good one. Devon had documented the things that mattered and given her enough information to make a real decision. None of the findings were beyond the normal range for a 1923 bungalow that had been kept up but not exhaustively renovated.
The knob-and-tube was the largest single item in the report. Full removal would likely run $14,000 to $22,000 for a house that size. The chimney work was probably $2,500 to $5,000 depending on the approach. The foundation crack needed an engineer's opinion before it could be priced, but if the engineer's report was reassuring, the work might be a few thousand dollars in monitoring and exterior drainage correction. The duct system rebuild was probably $6,000 to $12,000 if she wanted to do it properly. The window restoration could be paced over years.
Add it up and the house had probably $25,000 to $50,000 of work in front of it over the next five years. That sounds like a lot. For a Highland Park bungalow at the price she was paying, it wasn't necessarily a deal breaker. It was a reality of buying a hundred-year-old house with original systems and partial updates.
What She Negotiated
Yolanda went back to the seller with a structured ask. Knob-and-tube removal completed before closing, with documentation from a licensed electrician and an insurance binder ready to go. Chimney lining completed before closing. A $4,000 credit at closing for the duct system, foundation evaluation, and window repairs.
The seller pushed back on the K&T removal timeline, saying their contractor couldn't get it done in time for the original closing date. They agreed to extend closing by three weeks, complete the K&T work in that window, and put the credit in escrow until the chimney lining was finished. The final settled credit was $3,500 instead of $4,000.
Yolanda closed two months ago. The K&T was done and signed off by inspection. The chimney lining was finished a week after closing. The duct work is on her calendar for next summer. The foundation engineer came out and recommended drainage correction at the east wall (about $3,800), which she's planning for this fall.
What This Says About Buying a Century-Old House
A 1923 bungalow in Highland Park is going to have findings. The question is which findings, how serious, and whether the price you're paying accounts for the work ahead. Inspection reports on these homes routinely run 60 to 100 pages because there's just more to look at than in a 30-year-old ranch. That doesn't mean the house is in worse shape. It means the inspector is doing their job, documenting an older building with more systems that have aged.
The buyers who do well with century-old homes are the ones who go in with realistic expectations and a budget for the deferred maintenance that comes with the territory. The buyers who struggle are the ones who fall in love with the porch and the woodwork and don't read the inspection report carefully. Yolanda did the work. She asked the right questions before, during, and after the inspection. She negotiated based on documented findings instead of feelings. Six months in, she's not regretting any of it.
If you're shopping in Highland Park, Forest Park, Avondale, or any of the other Birmingham streetcar suburbs, plan on the kind of report Yolanda got. Knob-and-tube, original cast iron, original chimneys, partial renovations, and a long list of maintenance items. The house isn't broken. It's old. Treat the inspection like a roadmap for the first five years of ownership rather than a verdict on the property, and the math usually works.