Decatur’s Preservation Planner Regina Brewer writes in with this announcement about this year’s Decatur Old House Fair…

Given the number of times the dear readers of DM have debated “old versus new”, this event with the theme “Something Old, Something New” should satisfy all.  It’s the Decatur Old House Fair and it’s the one event where no one will look at your strangely when you utter words like “muntin” and “corbel” in the same sentence as “energy efficiency” and “low flush toilets ”.  In fact, you will be among many people who are currently pumping out the water from their basements and are eagerly looking forward to the session on “Mastering Moisture and Water Problems” (soon to be a movie with Kevin Bacon and filmed in any neighborhood with old houses!).

People who live in old houses have issues.  Whoops, I meant “house” issues.  What kind of issues?  How about fireplaces that do nothing but shoot out coal dust and desiccated squirrel and bird carcasses?  Or houses with more leaky openings than Swiss cheese?  And selling your car to pay for an addition to your house only to find out you need to sell your other car to bring your 1912 bungalow up to 2013 code requirements?  Then there’s the fun stuff people love to spend money on because the investment is visible, like creating a landscape that compliments your house style, selecting paint colors for the inside and outside of your house (Pantone says tangerine!), or putting a beautiful, new kitchen in an old house.  Well, the OHF (cute acronym, huh?) has it all!  And we have 30 minute sessions on tankless hot water heaters (are they worth it?!), toilets 101 (a new standard with less water. Sounds very bad…), and protecting historic trees (yes, it is possible!).  We’ll also talk about different house styles like the American Small House (endangered species in Decatur these days), Craftsman, and the Ranch, which has become so cool to own!

Will she just stop and give us the link so we can buy our tickets already?!  No, she won’t.  First you have to hear that we have an exhibitor area filled with craftsmen, contractors, and skilled tradespeople who specialize in old houses and can provide services to deal with your “house” issues and raffles for prizes and the W.O.W food truck!  Sounds great, huh? Well, it gets better.  Living Social is offering a ‘buy one-get one free’ deal for one more day.  That means the tickets are $5 each.  Folks, that is just ridiculously cheap!  Go to https://www.livingsocial.com/events/569782-2013-decatur-old-house-fair-tickets.  Now, if you are a procrastinator or if you’ve been busy mopping up the water in your basement and then drowning your sorrows at Twains, you may miss this deal.  Well, you can buy the tickets online for $10 each (still cheap!) at www.decaturoldhousefair.com until Friday.  If you miss that deal, then stagger to the Courtyard by Marriott Conference Center at 9 am on Saturday and pay the full price of $15 which is still a good deal!  We take credit cards; checks, cash, and kale from your CSA box (Okay, you know I was lying about that, right?).  We promise not to laugh at your horror stories about bad contractors.  We have the cure for what ails you and your house!