"Part of the appeal of buying my century house was that it actually has a working transom window. And it swivels! I’ve seen so many transoms painted shut with all the hardware frozen under layers of paint. Relieved to have one less feature to strip!"
Pulling up an old floor (vinyl, linoleum, carpet etc) and hoping you find something other than just a subfloor (you usually don't or the old floor is ruined)