Your old home has character that makes it beautiful and unique. Before you swing the sledge hammer or start to remodel, there are 7 Rules of Restoration that you’ll need to know. These rules will help you get or keep your old house right! Each one of these rules can be applied to any remodel of any age!
1st Rule: Repair the Home's Original Features
Due to your home being built in a specific time period, there are elements that make your house unique and beautiful. Leave the original elements alone and only address them if they need to be rehabilitated. When people remove historic mill-work elements that were popular in that time period and replace them something you can get at any home center; the house loses a part of its own history.
2nd Rule: Use the Property for its Original Purpose
First of all, if the house was originally designed to be a house…it should be kept as a house. People will always need houses and will always be looking for places to call their home. Second, leave the rooms where they were originally laid out to be. Gutting out an older home can cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars that could be applied elsewhere. Last, look for a new home instead of changing the one you have now to suit your needs. If you need a larger home for a growing family or need a different layout, looking into a new home could save you a lot of time and money.
3rd Rule: Retain and Preserve the Home Additions
The big reasons why this rule should be followed is for the historical significance and the environmental impacts that come with renovations. Demo and deconstruction are extremely expensive. And all the waste from a demo ends up in landfills.
4th Rule: Replace with Authenticity
We understand that sometimes certain components of a vintage home become unsalvageable from wear and tear over the years. We also understand that some of those original characteristics may be missing from work done by previous home owners. When replacement becomes the only option, we want to replace with something that will authentically match the time period and the original features.
5th Rule: Add-On to Home with Integrity
Add-ons should add value to your house if you’re going to have one done. In order to make sure you’re getting the addition correct for your home, you should be able to identify the original structure and the add-on structure when the work is completed. This can be done on the outside by changing the cladding or by offsetting the house just a little bit so you can tell where the old is at and where the new begins.
Another thing you want to do is make sure addition does not end up larger than the original size of the home. It just doesn’t look right and completely shadows the home itself. Not to mention, it will take away value from the house too! The next thing you want to know about add-ons is how to blend it properly with the pre-existing structure. You can do this by bringing some character defining details of the time the house was built into the addition, but take caution. You don’t want to overdo it and make addition come off as fake. We recommend checking out the Read before Renovating [hype link to blog post] blog about four books that are foundational to comprehending old home renovations.
6th Rule: Never Add Fake Features to the Home
This may end up being a bit offensive because so many people love shiplap. However, you don’t want to add something fake and phony to your house. Knockoff features and elements take away from curb appeal and will make it more difficult to sell in the future.
7th Rule: Never use Aggressive Remodel Methods
Sledgehammers and power washers may make the work go by a bit quicker, but at what cost? These tools do more damage to the environment, the home and your health more than most people consider.
Busting out the power washer to blow the paint off your house causes paint chips to fly everywhere! If that old home was built before 1978, that paint is most likely lead based paint. This is a hazard to your health! The power washer also injects way more water than that wood is designed to intake and more often than not, people don’t give the wood enough time to dry afterwards. Another thing to think about is where does the runoff water go from this washing? Into the city sewers which is not only illegal, but also extremely dangerous environmentally!
Lastly, let’s talk about the sledgehammer. This tool is destructive and can cause a lot more damage than one may be aware. When you rock the house with a heavy sledgehammer, you are not just tearing apart the part you’re looking to destroy...you’re actually damaging adjacent elements of the home.
We want to encourage you to leave your home as it is. Rethink why you own the home and if you want a different design, look into purchasing a new one. Don’t destroy the history and craftsmanship of old homes to make a new one for you. Find ways to renovate and restore your house that do as minimal damage to it as possible.
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