If you have recently purchased an historic home, welcome to the world of home renovation. Unless your home has been kept in impeccable shape and upgraded periodically, chances are that there is much in need of replacement. But keep in mind that you bought the home because of its charm, and any renovations you make should preserve the overall architectural design. In fact, most historic homes are located in an historic district which has its requirements and restrictions regarding remodeling. The first step is to find out what is – and what isn’t – permitted by your historic district entity.
Once you have a list of allowable renovations and acceptable materials, it’s time to take a hard look at where to put your remodeling budget. Historic homes can be notorious money pits, and unless you’ve got an unlimitd budget, you need to prioritize your projects and determine what you can’t live without and which changes are merely “likes.”
Top Priority: Code Issues
If you home was inspected prior to your purchase, some things may be noted which are required to bring the home up to current building code. In fact, certain things might need to be addressed before you can even occupy your home. Electrical and plumbing are the main areas with historic homes which need updating to be code compliant, but there may be other things as well. These are the “must haves.”
Next Step: Needed Repairs
This category includes anything broken, which would be a safety or deterioration threat. Included in this are things such as leaky roofs and pipes, broken windows, and missing handrails or floor boards.
Functional Changes
Historic homes were built for lifestyles that are significantly different from what is commonplace today. Modern bedrooms all come with closets, but it’s a rare historic home that has one. In days gone by clothes were stored in armoires and other pieces of furniture and closets weren’t needed. And unless you’re willing to invest in similar furniture, you’ll probably want to add closets to the bedrooms. Bathrooms are in the same category; many older homes have insufficient bathroom space or lack the most-used modern bathing facility, the shower. Chances are your home has a claw foot tub, so adding a shower may involve a significant renovation. Adding at least a half bath on the main floor if it lacks one (many older homes only have a single bath on the upper floor near the bedrooms) is almost a necessity.
Kitchen upgrade also fall under “functional.” Most historic homes have very small kitchen spaces, so unless you are prepared to put on an addition (if it is permitted) or sacrifice other living space near the existing kitchen to allow for an expansion, you’ll need to be creative in your upgrades and go after changes that will maximize functionality in a minimum of space.
Energy Efficiency
Things that fall in this category include heating and cooling, insulation, windows and doors, and appliances. Historic homes are sorely lacking insulation, and the windows were single-pane glass, The wood window and door frames have long since shrunken and warped from their openings, so you probably have significant drafts. Renovations which improve the energy efficiency of your home should go near the top of the list, because without these upgrades you’ll be spending much more on utilities than you need to, and you won’t be as comfortable in that charming home as you could be.
Window Outfitters specializes in replacement windows and doors for historic homes. We are also experienced in working with historic district entities.
Window Outfitters is a premier Window Replacement, doors, siding contractor and installer. As Contractor in the St Paul, Minneapolis, (Twin Cities) Minnesota (MN) metro, we proudly serve, but are not limited to, the following areas: Minneapolis Energy Efficient Vinyl Windows, Replacement Window Contractors Minnesota, Burnsville, Apple Valley, Lakeville, Savage, Bloomington, Edina, Richfield, Eagan, St Paul, Hastings, Minnetonka, Plymouth, Maple Grove, Eden Prairie, Farmington MN, Chaska, Shakopee, Chanhassen, Victoria, Mendota Heights Anderson Windows Minneapolis, Marvin Windows Minneapolis.
