Things to Know about Historic Home Renovations

If you are buying a historic home, then you must be thinking about renovating it. Well, if you are restoring an old, neglected house to bring it back to its former glory, then it will be a huge task for you.

Restoring a historic house requires a lot of research, knowledge, patience, and time. You will get desired results if you invest your time and efforts in renovating a historic house.

However, you should hire a reliable contractor to renovate a historic house. If you are searching for a reliable contractor in Hayward, you can hire Johnson Home Remodeling or visit our website to know more about our services.

Understand the difference between an old home and a historic home

But you need to understand the difference between a historic home and an old home at first. So, let us understand the features of a historic home.

What is a historic home?

Historic home has the following features:

• It must be at least 50 years old.
• A historic home should be connected to historical people or events.
• A historic home should provide potential historical information.
• It should maintain the look and feel of the house’s era.
• The historic home renovation grants often go to nonprofit groups. However, you can contact National Trust for Historic Preservation and your state preservation office to see if your home qualifies for a renovation grant.
• You can also apply for renovation loans that are eligible for a historic home renovation tax credit.

Research your home

Restoring an old house will take a lot of time and patience as you will plan to preserve the home in its original form as much as possible. So, you can research a few things while restoring your historic home.

• Thoroughly research the style of your home. The common styles for a historic home are Cape Cod, Bungalow, Colonial, and Four-Square. When you finish figuring out the style of the house, you can now understand the materials used in the particular home you have purchased. This information will help you decide the type of material you going to use while restoring a historic house in modern times without damaging the essence of the house.
• Research the particular era in which the house was built. This will help you decide the style and décor you should choose for your historic house.
• You can search for pictures of a similar type of house to get some inspiration or ideas for renovating your historic house.

Find the right contractor

If you are an interior designer, then you can renovate your house on your own. But, if you do not have adequate knowledge, then you should hire a trusted general contractor in your location. However, you should research a lot to find out if your general contractor has adequate experience in restoring historic homes in the past.

Don’t cut corners

A historic house renovation project might take a lot of time as you have to find materials that match the existing ones. Do not use cheap materials or methods of renovation as it will not work out for you. You can discuss with your contractor to choose the best materials that will be compatible with your historic home.

Proper maintenance and prevention

If you want to keep your home in good condition, then you should maintain it properly. You should understand how you can take care of a historic house so that it can be kept in good condition for a long time. Pay special attention to the foundation, roof, exterior siding, chimney, windows, and doors as these items deteriorate faster than the others.

Check for foundation issues, roof leaks, rotted wood, etc by keeping a list of the condition of your home.

Protect your home with a home warranty

You can protect your historic home with home warranty coverage to keep it in good condition.

Conclusion:

A historic home is elegant and has a character in it. So, you need to take care of it properly to keep its look intact. You should take special care to strengthen its foundation so that you won’t face any difficulties later.