Home Restoration or Home Renovation?
So you bought an older home, and you want to do some work on it. The first thing you need to decide is whether you are going to restore it or renovate it. Renovating is work done to redo the kitchen, for example, without regard to how the house looked when it was first built. Basically, you make the house yours and do not worry about what it originally looked like.
Restoration, however, is putting the house back, as much as possible, to the condition it was in when it was first built. This is usually done with homes from the early 20th century and older, homes built by an architect of note, or a unique home.
Even restoration, however, usually allows for modern kitchen appliances, heating and air conditioning, and indoor plumbing. The exception would be a house that was now a museum, or a building of note that was now a museum. Homes on the National Register of Historic Places have some significant restrictions on how they can be restored, and renovation is usually not allowed.
If you choose to restore your home, you must first do a little research to see how it looked when new. Looking at city permit files for old architectural drawings is a good place to start. However, zoning and permitting as we know it are not that old, so you may not find what you need there.
The library in your town is usually a good resource, especially if they have a local history section. The Chamber of Commerce may have some information, as may the local newspaper. Local newspapers may even have pictures, especially if there was ever an event of note inside the house.
Once you have some photographs or drawings of the original house interior and exterior, you need to decide how faithfully you intend to restore it. Old fixtures can be hard to find, but do turn up in estate sales or when old houses are torn down to make way for newer buildings. Reproductions of fixtures are easier to come by.
As for the wooden fixtures, such as baseboards and crown molding, those are easier still to find. Good Millwork can mill new wooden items for your building. Of course, it is easier if we have an architectural drawing, but we can replicate the items from a piece that still exists, a photograph, or a sketch of what it looked like. We have over 200 species of wood, too, so we can match the original wood.
Whether you are renovating your house or restoring it, Good Millwork can help. Give us a call today and get started!
Have Questions? Contact us or call (888) 209-9307
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