If you own a historic home, planning your renovation so it stays true to its original design and retains its distinct beauty are vital. A carefully crafted approach that protects your historic home’s structure with carefully chosen materials will help it stay free from damaging termites and other pests while keeping water penetration and wood rot at bay.
Extra care and attention to detail are needed to remodel a historic house to not only preserve its character and features, but also meets municipal guidelines and guards your investment. Here are some recommendations to help you get started:
Upgrade Your Historic Home with Confidence
Undertaking a historic home remodel is challenging yet rewarding. When it comes to successful historic home renovations, elements like registering your home as a historic home if you have not already, filling out forms, touching base with the local zoning board, and hiring a contractor experienced in historic home updates are all part of the equation.
What Qualifies as a Historic Home In Chester County?
Just because a home is old doesn’t make it a historic home. To qualify as a historic home, it must be at least 50 years old and meet one of these four criteria:
- The house is connected to significant historical events.
- It’s connected to the lives of significant individuals.
- It’s considered an embodiment of a particular historic style.
- It has provided or is likely to provide important historical information.
Things That May Need Attention in Historic Homes
When it comes to historic homes, there is always the chance that significant water damage has happened over a long period of time. Water infiltration left unattended leads to wood rot and can open the door to infestation from termites and other pests. If the water has seeped in for an extended time, costly structural damage may have occurred. The more proactive you can be about repairing what is damaged and preventing problems in the future, the better.
Choose Suitable Siding Materials
Preserve your historical home’s integrity by selecting the right siding. Renovating it with top-notch materials will provide lasting returns—shielding your investment (whether you’re keeping the house or putting it up for sale).
Durable James Hardie fiber cement siding mimics the look of wood while saving you from the hassles of wood siding’s maintenance needs. It stands up to the elements easily and comes with a 30-year transferable warranty. When installed correctly and maintained well, it lasts up to 50 years.
Protect Your Home With Gorgeous Windows
You’ll want to maintain the house’s original character when renovating each part of your historic home. After all, that’s what restoration is all about. Mimic the popular windows prevalent in the area when your home was built. Check with the preservation association before deciding on which replacement windows to install.
The good news is that you can get windows with a historic look yet equipped with modern technology so you can enjoy energy savings throughout the years. Wood or composite wood window frames are often a good choice, and double-hung windows are almost always safe because of their longstanding history. Divided lite windows may also be appropriate replacements in your historic home.
Safeguard Your Home With Reliable Roofing
Is your home’s roof showing signs of damage or wear? Does it have missing or cracked shingles? Does your home’s roof leak? Realize that sometimes small roof leaks can lurk and damage your house significantly. Your historic property’s roof protects your investment, family, and possessions from the elements. A professionally installed roof can ensure protection and make a stunning visual statement.
Prevent Structural Damage
Remodeling your historic home in a way that fits its architectural style delivers many advantages. In fact, when you upgrade your home’s siding, roofing, and windows, you’ll save your property from expensive structural damage, giving it a longer life and making it easier to keep the home in your family.
Maintain Your Historic Home’s Character
Don’t rush to rip down plaster walls if you need to replace your historic home’s wiring. Electricians can snake wires through walls instead, avoiding a huge mess and helping to maintain the home’s original character.
Find a Trusted Historic Home Renovation Contractor
When you own a historic home, finding the right team of professionals to guide you through the complex yet satisfying historic home remodeling process is vital, giving you peace of mind about your property’s lasting value. Understand that historic homes have different zoning and regulations, so working with an experienced contractor is essential. Renovations on a historic home are different from other homes.
At Distinctive Homes, you can rest assured that we’ll handle every detail of your historic home’s renovation with the care that comes from our family’s commitment to Chester County. We’ll ensure all the appropriate permits are obtained and everything aligns with zoning regulations. Our 10-year workmanship warranty guarantees that we take pride in precision remodeling for your historic property.
Preserve Chester County’s Unique History
When the remodeling is done to match the home’s original features, you’ll preserve some of Chester County’s unique history!
Historic Home Renovation Specialists
Finding specialized tradespeople is essential when you renovate a historic home. The degree of craftsmanship found in a historic home isn’t easily matched. At Distinctive Homes, we offer specialty remodeling for your historic Chester County property.
You’ll find every home remodeling expert under our roof. We offer inspections, and you have access to any expert you need through every stage of the reconstruction process. This saves you money, and you won’t waste time researching or finding another contractor. You’ll have peace of mind that your job is done right.
We ensure your home’s structural integrity is preserved, safeguarding its unique historical nature.
Take a look at one of our featured projects for inspiration.