If you have purchased a historic home and have plans to renovate it, you are of course very excited about the changes you will be made to your property in the coming months. However, since it is a historic home, your renovation may be a bit different than that of a traditional property. Since you fell in love with your home due to its unique character and other aspects, you want to be careful as you proceed. To make sure your renovation goes well from the start, here are some things you should know.
Expect to Find Water Damage
In virtually all older homes, it is not a question of if water damage will be present, but rather just how much of it will be found and how extensive is the damage. Therefore, when you make renovation plans, expect to be spending time and money to fix varying degrees of water damage in different parts of your home.
Assemble a Good Team
Even if you plan to do some of the renovations yourself, always make sure you have a good team around you to handle more complex aspects of the renovation. This should include a contractor who has extensive experience renovating historic homes, as well as a home inspector who knows exactly what to look for in these situations. By having a great team around you, even the most difficult problems can usually be solved.
Start with the Roof
While it's always tempting to start renovating the kitchen or other parts of your home first, it's smart to instead begin with the roof. Since you need to get the house so that it is watertight, work with JCB Roofing in Hilton Head Island, SC to fix the roof and other related areas of the home, since this will help the structural integrity of the home and prevent additional water damage from occurring. Additionally, if you find leaks in your roof, it may be a sign that you need to look for mold remediation where the water leaks.
Embrace Your Home's Quirks
If there is one thing you need to remember when renovating a historic home, it is to have a willingness to embrace the home's quirks. So long as the quirks are not threatening the home's structural integrity or your personal safety, learn to love such quirks as an uneven floor or other peculiarities. Not only will this save you lots of time and money when renovating, but it will also give your historic home even more character.
If you keep these suggestions in mind as you begin renovating your historic home, you will soon find yourself with a home that looks fantastic, is structurally sound, and is unlike any other home your family and friends have even seen.
