What You May Find When Renovating Century Homes

When renovating century homes don't be surprised by what you find behind the walls.

Its amazing what you can find when you start pulling apart older homes walls, once that lath and plaster comes down and all the other layers that are applied on top of it you start to find some interesting and some times strange things.

Century homes have usually been renovated several times before we get at them and usually the renovations are repairs, patches and quick fixes like covering old lath and plaster with ceiling tiles or other layers of drywall. Because of this we end up finding things that have been placed there or left or there or brought there by others, here's a little list of things that we have found inside century walls and ceilings;

• Newspapers. We find a lot of pieces of old newspapers. Whether they were placed there on purpose to mark the date of the renovation, or left there by accident or used as a cheap form of insulation its always interesting to read the date and articles of older pieces of paper.
• Tools. We've found hammers, screw drivers, electrical supplies, crow bars, nails and several other things.
• Clothes. Shirts, gloves, shoes and once we even found a corset in a ceiling.
• Umbrella. Once we found a umbrella in the walls.
• Cane. Why someone left a cane in the walls is about as weird as an umbrella.
• Sawdust. A lot of older homes used sawdust to insulate the walls.
• Children's toys.

Some of the not nice things that we have found have been;

• A family of mice. Many many mice alive and dead.
• Raccoons.
• Cats.
• Squirrels, alive and dead ones.
• Wasps nests.
• Bee hives.
• We once found a ceiling that was completely filled with Bat poop!

All of the things listed above don't really cost you extra money but some of the other things we find do, once you start removing ceilings in old homes you find;

• Fire Damage. A lot of old homes have fire damage once you start looking behind ceilings and walls.
• Structural damage from cutting beams and joists from previous renovations. This is sometimes that reason that an old homes floors go up and down.
• Old wiring. Knob and tube and sometimes aluminum wiring is still found in these old homes.
• Old or damaged plumbing that requires repairs.
• The lack of insulation.
• Blocked or missing duct work.

Remember that when you commit to opening up century home ceilings you have to commit to repairing or replacing anything that needs to be repaired. You don't want to cover up problems that you find,so in your renovation budget you need to set a side a repair fund to fix whatever you find.

Remember just because an old home looks good and solid doesn't mean that everything will be perfect once you start looking behind the walls and ceilings.

Removing lath and plaster is a dirty and dusty job that nobody likes to do,that's why people try everything to no take them down. But the only real way to properly renovate a century home is to take the rooms back to their original studs, this is the best way to bring the home up to code and also to fix anything else that you find.

Rob Abbott

Village Builders Inc.  

When should you renovate your home? Every 15 to 20 years

You should renovate your home every 15 to 20 years

If you are looking around your home and wondering if it’s time to start renovating you home think about the length of time that it has been since the house was either been built or renovated last. If you come up with a number that comes close to 15 years then it might be time to renovate. There are certain areas of the house that will require renovating before others.

·         Bathrooms. Bathrooms are used and abused. They are also the one room in your house most open to water damage that can cause mold and rot. Bathrooms are also one of the main areas in the house that are routinely done improperly by handymen and homeowners. With modern building techniques bathrooms have come a long way. Today’s bathrooms are drywalled in a mold and moisture resistance board. The importance of larger fans and HRV’s is well known now to keep excessive moisture from damaging the room. Bathroom trends change faster than any other room in the house. What is in style this decade was not in style last decade and this can make the bathroom looked dated. Also your life style changes will affect your bathroom usage, if you have young children then the function of your bathroom changes with the tub being used more than the shower. When the children become young adults then the shower becomes more important than the tub. Always think about the way you want your bathroom to function when you are thinking about renovating it.

·         Kitchens. The kitchen in your house is the heart of the home. It will take more abuse than any other room. Nowhere else in the house does every single person visit at least twice a day and proceed to do something. Kitchen cabinets are opened more per day than any other cabinet in your whole house in a week. Kitchens need a face lift or a complete renovation with the changing times and trends. As your appliances have to be replaced before your kitchen will then you can end up with gaps where the new appliances don’t fit the exact same as the old ones. Kitchens are the usually the first room that your guests will visit when coming into your home. The kitchen will set the tone for the whole house. A lot of kitchens are not just for food prep anymore, there a gathering place for family’s with spaces to eat meals and do homework.

·         Laundry rooms. Laundry rooms or mudrooms are not just a place to do the laundry, they are a place where countless items are stored and countless people will come and go. They take a lot of abuse especially if you have kids and pets.

·         Rec rooms. Rec rooms have fallen out of favour in new homes, instead of having a room that is designated as a multipurpose space; people want every part of their house to be a defined space. The rec room has been transformed into a games room, or a media room, a movie room or a several smaller defined spaces instead of one large open empty one.

·         Master bedroom. Master Bedrooms have been changed into a personal oasis for the homeowner, a place to get away from everyone else. So master bedrooms now have fireplaces, TV’s mounted on the wall with full surround sound and a lot of light that is put on dimmers to help create any mood that you want.

·         Windows. A lot of low end or inexpensive windows that were installed two decades ago need their windows replaced. Seals go and allow air and water penetration. A lot of the time when windows are replaced rot is found and has to be repaired. Caulking around windows usually only lasts 15 years, even if you don’t replace all the windows you should take the time to re-caulk them.

·         Exterior finishes. Siding, brick or stucco should be either replaced, repaired, repainted or touched up when you are renovating your home. This will help the property value, it will insure that you do not have any leaks were caulking could have failed and allows you to repair any area’s before they get to bad to repair.

The average Canadian will only own a house for 7 years. That means that there will be two to three owners between renovations in a 15 to 20 year period. If the average home is only owned for 7 years and then sold that means that renovating your home will raise your property value when you decide to sell.

Since home inspectors have become the norm when people are looking into buying your house it goes a long way to satisfying people’s concerns when you are able to tell them that the house was renovated by a professional.

Also there is very little education or accreditation to become a home inspector. More than once has Village Builders come to the defence of one of their past clients because a home inspector was confused by something and gave a false report jeopardising the potential sale of a house. A professional contractor will not charge you for any of this after the fact because it’s part of their reputation of quality work that was completed properly and within the parameters of the building code.

So remember if you are wondering if your home needs to be renovated, do a little math and if the number comes in at 15 years or above then it is definitely time to renovate.

If you are looking to renovate please feel free to give us a call at 877-866-3202 or check out our website at www.villagebuilders.ca

Rob Abbott

Operation Manager

Village Builders Inc.

Where to start when you want to renovate your home

Where to start when you want to renovate your home

If you are thinking about renovating your home, you need to look into certain things before you go too far forward. Here are some of the things that you should look into;

·         Make a list of every part of the home that you want to change or update.

·         Prioritize the list, from the most important to the least important.

·         Group the different area’s that you want to renovate, for example; if you renovate the Ensuite bathroom you should probably renovate the master bedroom at the same time. This allows you to finish areas of the house allowing you to still live in the house.

·         Decide if your renovation is going to be large enough that you cannot live there while the work is going on. Do you have somewhere to go while the work is going on?  Can you afford to do that?

·         Make a budget of what you can afford to spend on the renovations.

·         Find out from your bank how much they will give you toward the renovation.

·         Look at the possible return on your investment. If you renovate your home so it is the nicest home on the street you’re probably not going to get as big a return from your renovation as if you only did enough to bring it up to the standards that are already existing in your neighbourhood.

·         Figure out what you realistically can accomplish on your own, if anything at all. When I say realistically look at what you can do, I mean like some demolition and painting. Things like plumbing, electrical and reframing should always be left to professionals.

Now that you have done this you have a view into what you are getting yourself into. This gives you a heading in the journey of your renovation. You know which way to go now, but you really don’t have a clue on how to get there.

The next thing you need to do is to find yourself a designer and a contractor to do the work. If you can find a contractor that has an "in house designer" that’s even better.  This always makes it easier for everyone involved in your renovation project, they are all under one roof and one simple phone call from you gets in touch with all of them. This will allow the designer and contractor to work as a team instead of two individuals.

When looking to find a contractor do your research. Check the internet, look at websites. Look in the local magazines, you can tell a lot about how people run their business by the way they run their marketing. Well ordered and stylized marketing usually means that the company is well run and organized. Meet with contractors, talk to them and get them to show you pictures of some of the work that they have done. You don’t want to end up with a contractor that isn’t able to give the finished product that you want. You want a contractor that has been there and done it, this will allow them to steer you away from any problems that they have run into in the past. Ask for references of clients that they have renovated for so that you can ask important questions, like how long did the job take, where they professional, did they come when they said they would? A good contractor should be able to present you with a list of references almost as soon as you ask for it. Renovators get asked for this all the time and if there not trying to hide anything then they usually will have no problem turning over some contact information that pertains to their clients.

When getting a budget or pricing on a renovation it is better to only deal with one contractor. Renovating is not like when you are building a new home, you do not want to go out and get multiple bidders for a renovation project. The reason for this is because in a renovation there is so much left to guess work on the side of the contractor. The contractor makes a lot of assumptions of what they think you will want in flooring and fixtures. If you get multiple bids you really won’t know what you are getting in the budget because each contractors allowance will be different. It is better to find a contractor that you can trust, work with and have an accurate budget. Then the two of you can work on the actual finishing’s to help fine tune your budget. This will give you exactly what you want for what you expect to pay.

Renovating your home is a very stressful experience for most people, especially if you our having to live in the house as the work is proceeding.  This makes it even more important that you pick the right contractor that can give you what you want in the time frame that you desire.

Once you have settled on a contractor, you should work out the final touches of your budget and design. The budget will change as the design does, so you want to have most of your choices made before the project even starts if you want to stay close to your budget.

A good contractor will have you sign a contract. This will protect them and you in the future. If the work has already been defined then you can have the contractor give you a fixed price contract. If the renovations are going to be extensive with a lot of unforeseen changes and extra’s then it might be easier for both of you to go with a management contract. This allows the contractor to do the work that needs to be done without getting you to approve everything they do, this will help speed the project along and free you up to make more important choices.  

Your designer and contractor need to work together to come up with as accurate drawings as possible. This will require planning to fit what you want in the space provided.

Be prepared to be flexible with any drawings that you approve. Once demolition begins and the drywall starts coming off the walls you might find obstacles that restrict certain things that you wanted to do. For Example; Plumbing drains need a certain amount of room and can only placed where they fit. A toilet drain has to be placed in an exact spot so that it fits between your floor joists and is a certain distance off the wall. This can push your toilet over 6 to 8 inches sometimes, which could affect things like your vanity or shower enclosure.

Once you have your drawings you or your contractor need to look into any permits that you will need depending on how expansive the renovation will end up. Sometimes if the renovation is not that large then you can skip the permit and go without it. A simple bathroom renovation a lot of time can go permit less. Any kind of major renovation should have a permit, especially if you are altering any load bearing walls.

In some area’s if you are doing a major renovation the building department can make you upgrade certain parts of the rest of the house before they will pass your inspections. This can blow your budget if you are not prepared for it. Having a meeting between your contractor and the building inspector before you start the project can make sure that the inspector is not going to add any additional work that might not be in your budget.

Before your contractor starts demolition you should have a site meeting and go over the following points;

·         Where you are going to move anything that you are worried will be damaged out of the area that the renovation will be happening. If you need help moving these items this is the time to give direction to the contractor on what they can move for you and where you want it placed.

·         How the house will be protected from dust and debris, this is relevant if you are only renovating certain parts of the house.

·         Schedule of trades. If you are going to live in the house while the renovation is ongoing then you need to know what days trades are going to show up and at what time.

·         Decide on where dumpsters or garbage trailers can be placed, so that it wouldn’t be in the way, but will still be close enough not to add additional cost.

·         If there are certain plants and or trees on the outside of the building that you want protected or covered this is the time to talk about it.

·         Discuss if there is enough room in the house to leave the furniture in it. If there isn’t you may need the contractor to order you an onsite storage unit. This can be dropped in your driveway.

·         When you are renovating it’s a great time to de-clutter. Give the contractor a list of what they can throw away since they have the large garbage bins onsite.

Once your contractor has started demolition all you need to do is make sure that you stay in an area that you can be contacted. With renovations there are always things that your contractor will want to talk to you about. If you are renovating a second home then make a regular meeting time with your contractor like Friday at 4pm every week. This will allow you to ask the contractor questions about the progress of your renovation, this also allows the contractor to ask the endless questions that they will have. Renovations are a custom project, so the whole renovation is customized to the homeowner’s tastes and budget. No matter how many decisions you make before the project starts you will be asked an endless stream of questions as things come up. The more questions your contractor asks you, the more the contractor is able to give you exactly what you want.

Another great reason for regular meetings is to settle your bill. Your contractor will be able to present you with your bill and receive payment on a regular schedule; this will help relieve a lot of stress that can build up between contractor and client.

Even though drawings can be emailed or faxed back and forth it is always a good idea to bring out the drawings and go over them at this weekly meeting making everyone aware of what the expectations are for the project.

Once the contractor has finished the renovations and proceeded with the clean up the home owner should do a walk through with the contractor. This is a great way for the two of them to come to an agreement that the project has been completed in the way that was agreed upon. Any outstanding issues can be recorded and changed or repaired in a timely manner. This is also were you (as a homeowner) make your final payment to your contractor. If you can’t find anything wrong then there isn’t any reason for you to keep any money held back. If you’re worried about warranty you shouldn’t, if you did your research and picked the right contractor then the contractor will honour any work that will need to be warranted in the future. Remember the list of references that the contractor gave you at your request before you hired them? This is one of the main reasons that you can trust in their warranty, they want to be able to add you to that list. A successful company tries to create clients that will tell everyone about the wonderful experience they had when working with them.

One of the main things you should be doing during any renovation is talking to your spouse. Renovations are extremely hard on relationships, especially if you are living in the same house as the renovation. You need to talk to your spouse about the choices and decisions that you will be required to make. You should make sure that you always involve the other person in the decision making. There are even books that you can read to help your relationship survive your renovation.

If you are thinking about renovating and have some questions or you are looking for a quote on an upcoming renovation feel free to email me at robabbott@villagebuilders.ca or visit our website at www.villagebuilders.ca

Rob Abbott

Operations Manager
Village Builders Inc.

Renovating vs. Demolition/new build (part 2)

Renovating vs. Demolition/new build

Part 2     Looking at the benefits of demolishing an older house and building a brand new one

It’s easy to think that fixing an older house is cheaper then demolishing it and building a new house. That is true but only to a certain point. A lot of older houses that are extensively renovated can end up costing you more money, especially in the long run.

Most older homes that get renovated, end up being renovated more than once. Even doing a whole house renovation usually leads to contractors coming back at a later date to replace or improve different things in the house because you’re making new things work with existing older things in the house. An example of this is when you are redoing the bathrooms in your house a plumber will replace a lot of the plumbing that is close to the bathrooms, but will usually not replace all the plumbing right back to where the water service comes in to the house. So after installing all of this new plumbing equipment in the house the plumber has to come back and do costly repairs to the existing plumbing because it has been over loaded by the new plumbing fixtures. This is not a warranty issue because the plumber never touched those plumbing lines. Another example of this is the electrical. In most renovations the electricians are not able to replace every wire in the house, they replace as much as they can but in older houses with custom stucco ceilings you don’t want them tearing holes in them. So there end up being wires in your home that are old and may not be able to support new modern electrical needs.

When talking about warranty’s renovating an older home can be a nightmare for getting things warranted.  Because a lot of the time the problem is not with what was replaced but what still exists. New homes come with what is called the Tarion New Home Warranty, which is federally insured program that your builder pays for and registers you into that is good for the first 7 years that you own the house.

Another large problem is that when you add new furnaces and hrv’s in older houses that never had them, you can get shrinkage in the wall studs, this is especially bad in the stairwells. So this will cause drywall pops and drywall cupping even in newly installed drywall. This means that after a period of time you would have to bring the drywallers and painters back to do some costly repairs.

With new houses they all have to be done to a certain building code that is monitored by the local governments. Older houses were not built too today’s standards, which can cause some problems when trying to get permits to renovate older houses. Also certain things like fireplaces and electrical you will be forced to replace or fix because of the licences and the insurance that the contractors have. Also insurance companies when coming and doing a reassessment on the property will force home owners to do certain things to qualify for their insurance. This is especially serious when it comes to fireplaces.

With rising energy costs the norm these days, spending a little extra money to build a new energy efficient house instead of trying to bring an older house up to those standards will save you money for the length of time that you own your house. This can really add up with the new technology that is coming out for new houses.

Renovating an older house gives you a renovated old house. So the old foundation is still old, the roof is still old and will probably need to be repaired in the future. They are old to start with and will not last forever so there is a risk in doing a lot of work near and around them.

Old foundations can be difficult to tie into if you are putting an addition on and can also restrict what you can do with the addition, as in you might not be able to put a full basement in an addition depending on the basement in the existing older house.

The best thing that you can do when deciding where to renovate or build new is to work with a contractor that you trust. They should be able to tell you by inspecting the existing property if it’s better to renovate it or tear it down.

If you’re thinking about this and want to talk to a professional contractor feel free to drop me an email at robabbott@villagebuilders.ca or call me at 705 466-3202.

Rob Abbott

Operations Manager

Village Builders Inc.