Recently we had a conversation with a new home owner that purchased a 1950’s built Victorian styled three season vacation home in upstate New York who wanted to convert it for use as their primary residence. They were wondering how they could improve the home to make it livable year round.
The home is located near a lake with electric, well water and phone service but with no access to natural gas. The structure of the home is older but in good condition. There is no furnace in the home but a wood burning stove has been partly installed.
So, lets take a look at some of the improvements they should complete to make the home livable year round.
The first thing that a new owner should do is make a list of all of the options that they will consider needing, upgrading or installing later. There are many levels of livability that people enjoy in their homes and options should be sorted from upgrades needed before you can move in to ones that you can complete in the first few years. For instance replacing counter tops should be some place down the list from something like dependable heating.
Inspection
For about $150 you can have a professional inspection of your home. This probably should be done prior to making an offer to purchase. The inspector should give you a full detailed list of items that need to be addressed immediately and in our case they should perform a heat loss test to provide the owner information on what type of heating system they should install.
How To schedule the work
Work should be completed in a way that reduces overlapping or destruction of prior work. When building a home from the ground up you complete work in the following order: Foundation, Framing, Roofing, Windows & Doors, Plumbing, Electrical, HVAC, Drywall, Painting, Flooring, Cabinets, Appliances. This is also pretty much the way you want to tackle your remodels. For instance you should complete your insulation, plumbing, heating and electrical before you worry about visual aspects like a kitchen remodel, painting or new carpet.
The first thing you must do
The first project you must tackle is making sure the house is dry and safe to work in. Water leaks may require a new roof or windows but plastic tarp will do for now until you have completed any demolition and structural work needed. If the home has insect damage this is probably a good time to call someone before you start feeding your termite tenants fresh wood. If you have trees that need to come down or branches trimmed do this all now before you put on that new roof or install new windows. Basically you are getting the site in safe condition so your needs will change based on your circumstances.
Electrical
Upgrading the electrical should be a primary concern. Older homes prior to 1970 are likely to have fuse boxes and older wiring. They should be upgraded to shielded 3 wire cable and a circuit breaker. If the home is in decent shape with no roof leaks or broken windows this should be the first project. A circuit breaker can be installed on the first floor of the home and wires can be run from the basement or attic to feed outlets without the need to cause much wall damage. Old wire can be left in the walls but cut out where exposed in the attic or basement. If you are able to do the work yourself it should cost about $1,000 . If not then you should still be able to pull most of the wire, find studs and install outlets then hire a contractor to complete the work.
Layout of the electrical should be done after you have planned all other upgrades but before other work is started. Electrical should also include wiring for cable, computer networking, dishTv or other similar products.
Plumbing
In older homes it is imperative that you have all lead pipes removed. You will also have a good amount of calcification and rust buildup in feed lines and waste lines will also need replacing. It is best to get this done early at or about the same time you are addressing your electrical. You can build a wet-wall which is a 2×6 wall in a closet area to feed an upstairs and downstairs bathroom and install vent, waste and feed lines without disturbing much of the house. If needed you can do this in a room with a bump-out or you can do it in a closet to hide the work. If you have a water well you will need to have it inspected for water quality and age of the pump. Make sure you can locate your septic system, tanks and pipes you do not want to run over them with a dirt truck when you are building your flower garden.
Heating Choices
On older homes you can still have the choice of any heating type but you may have to make alterations in products and methods since the home is already built. If you like forced hot air then you can run ducts for the first floor in your basement or crawl space. If you have a slab or second floor you can run duct in your attic but this will mean you need heavy insulation around the ducts and will end up with a slightly higher heating bill.
Baseboard heat can be installed by using PEX flexible tubing and standard baseboards. You could also opt for electric baseboard heat which will require wiring to each unit.
In our case we do not have access to Natural Gas for heating but we could install propane units for hot water and room heating by making slight adjustments to the devices with retrofit kits that are useually provided free when you buy a gas stove, heater or hot water heater.
Insulation
In addition to a heating system this older home will most likely need insulation in exterior walls and the attic. Since the home is already built adding insulation to walls can be performed by blowing in lose fill fiberglass or other insulation types. Since the home is older it is probably best to stay away from foam insulation which has a good probability of cracking plaster walls if installed incorrectly. Attic insulation may mean nothing more then adding lose fiberglass or bats which can be done by the home owner. If it is a finished attic it may require a professional to add proper venting and blow in the insulation.
Then What?
Well after you have addressed your primary needs by upgrading your services you can start work on bathrooms, kitchens or other projects. If the home has been lived in you may find a lot of hacked together projects and many times its best to just wipe it all out and start fresh. You don’t want to repair a pipe that’s over 10 years old or fix a faucet or toilet that is easier to replace.
Time vs Money
This is a difficult decision is hiring a contractor to perform all the work worth the price? Well if you have the money and don’t have the skills then yes but if you can save $2500 by building your own deck in 2 weekends instead of having a contractor do it in a day, I would say save the money and picnic on the grass for a week.
Windows and doors are also not that hard to replace yourself if you understand what you are doing but you don’t want to yank them all out and then have an open house for a few days. Order them all together but install them one at a time and do the first floor first and if needed hire someone for a day to help with the second floor.
Flooring cabinets, fixtures and appliances are all something you can do and they can wait as long as they are functional and safe.
Planing will save you money and your sanity
Planing will always save you money. If you need to upgrade your plumbing and electrical then do it with respect to future projects.
Never put your money into flash if it means you can’t afford function. Sure Stone counter tops are great but wouldn’t a second bathroom, a deck or three prepayments on your mortgage be that much better.
Scheduling is always important even if you are doing the work yourself. Make sure you are good on your material orders and contractor and inspection dates. Always give yourself more time then you need and that time will fill it’s self in with mistakes and changes. And never try to redesign the wheel… sure the best and newest products are nice to try but standard methods and materials won’t let you down and will most likely cost you less.