My Top Five Things to Avoid with an Old House

#5 - Creating an Air-Tight Home

Houses should breathe. While weather stripping obvious gaps is a good idea, making your home completely air tight isn’t healthy for you or your home. Negative airflow from kitchen and bath vents can bring toxic air from chimneys, for example. Seal any drafts, but let it breathe.

#4 - Covering or Removing Original Plaster

If you have it, flaunt it. Plaster is more expensive to install than gypsum, but gives your walls an old house feel that's hard to produce with any other material. Covering it with drywall would be a shame. Like shining up a vintage copper heirloom and removing the patina.

#3 - Painting over Patina

Speaking of patina, never, never, never paint interior wood that has aged to a rich patina. Nothing gives a home a warmer feeling than aged, dark, rich wood.

#2 - Vinyl Siding

I speak from experience on this one. I didn't install it, but I spent one entire Summer removing it. The dirty little secret about vinyl siding is that it’s bad for your home. Moisture will eventually build up behind this material and cause the wood behind it to sporadically rot, providing an invitation for wood-eating insects to feast. Hidden from view, most problems are never addressed until it's too late. Vinyl siding installation also involves removing original trim, a huge no-no for preservationists. And all to avoid not having to paint. Instead of vinyl I suggest creating a “painting budget” which builds up over a period of 6 to 8 years. For pennies a day you can keep you historic home looking historic. Take that budgeted money and pay someone to do it. A win-win situation for you and the painter. Or, make it your goal to paint one side per year, a much more manageable task.

#1 - Replacing Windows and Doors

Like rims on a sports car, nothing makes or breaks the look of an historic home or business more than windows and doors. Sadly, we are often convinced to replace these original elements, especially windows, in the name of energy savings. While there may be some small benefit financially (though that is also up for debate since you are removing very expensive materials) the integrity lost far outweighs any minimal amount of savings. Not to mention the problems associated with an air-tight structure (see above). Saving $150 a year in energy costs is hardly enough incentive to remove pieces of history. Original windows and doors are very important elements for many preservation organizations such as our local Heritage Preservation Commission. If you must remove them you should make every effort to replace them with replicas.

copyright ©2009 by Kent Brewer