Renovating a Historic Home Doesn’t Mean Tearing it up and Starting Over
There’s a major difference between renovating and rebuilding. Renovating a historic home takes a lot of time and involves keeping the historic appeal while updating the necessities. I’m going to thoroughly compare the two throughout this blog post. Please remember that my opinions are my own, and we may disagree. But that’s perfectly okay, I’d still love to discuss your project with you and bounce ideas, regardless of your methods.
Renovating
When you renovate a historic home, the goal is to maintain the historic appeal of the home while improving the efficiency, and lightly updating the home itself. Most people who renovate do their best to find period pieces to replace broken or damaged pieces. The architecture of decades past is so very multifaceted that it is often very difficult to find pieces that work well without having them crafted.
Which brings me to the next topic of conversation: finding qualified crafters and tradesmen. Some people in the Atlanta area still practice old woodworking and metalworking techniques and can custom make pieces you need.
Rebuilding
Maybe rebuilding is a strong word for this, but a lot of people go into a historic renovation and end up with a completely different structure with just a few of the historic elements left intact. This is more of a renovation extreme, or maybe a renovation/modification process. You still end up with a very nice home with some historic elements when the project is complete, but it isn’t exactly a renovation.
The Bottom Line
Historic home renovation involves a bit of something old, something new. The basic structure of the home should stay intact as much as possible. Replace rotted or damaged wood, but try to make it a seamless transition from old to new. Everything you replace with a modernized look and feel transitions the home into an entirely new entity. Try to stay as close to the original as possible if you’re going for a true renovation or preservation.
If you need any help or advice about renovating your Atlanta area historic home, please feel free to call us. We’ll discuss your project with you and offer advice based on our expertise and experience. If you feel overwhelmed with your renovation project, please don’t hesitate to call us for help. Hire us to help with one part of the job that has you scratching your head, or the entire home. It’s your call!
