First in an occasional series in which designer Dina Holland walks readers through the process as she undertakes a major renovation of her home.
In 2012, my husband and I turned our lifelong love affair with older homes into our daily reality. We purchased a 1914 American Foursquare with a dreamy wraparound porch in a great neighborhood west of the city. In exchange for high ceilings, beautiful built-in features, and original stained-glass windows, we got a 1970s kitchen, knob-and-tube electrical, and the world’s most oddly configured bathroom. Yes, it snowed in the attic, and a hard day’s rain meant water in the basement, but we loved it. We spent the next four years making cosmetic improvements — replacing a faucet here, painting a room there — but putting off what we knew was inevitable if we were going to stay long term: a major renovation.
After a seemingly endless two-year-long “love it or list it’’ debate, we decided to take the plunge. On April 4, we moved out to start an extensive six-month renovation. Our project will involve new siding, windows, electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and a 1,000-square-foot two-story addition, as well as a basement dig-out to make it a dry, finished space with a reasonable ceiling height. If you, too, are the owner of an older home with “potential if only,’’ perhaps our experiences will help you. I want to share what we learned over the course of those two years as we prepared for this project and the path we took to get here.
Create a wish list
Do you want to add on a family room that’s open to the kitchen? Get the laundry out of the basement? Put on a mudroom to corral all that sports gear? Be honest with yourself about what it would take for you to stay in your house and live comfortably. Would you be able to check off most of the items on your wish list if you moved? If you’re anything like us, you love your location, neighbors, school district, etc., but can’t find anything within your budget.
Engage professionals
Based on the items on our wish list, we knew we needed more space and the expertise of an architect. If your project involves expanding the footprint of your home or even just re-imagining how your existing space is laid out, you should hire an architect. We found a local one to help us determine whether what we wanted was even possible. Yes, it involved a small financial commitment upfront, but it was becoming increasingly clear that staying in our house was going to be the most financially feasible option.
Some architects are compensated as a percentage of the total project cost or by the architectural documents they deliver to you. Because we weren’t sure about the final scope or cost of the project, we chose an architect with good references who charged us by the document phase. I cannot stress enough the importance of hiring someone with experience and knowledge of your community’s building codes. From lot-coverage clauses to “nonconforming preexisting conditions’’ to historical considerations, knowing how to work within the bylaws is critical to saving you time, money, and frustration.
At first, we wanted to do an L-shaped addition – preserving the backyard by bumping out minimally along the back and more along the side. We quickly learned that if you’re on a corner lot (which we are), the bylaws in our town require the same 20-foot frontage on the side of the house. Back to the drawing board.
Understand project costs
Now for the not-so-fun part of the process. With our schematics in hand and an architect we were happy with, we met with a few builders. We weren’t looking for a hard bid at that point, just a rough estimate. Be prepared for everything to cost a lot more than you expect (this is not Waco, Texas, folks). We were shocked by the numbers and spent most of 2015 reworking the plans with our architect and getting more comfortable with the investment.
After more revisions, we were ready for construction documents from our architect. These communicate to contractors the level of labor and materials required for the project so they can bid on the work. The documents specify everything from the framing plan to where the windows will go, and countless details in between. We solicited bids from five contractors based on recommendations from friends and our architect.
Be prepared to spend time standardizing these bids. We spent weeks meeting with contractors to discuss their bids in detail, ensuring that each one included the same scope and materials. Every bid also had large pockets of costs called “allowances’’ – variable expenses the builder adds to the bid as an estimate for a particular item. Tile, lighting, appliances, plumbing fixtures, and kitchen cabinets and counters are typical allowance items. You may think it’s too early to start shopping, but having an idea of what you want and how much it costs is incredibly helpful. You don’t want to have your heart set on a particular kitchen, only to find out that it’s $30,000 over your allowance.
A few weeks’ worth of reference checks and negotiations later, we selected a builder and were applying for our permit with the town. With every room in the line of fire in some capacity, staying there with two young children wasn’t feasible, so we packed up the whole house and moved to an apartment until the fall.
The prospect of bringing the old house we love into the modern age while preserving the characteristics that made us fall for it in the first place is terrifying and exhilarating. I’m excited to share the adventure with you here and hope that you will come away with valuable insight for your own projects.
Dina Holland is the founder and principal designer of Needham-based Dina Holland Interiors and the blogger behind Honey & Fitz. Send comments to Address@globe.com.
