If you’re a home buyer, you may have fallen in love with a historical home, and it’s not surprising: they tend to be charming, unique, and have beautiful architecture.
While historic houses might be appealing for many buyers, there are certain things these types of homes require to keep them intact. Continue to read and find out.
1. Before Renovations, Watch Out for Restrictions
If you bought a house in a historic district, you should register it as a historic property. This can be done on a municipal historic register, federal National Register, or state historic commission register. Choose whatever you find more practical.
To register, you’ll be required to submit an application and have your property evaluated.
If your house is not registered yet, it’s worth doing so. Registering may qualify a historic home for grants, tax credits, and loans. Such financial reward can make it easier to invest in renovating or remodeling your home.
People mistakenly think that federally registering impacts making changes in the property, but that’s not accurate. It has no direct effect on design restrictions on the renovation or even remodeling of the building’s interior or exterior.
Yet, municipal zoning bylaws may impact what you can do to your house if it’s in a historic district or considered a historic structure.
If you’re lucky, there will be few restrictions on renovating your home. Regulations may restrict your choice of color of outside paints, the inability to change authentic features and other hardware, or even the window treatments style.
2. Repair Serious Structural Problems
Unfortunately, older properties might have serious structural problems and even hidden issues (typically found only after the home is purchased).
Keep in mind that as an owner of a historic home, you’re most likely allowed to repair freely, but not to rebuild or to replace features as desired.
Some common structural problems to watch out for include damaged masonry (leads to foundation walls settling or bowing inward), foundation settling (results in cracked plaster or sagging floors), and bowed foundation walls (causes sagging windows and doors, and buckled hardwood flooring).
It might be worth bringing on an engineer to solve structural problems.
3. Sort Out Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Issues
Historic houses are more likely than new buildings to have lead plumbing pipes, which must be removed entirely. Consider watts one flow media replacement for your water purification system.
Other than that, electrical wiring from decades ago might be a safety hazard, so watch out for them and replace them if needed.
Also, mechanical maintenance might be required. After all, the HVAC systems in these old properties might be outdated and no longer safe. The good news is, all it takes is updating them.
Maintaining a Historical Home
Maintaining a historical home might be a dreadful task, but it’s essential to keep you, your family, and your property safe.
Plus, it can be fun to find ways to ”renew” your home without changing critical historic features.
For instance, typing on Pinterest ”landscape curb appeal” may make you feel motivated to make your home entrance even more welcoming and appealing.
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