At first glance, the amount of work needed in the old house you've just purchased might seem overwhelming but with a little determination, you can restore the house back to its original beauty. Even if the house is almost beyond repair, there's still hope, but you'll need lots of time, a nice cash reserve and a great deal of supplies. A good idea is to make a check list of the damages and the needed improvements. Check for any structural damages including the roof and basement, along with the floor joists and walls - interior and exterior. If the structural damage is severe, it might end up being too costly to remodel the home. Add to your list any damaged electrical fixtures, sinks, tubs or pipes. After preparing your damage list, make a second list of supplies you'll need to complete the restoration. Include nails, caulking, paint, stripper, fittings, molding, adhesives and tapes. Before purchasing, find out if you can get a discount for bulk orders from your local home improvement store.
To determine what should stay and what should go, have a good look around the place. Examine the flooring. If it's hardwood flooring with the stain and varnish worn off, these can be restored by sanding, re-staining and re-varnishing the floors. If the flooring is concrete, you might want to replace these, or just lay new tile or carpeting. As for walls, any wallpaper will probably have to be removed, since yellowing or fading of the pattern takes place after many years. Vintage wallpaper can be ordered from specialty stores, if that's preferred, or the walls can be painted or paneled. Although paneling might not give you the look you want for an old model house, there are some designs which might be suitable. Where ceilings are concerned, check for cracks and missing chunks. If there is this type of damage, the ceilings might have to be plastered again, in which case you might opt for hanging new ceiling tiles instead.
Bathrooms in old homes often featured the claw leg tubs, which should be kept if in good shape. Even if the paint is gone or the inside finish is damaged, there are kits to restore these old fixtures. If the sink and commode simply must be replaced, but you’d like to keep with the original concept, check some local “junk” dealers to see where you might locate a good used set. It’s sometimes difficult to combine very old with brand new without having an awkward look. For this reason, many home restorers replace all or nothing in a room. For instance, you might replace missing rocks from a fireplace or repair floors and walls in the living room, but you keep the original look, whereas you might decide to restore all bathroom fixtures in a more modern motif. This choice is yours; but to keep the value of the house try to replace or recondition most, if not all of the original design.
Some things, like a tin roof, can be restored to like-original condition, since the tin is still available, or they can be replaced with the new, galvanized metal roofing which looks similar to the old tin roof, but is much more durable. If it’s a shingle roof which needs repairing, check for any damages to the trusses and sheeting before re-shingling the home. For basements and foundations, many old homes had the exterior brick-look tar paper which is difficult to find nowadays, but is best replaced with the real thing. Rock, brick, stucco or other skirting options are available for refurbishing the foundation’s exterior, and giving the walls extra support. Verandas or large front porches that are in bad shape can be replaced with a design identical to the original design, or you can add or subtract from the design for a different look. Often times these old homes were rather small, but the huge front porch gave the home a roomier look. For this reason, it’s not a good idea to remove the porch permanently.
Many people choose to modernize the kitchen of these old homes, since the original ones were a little cumbersome. Many of them had pipes showing under the sink, one basin instead of two, no sprayer in the sink and even cupboards with no doors. Deciding on the new kitchen design is a great idea, but for the best look, don’t mix the old with the new. Put up all new cabinets, or refinish the existing ones. Replace the sink with cabinet, or install a cabinet around the existing sink. Trying to combine the old fixtures with new cabinets might give a jumbled look which is unattractive. The exception here is if the cabinets and counter tops are in great shape. Refinish the cabinets, attach new, antique-look hardware, then just install a modernized sink for the perfect kitchen. It’s not too difficult to decide what to keep and what to replace. If there is major damage, replace. If the damage is minimal, try to restore as much of the original condition of the house as possible. Choose items with a vintage look when unable to find real vintage pieces.
