It has taken me almost four weeks to write today’s post. For me, craftsmanship is a delicate subject and in our modern world I wanted to carefully dissect this topic for you, the reader. You may recall that our home was recently painted. The bigger story here was lead encapsulation YIKES! Our home was built in 1908 so the discovery of lead was not surprising. I happen to be a long time old home lover so these scary words seldom make be bat an eye. However, when it came to the health and safety of our most precious intern these scary words became much more serious.

During a routine check up we had the unfortunate discovery that our baby girl had elevated lead levels! I was told that the level did not indicate anything that she could have ingested, but more than likely dust she may have inhaled. That being said, everyone was thrown into immediate action to get our home safe for our budding toddler. Although we have been continuously working on our home since moving in over three years ago, there was A LOT to address and time was of the essence. 

We stumbled upon an opportunity for the majority of these corrections to be covered by a grant. Sounds amazing right? From a practical perspective, absolutely! Our home would be safe, and for that I am so thankful. But, after three weeks spent living out of a suitcase I was maybe frivolously disappointed at what I returned to. To be blunt the contractors did such a poor job of painting additional time will need to be taken to re paint what was done. Not really the win win I was anticipating.

Granted this is not a typical case where we hired. Selection of the contractor was done through the grant office. The fact that we did not have to come out of pocket at all I believe this is the only saving grace the contractors may have had made the pill a little easier to swallow. However, what I came home to was not unusual. I wish I could say that this was specific to this most recent work but this was the usual par for the course. Over the years I have found that the most disappointing part of renovating an older home is the craftsmanship more likely the lack there of that permeates the world of contractors today. 

Older homes have a uniqueness to them. No two rooms are the same, each tread is different, the nooks and crannies need their own unique care. Whether you are fully restoring or renovating if you are doing anything short of a gut you will quickly realize that there needs to be care taken in working with what is existing. One hundred year old trim often has coats of paints and stains, nics and scrapes, plaster that has cracks, and windows whose glazing is failing. The longest part of any room we’ve tackled has been the prep work. Extra sanding, stripping, patching has gone on so that the finished product looks crisp, clean and capable of taking on another hundred years. If your not doing the work yourself and you chose to hire please take this checklist to make sure your contractor is capable of working with older homes.

Black House Seven’s Old House Contractor Hiring Checklist

Ask for referrals with similar TYPE of projects

This is probably a no brainer regardless of the age of your home but especially when your entrusting a one of a kind window in their hands. More importantly, choose a contractor who has longevity in the scope of work you’re looking for.

Bring up the Nooks and Crannies

Ask about the least likely parts. Ask what they’re plans are for sanding baseboards, priming, correcting failing plaster. Showing that you are aware of the problems 

Hire for the Job

A painter paints! Understand the scope of work your contractor is providing. A good contractor should clearly discuss the scope of the project with you but don’t just assume they’ll be repairing plaster cracks just because they’re painting the walls. 

Do your own homework!

Even if your not the one to do the work a basic understanding of the steps such a project should take will go a long way in spotting any short cuts.

Check In

If you can, check in with the progress. You want the contractors to know that your there, and watching.

You’re Fired

We’ve only had to do this once but if the project is going off the rails don’t be afraid to pull that trigger!

We hope you use our tidbits learnt through trial and error. We know that every contractor is not the same, we hope that what we have learned will help our readers approach their old home equipped with the knowledge they need for success! Please share any tricks you may have learned in the comment section below!