Updating Westborough's 1970s and newer homes

Layouts from the 1970s and after

Census figures show about 21,400 people in roughly 8,550 homes, with a median build year near 1976. Only about 11 percent of the housing predates 1940, and roughly 18 percent has been built since 2000. That makes Westborough mostly a town of split-levels, colonials and later construction. Those are houses most owners are updating rather than rescuing.

Houses from the 1970s and 1980s usually have good bones and tired plans. A galley kitchen, a formal dining room that sits empty, one hall bath for three bedrooms. The common job opens the kitchen, reworks how people move through the first floor and rebuilds a bath with tile that lasts. Homes built before 1978 can still hold lead paint, so we work lead-safe where it applies. In many of these homes the original doors and trim are still in place, so we decide early whether new work should match them or whether the whole floor gets one consistent update.

In a split-level, the half-flight stairs and stacked floors make moving a wall a bigger structural question than it looks. We check what the wall carries and where a beam would bear before you commit to a plan. A beam can often go up into the ceiling so the opening stays flush, but that depends on joist direction and what sits above, and we confirm it before drawings.

You get one contact, clear updates and a site cleaned at the end of each day.

Condos, townhouses and attached homes

About 49 percent of Westborough's homes are single-family detached, so a large share of owners live in townhouses, condos and other attached housing. Owner occupancy sits near 61 percent, which means some of those units belong to investors and are rented.

Work inside a condo usually answers to an association as well as the building department. Associations commonly set working hours, ask for proof of insurance and limit changes to shared plumbing, walls and exteriors. We get those rules in writing early and build the plan around them so a kitchen or bath does not stall halfway through. Neighbors share walls and floors in attached housing, so we plan noisy work for sensible hours and keep the common areas clean.

Investors ask different questions: durable finishes, a quick turn between tenants and work that will not need a return visit. We plan rental units with that in mind and say plainly where spending more now saves trouble later. In a rental we also build the spots where water damage usually starts, around tubs, under sinks and at the toilet, to resist it.

Newer houses that still need finishing

Homes built since 2000 tend to need less repair and more finishing. A basement turned into living space, a second-floor laundry, a larger primary bath or a deck built to handle New England winters are the usual requests. Builders over the last two decades often left the basement unfinished and the baths plain, which gives owners room to finish the house their own way.

Decks here deal with freeze-thaw like everywhere in Massachusetts, so footings go below frost depth, commonly about four feet, and the ledger where the deck meets the house gets flashed properly. Basement finishes follow the stretch energy code where it has been adopted, with insulation and air sealing worked out before framing.

The trip from Raynham to Westborough runs about 37 miles northwest. Steve runs the job so you are never chasing anyone for answers. You get one contact, clear updates and a site cleaned at the end of each day. Changes mid-job are written up and agreed before anyone acts on them.