Edgartown's newer houses and its older ones

Over 5,000 homes, and a younger housing stock

Census figures show about 5,160 residents and about 5,180 homes in Edgartown, close to one home per person, which points to a lot of seasonal ownership. Roughly 23 percent of the houses were built in 2000 or later, the highest share on Martha's Vineyard. Only about 10 percent predate 1940, and the median year built is around 1983.

Most of the town's houses are single-family detached, about 91 percent, and about three in four occupied homes are owner-occupied. The town covers about 27 square miles of land and nearly 96 square miles of water, so a large share of these houses face open water or sit close to it. At about 48 miles southeast of Raynham in a straight line, it is the farthest of the island towns from our shop, and the job plan accounts for that.

That mix of ages is what makes the town interesting to work in. The same week can mean opening up a twenty-year-old kitchen in one house and checking century-old sills in another. The approach changes with the house, and the walkthrough is where we work out which kind of job yours is.

Trim and decking near the water weather faster than anywhere inland, and fasteners corrode in salt air.

Reworking a house built in the last twenty-five years

A house from 2005 does not need its wiring chased out of plaster. What it often needs is a kitchen that fits how the family actually cooks, a primary bath with a real walk-in shower, a lower level finished properly, or a wall taken out to join two rooms. Newer framing tends to be engineered lumber and is easier to read, but if a wall carries load we tell you before anyone swings a hammer, and the beam gets sized and permitted under 780 CMR.

Newer exteriors have their own wear. Trim and decking near the water weather faster than anywhere inland, and fasteners corrode in salt air. When we rebuild a deck or replace trim, those details get picked for the exposure, not for the catalog. Stainless or hot-dipped hardware where the exposure calls for it, and flashing details at the house that keep water out of the framing behind.

Finished lower levels come up often in houses of this age. Before any framing goes up downstairs, we look at how the foundation handles water, because a finished basement over a damp slab will smell and fail no matter how nice the trim is. Insulation and air sealing follow the energy code that applies, and the work is inspected before the walls are closed.

The older end of town

The roughly one in ten houses built before 1940 call for a different approach. Plaster walls, older framing, wiring that was never meant to carry a modern kitchen, and lead paint in anything older than 1978 all come with the territory, and lead-safe work practices are part of how we work on them. If a house sits inside a local historic district, exterior changes go before that commission, and the timeline allows for it.

Whatever the age of the house, the way the job runs stays the same. A written scope before work starts. One person you can reach. Changes priced in writing first. A site cleaned up at the end of every day, and an honest call the moment something behind a wall changes the plan.

Second-home owners get the same treatment as anyone living there full time. If you are off the island while the work happens, you get updates with photos and a call when a decision is needed, so you are never finding out about a change after it has already been built.