Georgetown homes, newer than most, finished right

Where a fifth of the houses are recent

About 19 percent of Georgetown's roughly 3,200 homes were built in 2000 or later, census figures show. Those houses have modern framing, modern wiring and insulation from the code of their day, and many came with a basement nobody finished and a layout chosen by the builder. The remodel in a house like that is about getting the space the family actually uses.

Finishing a lower level is the most common version. It needs a building permit, egress for any bedroom, moisture control before drywall goes up, and electrical and plumbing by licensed trades under their own permits. A builder-grade kitchen is another: often the cabinets and counters are the weak link while the plumbing runs and the layout are fine, so the job is more about precision than demolition. A house only twenty years old deserves work that will still look right in another twenty.

Newer houses still need homework. A basement slab that has stayed dry for years can still wick moisture into carpet and drywall, so we look at grading, gutters and the foundation before finishing anything below grade. Builder-era bath fans and dryer vents get checked as well, since some were run only as far as the attic.

We schedule the job so the trades come in a sensible order, and you know who will be in your house and when.

The 1970s middle of the town

The median year built is about 1973, and the bulk of the stock comes from that period and the decades around it, owned by people who have been in their houses a while. Around 80 percent are detached single-family homes and about 82 percent are owner-occupied.

A house from the early 1970s has usually reached its second major round of work. Kitchens and baths from an earlier update look tired, decks and roofs are on their second or third replacement, and the wall insulation is thin by current standards. Opening walls for a remodel is the moment to fix air sealing and insulation, and where a town has adopted the stretch energy code the new work has to meet it anyway. Electrical panels from that period were sized before anyone had a second oven, a heat pump or an EV charger, so a licensed electrician looks at service capacity early.

Additions on these houses are common: a family room off the back, a bedroom over the garage. Footings go below frost depth, commonly about four feet, and on a septic system an added bedroom brings a Title 5 design-flow review. Those are the jobs where a clear written scope saves the most arguments later.

The older homes in the mix

About 17 percent of Georgetown's homes predate 1940. They are fewer, but they take more care. Plaster walls, timber or balloon framing and wiring of uncertain age get planned for, and every surface older than 1978 is treated as possible lead paint, with lead-safe work practices throughout.

Georgetown is an inland town about 55 miles north of Raynham. We schedule the job so the trades come in a sensible order, and you know who will be in your house and when. Any change to the scope is written down before it is built, not explained afterward. Inspections run through the town building department under 780 CMR, and you are told when each one is booked.

The older homes in a mostly newer town are often the ones with details worth keeping: wide floorboards, original doors, window casings with real depth. Where they are sound we keep them, and where new work meets them we match the profiles rather than switching to stock trim.