Wenham houses remodeled for the families in them

Fourteen hundred homes, almost all owner-occupied

Census figures count about 1,400 homes in Wenham. More than four in five are detached single-family houses, and close to nine in ten are lived in by the people who own them. There are few rentals and few multi-family buildings, so nearly every project is an owner improving a house they plan to keep.

The median year built is 1958. About one house in five predates 1940 and about one in seven dates from 2000 or later, which leaves the town weighted toward the postwar decades. That shows up in what owners ask for: kitchens that need more counter and better light, baths untouched since they were built, and floor plans where the formal rooms get used twice a year while everyone crowds into a small kitchen. In ranches and Capes of that era, the kitchen often sits at the back with a single window over the sink.

Because most owners here intend to stay, the choices lean toward what holds up rather than what photographs well: cabinet boxes built to last, tile set on a properly prepared floor, doors and drawers hung so they still close square years later.

An addition that adds a bedroom can be reshaped by that review, so we raise it at the first walkthrough.

Older houses among the postwar ones

The houses built before 1940 need different preparation. Plaster walls, framing cut to sizes that do not match modern lumber, and floors that were never level to begin with. When new work ties into an old house, we shim and sister to make it true rather than forcing new materials to follow the old lines. Old wiring found during demolition goes to a licensed electrician before any wall is closed. Older wood windows and the trim around them are worth a close look too; some can be restored, and some have rotted past saving.

Every house built before 1978, which takes in most of Wenham, is treated as having lead paint until tested otherwise. Lead-safe practices are simply part of the process on these homes: containment, careful removal and a full cleanup before the room is handed back.

The postwar houses, the larger share, are easier to open up but have their own habits. Insulation from the 1950s is usually thin, and once walls and the attic are opened, the new work has to meet the energy code in force. We plan for that from the start instead of meeting it at the insulation inspection.

Additions, permits and the drive from Raynham

Wenham has about seven and a half square miles of land and its houses tend to sit on their own lots, which leaves room for an addition in a way a city lot does not. The planning follows Massachusetts practice: new foundations taken down past the frost line, framing and insulation inspected by the building department under the state code, and, for a house on septic, a Title 5 review before the number of bedrooms changes. An addition that adds a bedroom can be reshaped by that review, so we raise it at the first walkthrough.

Our shop in Raynham is about 47 miles south of Wenham. The standard does not change with the distance: a walkthrough, a written scope, one person accountable for the work, and updates as it goes. Steve built the company on better communication and doing the job right, and that is what an owner here gets. Changes are written down and priced before anyone builds them, so nothing about the price is left to memory.

Wenham sits inland, so its exteriors deal more with freeze and thaw than with salt. Ice dams at the eaves, gutters that overflow, and deck footings that heave with frost are the exterior problems worth checking before any new work goes on.