Sherborn remodels planned with the whole house in view

A small town of owner-occupied houses

Sherborn is one of the smaller towns we cover: about 4,400 people and roughly 1,600 homes on nearly 16 square miles. Census figures show a median year built of 1969, with close to a fifth of homes from before 1940 and fewer than one in ten built after 2000. Little new housing goes up, so the houses that are here get remodeled rather than replaced.

That mix gives two starting points. Older houses carry plaster, wide board floors, fieldstone foundations and framing that does not match modern dimensions. Houses from the 1960s and 1970s tend to be colonials and ranches with good bones, original kitchens, small primary baths and windows close to the end of their life. Many of the older ones have been added onto at least once, and where an old ell meets a later wing the framing and roof lines rarely line up as neatly as they look from the street.

With about 280 people per square mile, lots here are large and many houses sit well back from the road. That helps with staging, since a dumpster, a material drop and the crew's trucks fit without blocking anyone. It also means longer runs for power and water to a new addition or outbuilding, which get planned with the licensed trades early.

We include the outside in the walkthrough and tell you what we see, even when it is not what you called about.

Remodels that touch more than one room

When a house is owned for decades, projects tend to grow. A kitchen redo becomes a kitchen, mudroom and half bath. A bath upgrade turns into a primary suite with a closet borrowed from the room next door. We plan that kind of work as one job, with one written scope and one sequence, so plumbing and framing are opened once instead of twice. It also means one permit, one set of inspections and one crew learning the house instead of several.

Larger projects bring their own reviews. Additions need footings set beneath the frost line, which in Massachusetts usually means around four feet down. A home on septic needs a Title 5 review before a bedroom is added. A house inside a local historic district may need commission review for exterior changes. We sort out which of these apply at the start, so the schedule reflects them from day one.

Sherborn is about 27 miles northwest of Raynham, among the closer towns on our list, which makes it easier for Steve to be on site at the moments that matter, like the first day of framing or the inspection before walls close. That matters more on a big remodel, where one wrong assumption early can cost weeks later.

Keeping an occupied house livable

Owners in a town like this usually live in the house during the work. We put up dust walls, cover floors along every path the crew takes, and keep a bathroom and a working kitchen setup available whenever the plan allows. Every evening the site is cleaned and tools are put away. Where an older house has original plaster, we protect it at the edges of the work so vibration in one room does not crack the next.

On a long project, what owners notice most is whether they know what is happening. You get an update as each stage finishes, changes are agreed in writing before they are built, and you get a straight answer when an opened wall shows something nobody expected.

Exterior work deserves the same care as the kitchen. Roofing, siding, windows and decks on a house owned for decades should be built for the next few decades too, with flashing, ventilation and decking details done properly rather than covered over. We include the outside in the walkthrough and tell you what we see, even when it is not what you called about.