Boston's older housing, remodeled with a plan

What the census figures say about Boston houses

Boston has about 666,000 people living in roughly 304,000 housing units, with a median year built of 1945 by census figures. Nearly half of those homes went up before 1940. Only about one in seven dates from 2000 or later, so the odds are good that the house or unit you want to change has already been worked on by several owners and several eras of trades.

With close to half of Boston's homes older than 1940, the finds behind the walls are predictable in kind, if not in detail. Plaster and lath instead of drywall. Balloon framing in some older wood houses, where open cavities run floor to floor and change how fire blocking gets handled. Wiring that may include knob-and-tube once the walls are open, which a licensed electrician deals with before anything closes back up. Anything built before 1978 is treated as lead paint until testing says otherwise, and the work follows lead-safe practices.

We say this before the walkthrough ends, not after demo. The written scope names what we expect to find and how a surprise gets priced and approved, so nothing moves forward on a guess. If a wall we planned to remove turns out to carry a load, you hear it from us before anyone swings a hammer, along with what a beam and posts would involve.

Most of the city lives in multi-unit buildings: triple-deckers, row houses, brick walk-ups and condominiums.

Condos, triple-deckers and shared walls

Only about one Boston home in eight is a detached single-family house, and roughly a third are owner-occupied. Most of the city lives in multi-unit buildings: triple-deckers, row houses, brick walk-ups and condominiums. That shapes a remodel more than any finish choice does.

In a condo, the association usually has a say before we start, and many want insurance paperwork, work hours and hallway protection agreed in writing. In a two- or three-family, the plumbing stack and electrical service often serve more than one unit, so a second-floor kitchen can touch the tenants on the first floor. We sequence shutoffs, keep dust walls tight and clean the common areas at the end of each day, because the neighbors see all of it. Brick buildings bring their own work too: furring out exterior walls for insulation, chasing new runs through masonry, and checking old chimneys before a kitchen vent goes anywhere near one.

With roughly two of every three Boston homes rented, landlords and investors bring a large share of the work, often as turnovers between tenants or a full gut of one unit at a time. We scope those jobs so the building keeps running and the inspections line up with your leasing calendar, while being plain about what the walls might decide for us.

Permits, city logistics and keeping you informed

Boston sits about 28 miles north of our Raynham base, well inside the area we cover. Work here is permitted through the city building department under the state building code, 780 CMR, with inspections as the job moves along: framing, the rough work done by licensed electricians and plumbers, insulation and a final. We build those steps into the schedule instead of treating them as delays.

City jobs also mean parking, deliveries and narrow stairways. We plan material drops and debris removal so a dumpster or a stack of trim is not sitting on a tight street longer than it has to, and we protect floors and railings from the front door to the work area.

Steve started this company after years of working for guys that lacked communication. In a building where several households share the stairs, that means everyone affected knows who is coming, what gets opened that day and what was found behind it. Call (781) 974-4263 and we will walk the space with you.