Hardwick's old farmhouses and village homes

Almost half the houses are prewar

Census figures count about 2,700 people in Hardwick on more than 38 square miles of land, with over two square miles of water besides. Roughly 46 percent of the homes were built before 1940. That is a lot of farmhouses, village houses and older Capes, many of them added onto across generations.

Houses like that are rarely one structure. A main block from one century may carry an ell from another and a kitchen wing from a third, each framed and founded its own way. When we plan a remodel we work out where those joints are, because that is where floors change height, roofs leak and old repairs hide. Sometimes a later addition sits on posts or a shallow footing, and that is better found before a new kitchen goes on top of it.

Fieldstone and old brick foundations are common in houses of this age. They are often sound but not dry, and they were not built to carry a new second-floor bath or a heavy stone counter without a look first. We check the sills and the cellar posts before proposing anything that adds weight.

You talk with Steve throughout, and changes reach you in writing before the crew acts on them.

Landlords and owners both

Only about 65 percent of Hardwick's homes are detached single-family, and around 68 percent are owner-occupied. The rest includes older two-families and multi-unit buildings, some of them rented. A landlord updating a unit needs finishes that survive turnover, a scope sized to the vacancy and inspections closed out properly. Rentals in older buildings also tend to have been updated piecemeal by different owners, so we expect a mix.

Older multi-family buildings also bring lead paint into the conversation. Anything built before 1978 is renovated with lead-safe work practices, and in a rented building that protects the tenants as well as the owner. We contain the work area, clean thoroughly and keep you posted at each stage.

Owners who live in one unit and rent another get a plan for both. The occupied side stays usable, the work side is sealed off, and noise is scheduled with your household in mind where possible. When the job ends, the permit is closed with the building department so the record matches the work.

Working 67 miles out

Hardwick is about 67 miles northwest of Raynham, toward the far edge of the area we cover. On a job that far out we line up materials, trade visits and inspection dates before the start, and we tell you plainly what the schedule depends on. A rural lot may also run on a well and septic, and if a remodel adds a bedroom, Title 5 design flow review applies. We bring that up at the first walkthrough.

Old houses in open country take the weather hard. Freeze-thaw works on fieldstone foundations, and ice dams form on roofs with thin insulation underneath. When we open a wall or ceiling, insulation and air sealing follow the energy code that applies, and that is often the change an owner notices most the first winter after. Windows and doors in these houses are often a mix of original and replacement, and we look at the whole envelope before recommending which to change.

Rural sites can also mean long driveways, soft ground in spring and little space near the house for material. We look at access during the walkthrough so deliveries and the container land where they will not tear up the yard. You talk with Steve throughout, and changes reach you in writing before the crew acts on them.