Oxford's 1970s houses, updated for how you live now

An established town with little new building

Going by census figures, Oxford has about 13,400 people in some 5,200 homes, a median build year of 1971, and close to three quarters of its housing in detached single-family houses. The town covers about 26 square miles of land, with nearly another square mile of water inside its lines.

The number that stands out is new construction. Only about 10 percent of homes date from 2000 or later, so the town is largely made of houses that were already standing a generation ago. A town with that age profile tends to be full of ranches, raised ranches and capes from the postwar decades, and they tend to share habits: small closed kitchens, one full bath doing the work of two, and basements that were never finished.

Roughly four in five units here have their owner living in them. In a town like this, most remodeling calls come from owners who have lived with a room for years and are finally ready to fix what has bothered them.

If two rooms are on your list and only one fits the year, he will say which one he would do first and why.

Raised ranches, closed kitchens and the basement

Opening a kitchen to the living room is the most common request in a house of this age, and it is where honesty matters most. In many ranches the wall between those rooms supports the ceiling joists. When it does, we say so at the walkthrough, then size a beam and posts that carry the load down to the foundation and get the work past the inspector at rough framing.

The lower level of a raised ranch is often the easiest space to gain, but it has to be dry first. We look at grading, gutters and any sign of water on the foundation before talking about walls and flooring. Insulation follows whichever energy code the town has adopted, and a finished room meant for sleeping needs proper egress. Ceiling height under ducts and beams decides a lot in these lower levels, so we measure it on the first visit and plan soffits and lighting around what is actually there.

Houses from around 1971 predate the 1978 lead paint ban, so original trim, doors and window sashes are treated as lead-painted until tested. Lead-safe work in practice means containment, careful demolition and a HEPA cleanup you can see the results of.

How a job in Oxford runs

Oxford is about 44 miles west of Raynham. Steve comes out to see the house before anything is priced, measures it himself and talks through what you want against what the house will allow. If two rooms are on your list and only one fits the year, he will say which one he would do first and why.

You get a written scope that spells out the work, the materials and the way changes are handled. Oxford's building department permits the job under the state code, 780 CMR, while licensed electricians and plumbers carry their own trades and inspections. Many fifty-year-old houses need a larger electrical service once a new kitchen adds circuits, and we flag that early so it is part of the plan instead of a mid-job surprise. Original copper and galvanized supply lines get the same look, since a fifty-year-old shutoff valve tends to fail the first time someone turns it.

During the job you know who is coming and when, and the site is cleaned each afternoon. That is the reason the company exists: Steve spent years working for contractors who did not communicate, and he built Modern Remodeling to work the other way. If a delivery slips or an inspection moves, you hear it from him the same day.