Sturbridge homes from 1980 on, brought up to date

Mostly built within the last fifty years

The census count for Sturbridge is about 9,800 people and 4,400 homes. The median home was built in 1980, about 21 percent have gone up since 2000, and only around 10 percent are older than 1940. Three in four are detached single-family houses, and about 83 percent are owner-occupied.

That profile means fewer surprises behind the walls than an older town would hand you. Framing is dimensional lumber, walls are drywall and the wiring is generally workable. What dates a Sturbridge house is usually the plan itself: a closed kitchen, a dark hallway, small bathrooms with fiberglass surrounds and a main bath untouched since the day it was built.

A quarter of the homes in town are not detached houses. In a condominium or townhouse, the association usually has a say over anything touching common walls, shared plumbing or the exterior, so we work to their requirements alongside the building code. Inside the unit it is the same careful job as in a house, with extra attention to quiet hours and to protecting the shared hallway.

The scope you sign off on says plainly what is included and what is left out.

Bathrooms, tile and the waterproofing under it

Bathrooms are where many 1980 houses show their age first, often as a soft floor at the toilet or a tub surround leaking behind the wall. Custom tile work is one of the company's core trades, and a tile shower only lasts when the layer under it is right: a properly sloped pan or a bonded membrane, sealed seams, and cement board instead of drywall.

Where old work failed, we tear back to the framing, replace any rotted subfloor, and show you the waterproofing before tile goes over it. Plumbing moves are made by a licensed plumber and inspected. If you want a curbless shower or a bigger window, the scope spells out what the floor framing or the exterior wall has to go through to get there.

Kitchens in houses of this age usually need more than new finishes. Many were laid out around an electric range and one small window, and owners now want induction or gas, a vent hood ducted outside, and an island that leaves room to walk. A licensed electrician and plumber make those connections, and the hood duct is routed so it never ends up cutting through a floor joist.

Planning a job 55 miles from Raynham

Sturbridge is about 55 miles west of Raynham, one of the longer drives in our Worcester County work. Measurements are taken carefully the first time, materials are ordered and checked before demo starts, and the crew's days are grouped into runs of consecutive work.

With nearly two square miles of water inside town lines, some projects here also involve decks and exterior work exposed to damp and weather, built on footings below frost with fasteners suited to the exposure. Between visits you get updates in writing and one person to call. Steve has 20 years in the trade and 6 running his own company, and he started it because the builders he worked for did not keep their clients informed.

The scope you sign off on says plainly what is included and what is left out. A missed measurement on a 55 mile job costs a day of driving, so the measuring is done slowly and checked twice. Once work is underway, changes are written down with what they affect before the crew does them, so the job you agreed to is the job that gets built.