Homeowners Patrick and Liz Sheehan waited seven years to start renovating the 1896 Victorian where they are raising their three sons. But now they’ve hit the midway point on the renovation process, where the work and decisions are moving at a dizzying pace, although the improvements are becoming clear already.
“After looking at the plans on paper for months and months, now that the first-floor rooms are framed, we can really see how great the new layout is,” says Patrick. Adds Liz: “Everything is moving so fast and there are so many decisions, but we are getting there.”
The renovation, which This Old House is documenting for its 47th season, is modest in some respects. For example, the only additional square footage for the 3,000-square-foot, three-story house is a minimal 200-square-foot rear bump-out on the first and second floors. But the update is transformational in other aspects.
“A small, practical addition on this well-built 1896 house, plus changing interior walls for an open layout, will make a huge difference in how this house will work for a family of five,” says TOH house builder Charlie Silva.
A few surprise discoveries and some late-breaking decisions have changed the worklist, while enabling smarter, long-term gain in how the house will function.
Case in point: the central chimney and its unused first-floor fireplace. “From the beginning, plans had included keeping the chimney intact and we were going to wall around it,” says Charlie. “But deciding to remove it really improves the floor plan. It creates better flow to the new dining room and also makes room for a utility sink in the new second-floor laundry room.”
Another change for long-term gain: replacing aluminum siding and 30-year-old windows now, rather than later. “We were originally thinking of waiting due to cost, but realized waiting would end up costing significantly more,” says Patrick. Once the aluminum siding was removed, Charlie’s team added self-sealing, vapor-permeable house wrap to protect the entire house exterior against air gaps and moisture, then installed pre-painted clapboards. They installed new windows with insulated glass, another element that will help the house’s thermal efficiency.
An unexpected find early on led to significant additional foundation work. Although the house’s rubble stone foundation appeared to be in excellent shape when viewed from inside the basement, after Charlie began excavating in the backyard to prepare for the addition’s foundation, he noticed the poor condition outside. “The exterior looked nothing like the interior.” says Charlie,“Although the bad condition wasn’t all that surprising given the house’s age.” To solve the problem, he poured a 10-inch concrete wall butting up to the rubble stone along the back of the house.
TOH general contractor Tom Silva notes the key element to the transformation of the interior layout: A massive 24-foot-long, 1-ton steel I-beam that was craned into place, running from the back of the house to the front, to provide structural support. “With that beam, the entire first floor layout could change to the open family room/kitchen they want at the back of the house,” says Tom.
Rethinking the HVAC system’s ductwork is adding another long-term gain for the homeowners. “The system is fairly new so we aren’t ripping it out, but we are fixing ductwork issues,” says TOH plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey. The original house had a gravity-fed system where heat moved straight up through floor vents placed at the center of the house, but left spaces along a room’s perimeter lacking heat. While the house’s interior was being reframed, the HVAC team found new locations for ductwork, so heat and air conditioning are delivered all around the rooms versus just in the center of the house.
As work continues throughout the house, landscaping updates are also underway. TOH landscape contractor Jenn Nawada saw an opportunity to enhance both the front and back with a single move. “This massive rhododendron had grown too big for this spot near the front porch, so we are moving it to the backyard where it can provide some screening along the property line,” says Jenn.
With the renovation moving toward completion, Patrick and Liz are looking forward to the house they have envisioned since moving in. “We bought the house in 2017 and knew it needed work,” says Patrick. “Now that the work is underway, we are getting really excited to see the end result.”
