George Nash’s book, Renovating Old Houses - Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes is a wonderful resource for those of us that are living in aging homes. If you’re trying to recapture your home’s fading glory or you just need some tips on how to easily fix common issues in older homes, this is a terrific resource that is well worth the purchase price.
Before Nash gets into the actual projects, he provides the reader with some different philosophies and mindsets when it comes to renovating older homes. There are definitely purists out there that will only use old materials and techniques to fix up their homes, while there are those who will use new materials and change them so that they fit the character of the house. You’ll be able to use this section to determine which techniques and materials you should be using for your home as well as some useful workarounds if you can’t match something perfectly.
It should be noted here that there is definitely a difference between renovating and remodeling. When you’re renovating, you’re preserving the heritage of the home - remodeling is usually associated with modernization. While there is nothing wrong with remodeling, this book focuses mainly on keeping with a home’s original traditions and renovating it for restoration purposes.
Part of the best part of this book is that it is useful even for those who aren’t quite ready to tackle their own home improvement projects, but are interested in buying an older home for the purpose of fixing it up. Older homes are usually much cheaper, but there are some warning signs that you’ll need to look out for when buying it. Nash gives some great hints on how to get an inspection and how to find an older home that won’t turn into a money pit.
After the preliminaries are out of the way, Nash gets down to business with ten chapters that cover some of the most common renovations you can try with an older home. The best part of these chapters are definitely the color photos which make it easy to see what the project entails and how your house will look when you’ve completed the projects. Again, if you’re a fan of old homes, but not really handy, you’ll still get plenty of enjoyment out of the book for the pictures alone.
Necessary things such as handling cellars that are frequently breeding grounds for mold and mildew. Older homes tend to have issues with this, especially in humid climates, but you’ll get plenty of information to help you fix these issues quickly. You’ll also learn about fixing little things, like rotting window sills and how to replace the windows with newer and more efficient windows without losing the original charm of the older windows.
Sewage systems are also covered and this is very important for any older home. You’ll need to know how to bring everything up to code, from water lines to sewage lines and this book will walk you through everything you could ever want to know about fixing up an old home the right way.
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