Additions and renovations

The first thing we look at is the budget. A renovation can cost more per square foot than new construction, but a whole new house costs more in total. So before we talk about what the house needs, we talk about what you can spend.

On a renovation you open walls for a living. What is behind them decides the budget, and you do not know until you are in there. Three things in an older house almost always have to go:

• Electrical. Old panels and knob and tube wiring cannot be added onto. You start fresh.
• Plumbing. Old lead and brass pipe will not take new fittings, so it all comes out.
• Oil tanks. Tanks inside and out eventually corrode and need replacing. An underground tank is heavily regulated and has to be handled by the book.

None of this is a reason not to renovate. It is a reason to budget for it before you start, not after.

A lot of the houses we see in Darien from the fifties and sixties sit on stone rubble foundations. That by itself does not kill a renovation. A rubble foundation can always be modified to carry the new structure.

Framing is a different story. If an older house has settled and is no longer square or level, it is very hard to tie an addition onto it.

Plenty of older homes in Darien and Greenwich sit closer to the street or the property line than today’s rules allow. As long as the structure stays, it keeps that footprint.

If the house is in a flood zone and the renovation costs more than half the value of the structure, the whole house has to be brought up to current flood code. For most houses near the water in Darien, Rowayton or Old Greenwich that means raising it. We have raised two or three houses over the years.

If you are thinking about gutting the whole house, read Teardown or renovate? How we decide in Darien and Greenwich before you spend anything.