80 
LVAGING the OLD 
House ^ Garden 
S A 
HOUSE 
A Oiiestiotuiaire Which Summarizes the Essentials 
^ of Altering and Remodeling 
W ITH the increasing popularity of al¬ 
tering and remodeling old houses 
many special questions and special prob¬ 
lems are involved. Sometimes it seems ditfi- 
cult to know where to begin the undertak¬ 
ing, and this questionnaire is written with a 
view to systematically tabulate the essen¬ 
tials, as a means of proceeding more expe¬ 
ditiously with the business of getting esti¬ 
mates and putting the work in execution. 
Throughout thequestionnaire,theprospec- 
tive builder will do well to keep in mind the 
distinction between altering and remodel¬ 
ing. The first is used to designate the old 
house in which changes are to be made with¬ 
out radically transforming the whole plan 
and exterior. The second applies to the old 
house which is to be entirely transformed so 
that its original appearance will be unrecog¬ 
nizable in the finished house. 
The House & G.vrden Information Ser¬ 
vice receives many questions on the altering 
or remodeling of old houses, and many of 
these are difficult to answer helpfully be¬ 
cause of an inadequate presentation of the 
essential conditions, as well as of the pro¬ 
spective builders’ intentions. Our service 
consists of advice and suggestion, not of 
actual planning, which should be in the 
province of owner or architect, or of both in 
conjunction. 
i. Is the project one of alteration or of 
remodeling? 
2. What is the maximum amount of 
money available for the work? 
3. Will it permit of enlargement of. the 
present house, or must the alterations be 
confined to the changing of partitions, etc.? 
4. Would the existing house, and the 
changed house as contemplated, allow of 
distributing the cost over a period of years 
by making the most important changes at 
once, and making further additions and im¬ 
provements at a future time? 
5. This is a triple question, calling for 
answers to three fundamental points: 
(a) What portions of the house will be 
retained as they now are? 
(b) What portions of the house, as now 
existing, will be eliminated? 
(c) What new rooms, wings or other major 
changes will be added? 
To determine upon these three fundamentals 
accurately and systematically, it is necessary 
to make a measured drawing of the plans and 
of the four exteriors of the existing house. 
Over these drawings, the alterations and addi¬ 
tions can be planned and studied on tracing 
paper. 
6. Will the exterior alterations express 
an architectural style other than that of the 
house? 
Tf so, the style should be considered with due 
regard for existing local types, as well as with 
regard to personal preferences. In the case of a 
quaint old farmhouse, alteration is better 
than complete remodeling. Tf the character 
and charm of the old house can be preserved, 
the owner has a distinct advantage over the 
owner of the average new house. 
7. Will the exterior akeralions call for 
such added features as new entrance, new 
shutters, new windows, window boxes, etc.? 
Considerable economy can be effected by 
utilizing “stock”, or ready-made entrances, 
doors, windows, dormers, shutters, etc., which 
nowadays are well designed, well made and 
less expensive than made-to-order work. 
8. Are there to be new porches, or alter¬ 
ation of existing porches? 
9. Will new fireplaces within call for new 
chimneys, or for re-building of existing 
chimneys? 
The necessity of fireproofing the connec¬ 
tions of new chimneys with old houses is an 
important one, and shoidd be given careful 
attention. 
The items covered in Questions 7, 8 and g 
should be shown in the tracings mentioned un¬ 
der Question 5. For the sake of clearness, it is 
a good idea to use three kinds of indication on 
the tracings, such as lead-pencil lines for 
existing portions of house which are to re¬ 
main, dotted pencil lines for portions to be 
eliminated, and ink or colored pencil lines for 
new work and additions. This method of in¬ 
dication will avoid much confusion, and help 
in planning the changes. 
10. Will the exterior alterations call for 
painting, or for stucco on metal lath, applied 
over the existing exterior? 
11. Does the condition of the house ne¬ 
cessitate an entirely new roof? 
12. Is the roof structure sufficiently 
sound to allow of laying a new roof over the 
old one? 
13. If a new roof is not necessary, will the 
existing roof require extensive repairs? 
14. Will the alteration work call for new 
metal roof flashings? New gutters and rain 
leaders? 
15. Will there be a garage, either incor¬ 
porated with the house, or as a separate 
building? 
16. Will the interior changes call for new 
floors? 
17. What new rooms on first floor? 
18. What new rooms on second floor? 
Answers to this, as well as to preceding 
question will depend largely upon existing 
conditions. Main bearing partitions should 
not be entirely removed, and economy as well 
as safety will be served by preserving intact as 
many of the existing partitions as possible. 
19. What new closets, throughout the 
house? 
20. What wall treatments, such as panel¬ 
ing, paint, plaster finishes, wall-board, or 
papered walls, in the different rooms 
throughout the house? 
21. Will there be any new bathrooms? 
If so, list fixtures, as well as new fixtures 
for old bathrooms. 
22. What new hardware and lighting 
fixtures throughout the house? 
23. What new doors? 
Items involved in this question, as well as in 
Questions 21 and 22 should be systematically 
listed, either by rooms or under general head 
of “hardware list”, etc. Designs may be 
selected from manufacturer's catalogs, which 
may be sent for, or seen in the offices of con¬ 
tractor or architect. Note should be made on 
lists of manufacturer's name, catalog number, 
and approximate retail price. 
24. Will there be a new heating plant? 
25. Will there be new electric wiring 
and outlets? 
The location of outlets is best determined 
after the floor plans are finally decided upon. 
26. Will there be new kitchen or laundry 
equipment? 
S ystematic thinking and planning will 
greatly simplify any building project 
and save expensive after-thoughts. This is 
doubly true in an alteration or remodeling 
project, where not only the construction of 
new work, but the elimination, salvage, or 
changing of existing work must be kept con¬ 
stantly in mind. It is exactly this kind of 
systematic thinking that constitutes a large 
part of the architect’s training. He does not 
go off on a hunt for lighting fixtures until he 
knows exactly what rooms are to be fitted 
with lighting fixtures. He begins at the be¬ 
ginning and plans every detail of the work 
in its logical sequence, because in building, 
one thing always depends on another, start¬ 
ing with the basic area of the house and 
ramifying, from that, into as small a detail 
as window-catches. By adopting, to some 
degree, the architect’s methodical thinking 
and planning, the prospective builder will 
be able to meet the architect half way, and 
to insure for himself a finished house which 
will be very close to his ideal, or which may 
even e.xceed it. 
