Are you fortunate enough to live in a home with historical significance but worried about what you need to do to make sure your house stays in good shape? Preserving a historic house requires dedication, regular maintenance, and a little insider know-how. Having comprehensive Historic Home Insurance is a good start, but if you want to maintain your home’s heritage for years to come, you may want to learn more about restoring vs. rehabilitating your historic house. For starters, here’s how you can take baby steps towards preserving your home.
Determine Your Home’s Type of Significance To Apply for Relevant Grants
Before you can begin maintenance work on your home, you may want to spend some time figuring out the house’s proper classification. Depending on the exact type of significance your home holds, you may be eligible to apply for various grants or other funds that can pay for repairs and renovations. For example, you may want to look into whether your home has:
- Cultural significance in the local community
- Historic local or regional significance as a landmark
- Architectural significance indicative of past construction eras
Keep Up With Regular Maintenance Work
Once you know what category your home falls into, the next step is to put in regular maintenance work. This helps ensure your home at least stays in the same condition in which you purchased it. For easy maintenance, you can:
- Do light weekly cleaning as well as regular deep-cleaning sessions
- Wax the floors or get the carpets power-cleaned
- Replace peeling wallpaper and chipped paint
- Fortify vintage windows to be more soundproof and energy efficient
Bring In Professionals for Detailed Historical Work
Last but not least, remember that it’s okay to bring in professionals to provide consultations, advice, and help when you need it. As a homeowner, you may not be intricately familiar with all the ins and outs of historical home maintenance. Beyond primary, everyday care that you can handle yourself, you may want to consider:
- Hiring a professional brick mason to handle your home’s historical brick repairs
- Consulting an architect to maintain the original style and structure of the home while conducting renovations
- Checking with the local government to ensure historical home regulation compliance before beginning significant work
- Registering the home with local community organizations or historical societies to garner support for, and awareness of, your home’s historical significance
When you live in a house with historical, cultural, or architectural significance, having quality Historic Home Insurance is just the beginning. To care for your historic home, it’s important to properly categorize it, work on maintenance regularly and consult professionals as needed. Follow these phases, and you can keep your historic home in top shape for the years ahead.
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