Every once in awhile I ask myself why do I stay in Evanston to do home remodeling, I should head west or farther north by about 30 minutes and I would have a way easier time everyday. Essentially, a new house in Evanston is from the 50’s. Those are still plaster on drywall lath, not drywall ( which is much easier to demo and remodel). You may ask yourself the same question, I know many of our customers have asked themselves why am I living in an old/vintage home. I promised myself when we got out first house in Evanston from the 50’s, I’m never moving, this house is hard enough to work in. And then we moved to a 1924 Evanston 2 flat- I’m trying to convince myself cracked plaster and misaligned doors create a interesting and striking look (and they do actually!).
Although its apparent to me now why one would live in an old home in Evanston or anywhere else with similar housing stock like Wilmette, Rogers Park, it took some time for me to get to know these houses and how they’re built. Sure, working in Northbrook or Buffalo Grove would be a cake walk comparatively. For almost all the houses out there- there is no extruded lath – essentially barbed wire in a sheet. No crumbling plaster and wood lath. Much less asbestos. They had plywood by the time they were building out there, so no pine skip sheathing to pull up and replace with sturdy plywood subfloor or sheathing. No knob and tube electrical, no cloth wiring, no corroding galvanized and cast iron water supply and drain/vent pipes! What a dream! I can go on, but lets not forget, those newer houses definitely have their problems too-more than just being flimsily built in a quick fashion.
So that brings us back to Evanston, these houses have their personalities, quirks, and even nicknames. (ask me sometime what some of those are not be appropriate for this blog :)). But, and this is important, ask the carpenter, plumber, electrician, architect and structural engineer how many of these peculiarities are shared and found in practically every old house, and I think you’ll hear that, for the most part, our old Evanston houses were built using similar techniques and materials- just like new houses. When you take apart our vintage homes in Evanston over and over, you kind of know what your going to find, usually, even if there are still surprises once in awhile.
This experience with these old homes is one of the many reasons I like to work in and close to Evanston. I love thinking about how the carpenter or tile setter who was working a century before me did their job, what they had for lunch (sometimes we get clues buried in your wall) and what they were reading (yes, in the wall)- and what they were thinking (also in the wall). When we are remodeling original 1920’s kitchens, baths, porches and other spaces, or spaces remodeled in the 90’s for that matter, we are working with our past project experience in mind. That eliminates surprises for our customers, creates expectations we’re much more likely to meet, lets us plan your dream kitchen remodel better, and allows us to build it better. I like to think that the future tradesman remodeling something we’ve done will look at our work admiringly. If you can see why things have lasted as long a they have, we can learn how to make them last again.