Repairs, Renovations and Restorations

Landmark Services has been carrying out repairs, renovations and restorations on historic old houses for almost 20 years.  So what's the difference between a restoration and a renovation?

Exterior Repairs:  Sustained exposure to the elements produces a range of restoration issues for historic buildings. We at Landmark Services, Inc. have extensive experience in both restoring and waterproofing damaged historic fabric. Our approach is to address the exterior envelope as a single entity, including roofing, carpentry, pointing, painting and sheet metal. Whether performing epoxy restoration to existing woodwork or in furnishing reproduction doors, sash, moldings or other millwork, our goal is to produce a durable, authentic repair that duplicates the existing work and will last for years. Whether an entire exterior, or just a few isolated items, our carpenters will carry out the repairs necessary to keep your home in good shape, while maintaining its character:

• Sill and structural repairs

• Window restoration

• Roofings, gutters, siding and exterior trim repairs 

• Epoxy repairs of columns and other decorative elements

• Chimney repairs

• and more

The nineteenth-century mansard-roofed residence in Jamaica Plain pictured below was in sore need of some exterior repair. Extensive rot was found throughout: many of the decorative details which graced the house were slowly disappearing. Our work involved new flashing, site grading, and other methods to improve the water problem. Extensive repairs to the rotted wood were then necessary. In some cases we used an epoxy treatment to stabilize existing material. In other cases, such as with the highly detailed and severely deteriorated porch railings, perfect reproductions were fabricated. When the carpentry work was finished the building was repainted in period colors.

Restorations are very historically accurate projects carried out by removing non-original features and by repairing and reconstructing missing features from the period of significance.  We typically carry out restoration projects for house museums and other institutions.

One of our recent restoration projects was the restoration of the carriage house at the Captain Forbes House Museum in Milton, MA. 

Renovations are generally less historically accurate. Most of our projects fall into this category. The goal of most of our renovations is to adapt a house (or barn, church or other old building) to its present owners.   Our clients love their old houses but sometimes find that they're too small, the mechanical systems are outdated, the kitchens and bathrooms need updating, or the floor plan just doesn’t work for them.

This may mean renovating the existing space, or it may mean building an addition. It may mean a new kitchen with a family room addition and master suite above.  Take a look through the projects shown on these pages. Chances are, if you have a project in mind, we’ve done something similar.

Here are some representative renovations projects in our portfolio:

Renovation (and addition) of a ca. 1830 Greek Revival in Medway 

Renovation (and addition) of the ca. 1815 Old Parsonage in Sudbury

Renovation of the ca. 1830 Margaret Fuller House in Cambridge