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You are here: Home / ABOUT OLDER HOME BASEMENTS

ABOUT OLDER HOME BASEMENTS

The majority of homes in the Greater Boston area are older homes that were built before 1950. 
If you are looking for a home in Greater Boston, it is important to keep some things in mind about older homes, especially if the home that you previously lived in was a younger home. Since basements are critical and often the most misunderstood part of a house, this page focuses on older home basements.
 
OLDER HOME BASEMENTS:
Older homes have basements that were not designed to keep water out. The foundations were not poured concrete. They were built with stone foundations that were often in place with little, if any, mortar sometimes. When pre-1920s homes were built, there was probably a dirt floor and the concrete basement floors were added later. It is also likely that gutters were added later. If they were insulated at all, the insulation often consisted of old newspapers in the walls. There were no storm windows. Those homes were not air tight and the homes “breathed” the air movement was a healthy bonus (except for the winter chills) for the humans that lived in the houses. 
 
As home building technology changed, homeowners often upgraded their older homes with modern aluminum or vinyl siding, storm windows or vinyl windows, storm and insulated doors, blown in insulation, and concrete basement floors. While those upgrades made the houses more energy efficient and easier to maintain, they often created situations that were not problematic before the “upgrades”. For instance, basements that used to have air infiltration before they were  made “energy efficient” (by eliminating the air infiltration from older windows and filling every crack with expandable foam) often develop mold or mildew when homeowners don’t add or run a dehumidifier to remove the moisture that normally builds up in a basement after they eliminate the previous air flow in the basement.
 
The bottom line is that buying an older home is like buying a used car. There are some things that may have been neglected and the buyer will need to repair, there are things that need to be monitored and there will be things that will need to be replaced sooner or later. 
"Greater Boston Home Team is exceptional in every way… very hands on, high touch and efficient… giving me the pros and cons… they organized and managed the entire process… they know the real estate market and provide extraordinary service and support."
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Greater Boston Home Team is an award winning, independent, nationally recognized boutique brokerage, unaffiliated with any franchise or major brand name. We are high-touch, high-tech and highly interactive with our clients. Over 95% of our business has come by referral since 2003. We typically place in the top 10-15% of agents and teams in our market area.

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Greater Boston Home Team is committed to providing accessibility to all users of our services and website. We welcome accommodation requests as well as comments and suggestions about how to make our site, services and information more accessible to all.

If you have any difficulty accessing anything on this site or notice any accessibility problems, please contact us or call us at 617-469-4200 let us know how we can assist you. Please let us know the assistive technology you are using along with the accessibility issue that you have encountered. We will endeavor to deliver content to you in a manner that will work for your needs.

Our offices are not open to the general public. Personal consultations are available by appointment and we are happy to arrange a meeting at an accessible location that is convenient for you.

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