What a 1690 House Taught Us About Quality

An old house survives by intent, not by accident. Someone cared with the craftsperson who built it right 200 years ago, the handyman who cleaned the gutters every fall, the arborist who took down the tree pressing against the foundation before it became a problem, the homeowner who put in a sump pump and dehumidifier before the basement went bad. What separates a building that lasts from one that doesn't is not whether work was done, but how.

Moisture from a lack of air movement causing paint to peel

Sound window protection helps keep water out

1690 Original House with a 1760's front addition

We looked at a house the other day built in 1690. It had not been occupied for about 20 years and had barely been touched for 70. Asbestos siding over the original clapboards, a failing asphalt roof, no heat or water, peeling paint on the inside. By every surface measure it looked like a disaster.

But it was absolutely perfect.

It was perfect because 70 years ago, whoever put on that asbestos siding paid attention to water and moisture management. They thought about drainage planes and how water moves down a wall. It was perfect because 10 years ago the owner was still mindful of the basement and keeping it dry. It was perfect because the windows had been made waterproof, not airtight, with plastic on some and storm windows on others, managing moisture without trapping it. It was perfect because modern materials and methods had barely touched it.

That house, neglected as it appeared, had been quietly cared for by people who understood what mattered. And because of that, it was saveable.

The death of many buildings is from water, be it liquid water that gets wood wet, the fungus grows, and it turns to dirt. It can be water vapor from trapped air that causes mold. Either way, the building parts go unchecked for sometime where it turns back into nature. But how can we prevent this cycle towards death? Well, honestly, it's all about good work and decent materials.

Water Is the Enemy

The death of most old buildings comes from water. It can be liquid water that gets into wood, lets fungus take hold, and slowly turns solid framing into dirt. It can be water vapor from trapped air that causes mold to spread inside walls, where nobody sees it until it is too late. Either way, the building deteriorates over years, sometimes decades, going unchecked until it crosses the line from repairable to gone.

What makes this particularly painful is that water damage is almost always preventable. It does not require expensive materials or complicated systems. It requires thoughtfulness about how water moves, where it enters, where it collects, where it cannot escape, and work that respects those realities rather than ignoring them.

A window glazed properly sheds water. A window with caulk stuffed in every gap traps it. A roof flashed with the right materials protects a building for 40 years. A roof flashed with a five-year sealant fails in five years, usually in a place that is hard to see and harder to reach. The decisions made during every repair, however small, either protect the building or compromise it. There is rarely a neutral outcome.

Dexter House Providence with a new roof in 2009

Dexter House Providence 11 years after a new wood roof

What Quality Is Not

People get confused about what quality work actually looks like. Here are the things it is not.

It looks good. Aesthetics have almost nothing to do with quality work. Fresh paint can make anything look good … for a while. The old saying goes: "Caulk, putty and paint, makes a carpenter what he ain't."

A bad repair can look perfect for two years and then fail catastrophically. A good repair might look rough around the edges and last a century.

It's cheap. Cheap, quick, and good — pick two. I am not talking about the uncle who is a craftsperson and did it for free out of love for the family. I am talking about expecting something to last when you paid as little as possible for it. That is not how buildings work, and it is not how skilled labor works. Decent materials cost money. Experienced time costs money. Skipping either one has consequences that show up later, usually in the worst possible way.

It took a lot of time. Not necessarily. Inexperience can make things take a long time and still end up wrong. Time alone is not a measure of quality. But thoughtful, intricate, properly assembled work will take more time than fast work, and that time is not wasted.

It was really expensive. There are liars and cheaters in every industry, and construction has more than its share. Cost does not equal quality. But ask yourself what makes good work more expensive — time and decent materials. And ask yourself what does not make good work — expensive materials in the hands of someone who does not know what they are doing.

Thoughtfulness and experience. DING! DING! DING! This is the one. Many craftspeople take time to plan a project properly — going over the various ways to accomplish a task, thinking through the consequences of each approach. And they do it during off-hours. When they are driving home, brushing their teeth, or in the shower. They talk through problems with each other at work. Imagine that — people who do physical work also thinking! That thinking is where quality actually comes from, long before a tool is picked up.

What to Look For Before You Hire

Most homeowners have no way to evaluate a contractor's work quality before the project starts. Here are a few things worth paying attention to.

Ask how they plan to manage water during and after the work. A good contractor has already thought about this. A bad one will look at you blankly or give you a vague answer about doing things the right way.

Look at how they talk about materials. Do they know why they use what they use? Can they explain the difference between a five-year sealant and a proper flashing detail and why one belongs on a historic building, and one does not? Knowledge of materials is a proxy for knowledge of craft.

Ask to see past work — not photos, but actual projects you can visit or speak to someone about. A contractor who does good work has clients who are glad to talk about it.

Watch how they handle the first small problem that comes up. Every project has one. How a contractor responds to an unexpected finding tells you more about their quality than anything they said before the work started.

It All Matters

The 1690 house I mentioned at the top had been worked on by dozens of people over three centuries. Most of them are long gone. But their decisions, good and bad, are still present in that building. The person who thought about moisture management when they put on that asbestos siding in the 1950s probably never imagined someone would be standing in that house 70 years later, grateful for their care.

In 2009, we put a new wood roof on the Dexter House in Providence. Eleven years later, it looked exactly as it should, with no failures, no shortcuts, catching up with it, and no callbacks. That is what good work looks like over time. Not impressive at the moment of completion, just quietly right, year after year.

It is not always cheap materials that make bad work. Mostly, it is the mind and hands behind it. Putting plastic over a window seems simple, but if done wrong, it holds water instead of keeping it out. The Mad Caulker thinks he looks great, but makes something rot 100 times faster. The roofer who uses a five-year sealant to flash a 40-year roof has made a decision that will cost someone dearly, eventually. All work matters to longevity, not just the big things.

Do not say it does not matter because you will not be here in 10 years. Because the work you leave behind will be. And the house may not.