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Last Updated: 03/11/2005
The Rockbridge Report is produced
under the supervision of the Dept. of Journalism and Mass Communications
at Washington and Lee University.
Reporting supervisors: Prof. Doug Cumming
Technical supervisor:
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Renovating the right way By Michael Patterson The vast majority of homes in Lexington are more than 50 years old and nearly all of them have been renovated in some way, according to Leslie Giles, Director of the Historic Lexington Foundation. “Everybody in Lexington wants to fix up an old house,” says Giles. The renovation process can be long, expensive and even dangerous, as Brian and Jeanne Counihan found out two weeks ago when their home erupted into flames during a paint stripping incident. Renovators were burning paint off the Counihan’s home, at 310 Jackson Ave. when it caught fire. Kerrs Creek Fire Chief Tim Goodbar estimated the fire damage to the Counihan home at $300,000 to $350,000. Lexington renovation contractor Tim Welsh, co-owner of Welsh Construction, says homeowners need to take steps to ensure their renovation is done correctly. He says that communication is the key to a successful renovation. “When you’re talking to contractors, you need to let them know what your expectations are,” says Welsh. Welsh says there is a huge range of contractors in the Lexington area. Many simply work out of their pick-up trucks, but there are several contractors that are more stable and developed. “You hear about contractors who are taking advantage of the client, where they’re maybe billing too much money up front, they’re not a stable business, they might not be in business next week,” he says. He recommends that homeowners ask a potential contractor about the last three jobs that they have worked on. “Everybody’s got good jobs they’ve done, but when you ask for the last three that they’ve worked on, then you get a real good sample of what they can do,” he says. Renovating a home can often be more difficult than building a new one. “New construction is easier, because everything is a little more straightforward, but with remodeling and renovations it just takes a lot more communication to make it happen right,” says Welsh. Despite the difficult process of finding the right contractor, several homes in Lexington have undergone very successful renovations. Curtis Speerschneider lives in a house recently renovated by Welsh Construction. “I love it, it is such a great house,” says Speerschneider. In the 1830s, a group of private investors built a road from Lexington to Covington, and built several toll stations along the way. Speerschneider’s home was one of those toll houses. According to Welsh, the toll house was falling apart when he began renovations two summers ago. “It was terrible. The roof was leaking, there were holes all over the floor, the porches were falling off…no one wanted to deal with it,” says Welsh. After six months of construction, Welsh finished remodeling the home. It now looks nothing like the dilapidated structure it was before the construction. The renovation was so successful that the Lexington Historic Foundation gave Welsh a Founder’s Award. The foundation gives the award to groups that go above and beyond to restore historic buildings in Lexington. “Welsh construction went to extraordinary efforts to restore that home,” says Giles, the foundation director. |