THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 2, 1996 TAG: 9602290200
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: About the Outer Banks
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Chris Kidder
LENGTH: Long : 118 lines
Last week I wrote about recycling old beach houses. This week we'll look at one oceanfront home that was moved across town, refurbished and now leads a new life as a rental cottage.
There are many houses on the Outer Banks that must be moved because of beach erosion or to clear the lot for new construction. Faced with those problems, most property owners choose the easiest and most economical solution: Tear the old house down.
But some folks would like to see their houses reused. Old cottages can represent generations of family vacations; others have architectural details that modern methods and materials can't affordably duplicate. Owners who feel a responsibility to preserve such history will choose to move the cottage (either back on its lot or to a new location) or seek out someone willing to take the house away and use it.
Often, these owners charge very little, if anything, for the houses. The ideal candidate for a move, after all, is the basic cottage that has never been modernized with sheetrock, central air-conditioning and other improvements that tend to be damaged in a move.
Even so, these houses don't come cheap. By the time new owners pay moving and clean-up charges, build a foundation and put in utilities at the new location, they've spent thousands of dollars.
Cola Vaughan, a Nags Head real estate broker, got a good deal on a one-story beach cottage built in 1932. The house had only had three owners over the years and seemed to be in good structural condition. The owners wanted it moved off the oceanfront to make way for new construction.
Vaughan had recycled another old house several years ago and had been pleased with the result. ``I call it adaptive restoration, not historic preservation,'' he explains. The idea is to keep the character of the old building while adding some of the conveniences of new construction.
But these old houses aren't for ``the carpet and sheetrock crowd,'' says Vaughan. They appeal to people who appreciate the history and want ``the feel of the beach.'' As renters, these folks tend to be more loyal. ``They keep coming back because the house is unique.''
Vaughan agreed to move his ``good deal'' to a soundside lot he owned just a couple miles to the north. The move cost about $6,000; moving utility lines cost another $4,000. ``This was a low houses,'' says Vaughan. ``If it had been three feet taller, it could have doubled the cost.''
Moving utility lines can be the most expensive part of the move. Only the smallest of buildings won't require some lifting, dropping or rerouting of electric, telephone and/or cable television wires. Coordinating the various companies involved in the move is a major headache, says Dave Ferris, the general contractor on Vaughan's project.
Utility lines aren't the only concern. Ferris, who has renovated 12 recycled houses in the last four years, says that would-be recyclers need to look at restrictive covenants for their lot. If an architectural review committee is involved, the owner must go before the committee with professionally drawn plans, he recommends.
Residents in newer subdivisions may not welcome the idea of an old house being moved into the neighborhood unless they're assured that the house will blend in.
According to Ferris, few people move an old house and don't want to make substantial improvements. Most want to add central heat and air-conditioning. That upgrade makes insulation and new energy-efficient windows a priority. Most need more bedrooms, more baths, bigger, updated kitchens.
Moving usually exposes any hidden structural problems a house may have, says Ferris. The problems are easier to repair at this point but buyers need to be prepared to spend whatever money it takes. Restoring any old house is a labor of love, he says. ``It can be expensive.''
When recycling a house, working with the local building inspector becomes crucial. Most old buildings do not meet current building codes but usually will be grandfathered provided extensive structural changes aren't made.
Vaughan made all the typical improvements. He put his recycled house on pilings, providing a utility room on the ground floor. He had Ferris build an addition on one side and open up the attic, creating two loft bedrooms. The house originally had one bathroom; now there are three.
Trying to squeeze new plumbing and heat and air-conditioning ducts into an old house is always a challenge, says Ferris. And, like any old house, hardly anything in the house was plumb or square. ``That's where my enjoyment with a project like this comes in,'' he says. ``I have to be creative.''
If you're interested in seeing Ferris' solutions to some of these problems, you can tour the house in the Outer Banks Home Builders annual Parade of Homes, April 11-14.
The Parade of Homes will feature approximately 20 houses from Corolla to Ocracoke. Most of the homes on the tour are brand new; a few may be owner-occupied or renovations of older houses.
Tickets for the tour are $5 and are good for all four days. You can buy tickets in the Tidewater area at any Virginian-Pilot office. On the Outer Banks, tickets are available at Kmart, Wal-Mart, The Promenade and the new OBHBA office in the Coastal Building at 4417 N. Croatan Highway, Kitty Hawk.
For more information about the Parade of Homes, call OBHBA, 919-255-1733.
If you own a house sided with an exterior insulation and finish system commonly called EIFS or if you're considering using EIFS on new residential construction, you need to be aware of potential moisture problems.
The North Carolina Building Code Council has just issued stringent guidelines for approving EIFS construction to the state's building inspection departments.
These guidelines address some of the issues raised by recent studies showing elevated moisture readings in 98 percent of all EIFS houses tested across the state.
Studies so far have shown excessive moisture to be a problem only when EIFS is applied to exterior wood frame walls that are finished on the inside and backed with a moisture barrier.
Most experts believe the moisture problems are the result of faulty EIFS installation (in most cases, installers not following manufacturer specifications for application and components), poor homeowner maintenance of caulk joints in EIFS surface, and component failure (wood windows, for example, inherently allow water intrusion).
The Virginian-Pilot ran a story on this problem in the Business section of last Sunday's newspaper (Feb. 25). You can get a copy by calling the back issues desk at 804-446-2717. MEMO:
Send comments and questions to Chris Kidder at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head,
N.C. 27959. Or e-mail her at realkidd(AT)aol.com
by CNB