Our New Construction

At Vintage, we learn from every restoration and preservation project.  This knowledge about materials and methods that have made old structures successful also makes our new construction unique.  We emulate historic detailing in all  of our new construction. If you hire us, we will use proven techniques, we will not use vinyl siding or asphalt, or synthetic stucco.  Humans know how to build structures that can last for 1000 years, and this is our passion.  We want to create longevity in our work, with architecturally pleasing proportions.

Vintage’s View on New Construction

Our past experience working to preserve and renovate old homes has given us this unique practical knowledge on which old building methods were successful and which failed.  We learn from the mistakes and successes of our predecessors; incorporating the successful methods into our new construction.  We are fortunate to be working on the successes of our predecessors; the oldest house we have worked on extensively was built in 1742.  

The success of materials and building methods is usually related to water.  Here in Virginia we have aggressive decay conditions in our sub tropical climate.  Our Virginia bacteria, fungi, and insects are always looking for food, and if a home is built in a manner that creates wet conditions, then the home becomes a food source.  If a home is correctly built high and dry, with wood maintaining 15% moisture content or less, then the wood is not (usually) a food source.  

Details & Quality

• Stone or brick foundations.
• No particle board or OSB. 
• Custom built millwork, including furniture style kitchen cabinetry.  Our standard is inset door cabinetry.  
• Solid doors.  
• European style gutters, with smooth elbows.  .
• Roofing in tile, slate, metal, wood shakes.  We will not use asphalt.  
• Detailed hardware designs, including period options.
• Traditional paints such as lime washes or linseed oil paints.  We use Ottosson typically.  
• Rot resistant exterior millwork.  No finger joints ever!  We use sapele, mahogany, white oak, walnut, and Accoya, among others.  
• Custom window designs.

Vintage has a workshop in Winchester, Virginia where we make custom trim, doors, windows, and any other millwork necessary to support our projects.  We do all of this to control quality, and to sweat the details.Please see our capabilities page to see more of what we do. 

Feel free to email me or call to discuss see our contact page.

 

Read more of  Why Old Houses Last Longer Than New Houses.

Past Projects