The Greater Boston home companion
From the brownstone stoop to the fieldstone basement. Practical guides to understanding, maintaining and restoring the homes we live in.
Explore your house type
01 / Start with your house
A shared wall changes a repair. A steep roof changes an inspection. Get to know the building before deciding what comes next.
Masonry walls. Shared edges. Original details.
Three floors, connected systems, shared decisions.
Complex rooflines and details worth understanding.
Traditional forms, layered repairs and additions.
Compact houses with important roof-space questions.
Your home, the common areas and the work between.
A place to begin
Find the reading that fits your house and the problem in front of you.
02 / Understand the problem
Understand where water travels, what needs inspection and how professional drying connects to the repair that follows.
Work through recurring dampness, musty rooms and surface changes with a clear view of what observation can—and cannot—establish.
Explore smoke residues, odors, belongings and the water left after firefighting, with careful decisions at each stage.
Look at roof edges, chimneys, masonry and windows as connected routes for water rather than isolated repair jobs.
Prepare useful records, compare written scopes and ask specific questions before work begins.
Search the complete library by house type, room or problem. Start with what you can see.
Inside the atlas / Foundations
A damp fieldstone wall deserves more than a coat of paint. Learn what the marks can tell you, where water may be entering and which questions to bring to an assessment.
Read the fieldstone basement guide03 / Useful reading
A ceiling drip and a flooded basement call for different responses. Start by identifying what you can safely reach, who can stop the water, and which parts of the building need inspection beyond the visible puddle.
Wet roof sheathing can result from water entering from outside or moisture reaching a cold surface from inside. The location, weather history and surrounding construction help guide the investigation, but no single stain settles it.
An urgent loss can compress a major hiring decision into a short phone call. Focus that conversation on the work being authorized now, the evidence behind it and the responsibilities that continue after the first crew leaves.
House by house
Guides connect Boston-area building types with the materials, moisture paths and shared spaces that shape a repair.
Source by source
References lead to public agencies, preservation guidance and relevant technical documents. Read further where the decision needs it.
Decision by decision
Bring better observations and questions to the professionals who can assess your home in person.
