Home Remodeling in Odessa, DE
Careful remodeling for the historic houses of Odessa and the newer homes around the village.
Odessa was Cantwell's Bridge in the 18th century, a busy grain port on the Appoquinimink Creek shipping to the Delaware River, and the village that survived is among the most intact in the state. Its historic district is on the National Register, and the Historic Odessa Foundation, formed in 2005, keeps five of its properties as museums: the Corbit-Sharp House of 1772 to 1774, a National Historic Landmark and a celebrated Georgian brick house, the Wilson-Warner House of 1769, the Collins-Sharp House of about 1700, Cantwell's Tavern of 1822 and the 1853 Odessa Bank. The town itself has about 370 residents, and the private houses on its tree-lined streets are 18th- and 19th-century brick and frame.
Odessa is three miles from Dawson's home base in Middletown, and it is the kind of place where a remodel has to earn its keep. The kitchens and baths inside these houses can be fully modern; what changes is the care taken with plaster, brick, old framing and anything the street can see.
The town's own permits and historic review
Odessa issues its own building permits and contracts with a private inspection agency for building, plumbing, electrical and HVAC inspections inside the town limits, working from the 2018 editions of the international building, residential and mechanical codes. A house in the historic district needs a historic review for exterior alterations, including fencing, before the permit. Interior work such as a kitchen or a bath needs the permit and the inspections but not the review. Addresses with an Odessa mailing address outside the corporate limits go through New Castle County instead.
Kitchens and baths in an 18th-century house
The kitchen in a house like this is in a rear wing that was built or rebuilt long after the front rooms, which is good news: it can be reworked without touching the historic fabric at the front. Cabinets are fitted to walls that are not plumb and ceilings that are not level, plumbing is run through existing chases, and floors are matched to the wide boards in the rest of the house. Bathrooms are usually 20th-century insertions and get rebuilt from the subfloor with proper ventilation and waterproofing the earlier work skipped.
Windows, siding and additions in the district
On a reviewed house, replacement windows are a restoration question: repairing original sash, or fitting new wood units that match the divided lights and profiles, rather than stock vinyl. Siding on the frame houses is repaired and repainted more often than replaced. Additions go at the rear where the street cannot see them and are designed to sit quietly behind the original. Outside the district, in the newer houses along Route 299 and Route 13, the work is the same kitchen, bath, basement and exterior projects as anywhere in the Middletown area.
Dawson's serves Odessa for kitchens, bathrooms, basements, additions, windows, siding, decks and carpentry.
Nearby, Dawson's also serves Middletown, Townsend, Port Penn and St. Georges.
Odessa is part of the New Castle County, DE service area.
Ready to plan a remodel in Odessa?
Call Dom with the address and the project, or send the details through the form. The walkthrough is free and the estimate comes in writing.