Where island houses fail first
Most of these sit on granite block, and granite moves. I look at where the wooden sill meets the stone. That's where rot starts, and it's the most expensive thing on this list to put right.
A little background
My family has worked on Mount Desert Island for three generations of boat builders, fishermen and carpenters. My grandfather Pete and my great-uncle Vic built a fair amount of what's still standing here.
I went to MDI High School and started at The Knowles Company as a summer sales associate, working the front desk and learning the business from brokers who'd been at it for thirty years. Before that, and alongside it, I worked with my father Mike building and restoring houses across the island.
That's the part that makes me useful to you. When we walk a property, I'm not guessing. I've had the pry bar in walls like these. If a house has a problem, I'll say so, and if it's better than it looks, I'll say that too.
I work with first-time buyers, with people who've lived here their whole lives, and with folks from away looking for somewhere to come back to every summer. The job is the same either way: give you a straight answer and let you decide what to do with it.
