by Jade Stephen

Created on: May 19, 2008   Last Updated: December 01, 2011

When it comes to giving a date to your home it can be a slippery slope. Older houses may not be properly dated on the deed, and building records may not be correct or even exist. Sometimes a trained professional can be fooled by additions, and extensions to a home. So how can you really tell how old your living space is? Luckily there are many places that one can look for the age of their homes, and most of the research starts right in their own living room.

A good starting point when dating your house is to decide what you are willing to settle for. Is it enough to know what decade the home was built in? Do you want the exact year? Once you have determined this you can start looking at the building. At this point the best tip is to try and determine the architecture style of the home. To do this, determine what parts of the home appear the oldest and most likely to be built first. Many older buildings have additions that can be troublesome, so look for the base of the house that has been altered the least. It is also suggested to start in the center of your building as it is least likely to be an extension of the home. Take some pictures of these areas for comparison. From here find a book or website on types of architecture in homes. A good site for American architecture styles is available at: http://architecture.about.com/od/housestyles/tp/hous estylesindex.htm .

At this point in your journey you hopefully have the age of your home narrowed down to an era. If you do, that's great, but if not, don't panic. The next thing to do is consider the construction materials and methods in your home. Remember, some older homes were not built with power tools, and so the complexity and perfect cuts of recent years were not always available then. Start by considering your floor boards and joists. In many cases these have not been changed, but there is a good chance they may have tile or carpet over them. If this is not possible, check the make of the walls: are they plaster? What size are the floor boards? What style are the joists? With this in formating and the Internet in your arsenal, you should easily place your home in the correct era, and verify your earlier conclusions based on the style.

If all else fails there are always other ways to research your home. Start with your local tax office. Most have detailed records of the age of the home, as well as the dates of additions. Though these are not always accurate, they can give you a great idea of the age of your home. Another great way to do research on your home is to check some older maps. If you have a good idea of the era of the home, some older maps have details about the owner, and the builder of the home. If all else fails, ask the neighbors, some of them may have memories of the home.

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