Any Ideas Welcome!

[citizensmith]

We are in the process of buying our 1st "old" house, having lived in "new" or nearly new houses for all of our lives.
We have chosen a large 18th C Farmhouse with lots of remedial work needed. Not urgent work, but certainly will need to be made a bit more comfy as a large family home.
The survey flagged up rising damp (which i think has more to do with poor guttering) Death watch Beetle (which we will try to get treated) and problems with the roof (worn out) that will i am told need 30-40k to fix.

I want to try to put a construction date on the house if i can - 3 storeys with 3 bedrooms on the roof space. The roof is large and steep pitched such that bedrooms in it still have large areas of flat ceiling and roof slopes at the edges.
There is no access at all to the roof space - a worry as no surveyor could check it out for us.
We presume there is no insulation and what with no heating on top floor it will be chilly in winter!

The house is on the 1831 OS maps and is stone/brick built with rendered outside and slate roof. All the woodwork externally is at the end of its life

It has 6 fireplaces (4 currently usable + solid rayburn
Can i run the rayburn on wood if i want to? ), elm floorboards, woodchip nwallpaper everywhere, no coving or plasterwork on ceilings, probably needs rewiring (but all currently works) and needs new boiler and updated plumbing. We anticipate 10 yrs > life to do it all.

Someone out there please tell me i should not be certified?

 

[RobT]

Citizen,

where is the property?

Why not post an image of the property so everybody can get a feel for the job - see test area to find out how.

Looking forward to seeing property.

On the timescale front I know of a chap who bought a humble timber framed property in Lincolnshire and lived in a caravan while the restoration took place. That was 14 years a go and the work is still ongoing. But, he's has a eagle eye for detail.

power to the restorers.

Rob

 

[citizensmith]

Sorry, the house is in Herefordshire, between Ross and Hereford.
I would post a pic if i had one as a jpeg at the momennt. I will see what i can do.
The house is a bit "in between" being a Farmhouse and being "posh". The ceilings are neither low or high with one large beam crossing each room there is only simple architrave and skirting and fairly simple large painted doors, and it has loads of large sash windows. Quarry tiles in kitchen and under the carpet in the breakfast room.
Oh and i forgot to mention the 30ft vaulted cellar under the kitchen and livingroom!

 

[NT]

citizensmith:

> We are in the process of buying our 1st "old" house


Damp is almost never rising, and false positive diagnoses are routine, so I'd reassess that one. The solutions to genuine damp are simple in the great majority of cases.

DWB: I'm not sure about dwb specifically, but many such infesters like damp conditions and go away if things are dried out.

Roof: pics and more detailed info would help. Too many times I've heard a roof needs replacing when it doesnt.

External render: if cement this will make the place a lot damper. But removing it can cause physical damage. What condition is this render in?

Wiring: best decide early on on wiring, that needs doing before decoration or plastering. If you do rewire there are various tips and tricks to ensure you get the best out of the job.

what would make a building need updated plumbing? Is it lead in a soft water area? Rusted through iron?


> We anticipate 10 yrs > life to do it all.

Well at least youre realistic


> Someone out there please tell me i should not be certified?

ummm... If you've got the means to find good craftspeople and employ them in parallel it should all get done fairly quickly.


NT

 

[Peter]

Don't forget it will take you twice as long as you think it will!