carozd
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No, the elderly lady hasn't done a thing re decorating or maintenance since moving in a decade ago, bar a new boiler.
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Lacan07
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well at least you know what your seeing is what your getting, no nasty surprises 3 months down the line.
It is surprising what you can live with once you are in. (Though in the beginning you go round poking holes in everything and intending to do it all - now! Then somehow decades drift by... I'm just sorting out some paintwork last painted 50 or 60 years ago. And I've been here 40 of those!)
Sounds like a kitchen and bathroom refurb then get on with non-house stuff for a while?
The reason you get all that extra for the money is that it needs the extra money spending on it...? But certainly if you get the space you need you can phase the work to suit your budget over time.
One oft-repeated piece of advice - in this case because it is very good advice, imo - is if at all possible live in a house at least a year before deciding priorities. Barring essentials, of course.
Sounds like a kitchen and bathroom refurb then get on with non-house stuff for a while?
The reason you get all that extra for the money is that it needs the extra money spending on it...? But certainly if you get the space you need you can phase the work to suit your budget over time.
One oft-repeated piece of advice - in this case because it is very good advice, imo - is if at all possible live in a house at least a year before deciding priorities. Barring essentials, of course.
carozd
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That is good advice to follow! Kitchen/bathroom are essential as not fit for purpose but yes I remember the last time I bought a house and the skirting only got fitted at the point of selling up!!!
Cubist
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In my view the biggest risks associated with this house is that the render coating and internal plaster MAY be hiding a timber frame superstructure and further clunch walls. Penetrating damp could potentially damage these BUT, given the considerably lower permeability of cement renders and and plasters its just as likely that these have protected those elements. Cracks and cavities in either can soon be remedied without stripping everything off and replacing it with lime based products. Its possible too to excise and test core samples in strategic locations for examination of the condition of the base materials and the level of any damp.
The estimate for the French Drain you have is nothing better than ludicrous. The gardens and surroundings do not appear to have any significant slopes and there are well established and maintained gardens with mature planting. Nor too are there any visible indicators of significant puddling or water run-off from the site. Regardless, £3-5k for a French Drain suggests someone is looking to take advantage of a perceived lone and unknowing woman - tell that possible provider to leave in the appropriate but crude manner deserved.
Overall I see little that needs to be done any time soon - barring enhancing security to confine your five large dogs, to the benefit of the dogs and the neighbours.
The estimate for the French Drain you have is nothing better than ludicrous. The gardens and surroundings do not appear to have any significant slopes and there are well established and maintained gardens with mature planting. Nor too are there any visible indicators of significant puddling or water run-off from the site. Regardless, £3-5k for a French Drain suggests someone is looking to take advantage of a perceived lone and unknowing woman - tell that possible provider to leave in the appropriate but crude manner deserved.
Overall I see little that needs to be done any time soon - barring enhancing security to confine your five large dogs, to the benefit of the dogs and the neighbours.
carozd
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Thanks Cubist. The other gable end is the one where clunch is suspected (the opposite gable having no render and painted brick and it would certainly be possible given the village houses. I've read about testing the bricks (as opposed to the pronged dampmeters) and this looks like a sensible option post-purchase. I think the drain was proposed as that was the corner with supposed damp and the front of the house has little drainage as the tarmac comes very close to the property but I'll ask someone trusted for an additional quote thank you. There are some small pieces of work to enhance guttering which would take rainwater off the render which would be a positive I think and small costs.
Dog security is great - one of the big positives is that the property is enclosed by walls not flimsy fences up to about 1.2m high (fencing then on top of that) which stops the husky taking advantage of old timber fence panels, and the gates mean I can close and load dogs into car before heading off to the fields - another massive plus as I now have to walk them on my own. There's a little hall at the front (not pictured) so I can close off living room doors when answering the doorbell - another big dog security plus.
Dog security is great - one of the big positives is that the property is enclosed by walls not flimsy fences up to about 1.2m high (fencing then on top of that) which stops the husky taking advantage of old timber fence panels, and the gates mean I can close and load dogs into car before heading off to the fields - another massive plus as I now have to walk them on my own. There's a little hall at the front (not pictured) so I can close off living room doors when answering the doorbell - another big dog security plus.
Cubist
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Huskies, they like to 'sing' don't they? You'll be popular in a quiet rural setting I see.
carozd
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I'm strongly getting the idea you don't like dogs! No, my husky doesn't sing, yes the village is full of dogs (inc a yappy one I could hear from our soon-to-be neighbour's garden) and as the garden backs onto a pub carpark I don't think it's quite as quiet as you think. I've lived (and owned dogs) in this village before and it's much more of a working fenland farming community than an ex-townies 'idyllic rural' bolthole. I'm sorry if you've had a bad experience where you live but I raised children (and dogs) in this village before and know it won't be a problem here.
carozd
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its the wrong time of the year to even attempt any of the external work, so giving your situation personally I would live in the house for at least a year before touching anything any outside work can be carried out without effecting your living conditions, as far as flaking paint could be a lot of different things causing it without living in the house it is really impossible to say that you have any major issues, DONT FIX WHATS NOT BROKEN just for the sake of it. surveyors generally fall into a couple of category's ones that could not find snow in a snow storm & ones that cover there arse by seeing everything as a potential risk I can count on one hand the amount of surveyors who have been accurate in there assessments on the numerous survey reports I have read over the years especially so in older houses,
good luck Alex
good luck Alex
Stevers
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About 1/2" of rain collected from the back of my slate roof will completely fill my rainwater butt. That's a lot of emptying!
carozd
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Useful intel!!
carozd
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Thank you good advice
carozd
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oohh a water butt with a hose attached which drains into garden or the household drain!! Workable apart from when it freezes
Genius lol!
Cubist
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I cheated and installed an overflow fitting in one of our butts and connected a hose to it to feed our pond to keep it topped up. A tap at the bottom of the butt carries a second hose that's used for car cleaning duties. Simples, and butts always full until the cars get a wash.oohh a water butt with a hose attached which drains into garden or the household drain!! Workable apart from when it freezes
carozd
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I'm loving this idea and potentially it saves on a french drain till I can afford it (and get better quotes lol). Great thinking!
Cubist
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Maybe, but - the pond concerned is thirty metres away and roughly 5metres x 4metres and .6-1.5metres deep, Rains a lot round here.
Stevers
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Funnily enough I have 15m of 25mm PVC pipe looking for a new home. It will work much better than the length of hose pipe that my father tried to use for the purpose and which used to block. I might even have an outlet fitting for the water butt end going spare.
It was replaced with 32mm pipe as I'm using it with one of those downpipe rainwater catchers to fill a water butt 15m away. The 25mm pipe on brackets on the wall was prone to airlock and didn't seem to have the flow rate over that distance with less than 2" of head - don't ask.
Cubist
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I did the same when I decided to replace my pond top-up hosepipe with that 25mm stuff and then buried it so I wouldn't run over the perishing thing again with my ride-on jungle/brush cutter - I couldn't think of any alternative uses for the shredded hosepipe though.
Did the same at my parents house as a stop gap until they get round to sorting out their old clogged soakaway - that was two years ago
