my house and work

[dragonfly]

After 6 weeks in the house the time has come to think about starting the work. I initially want to get a few contractors in to give quotes regarding replacing the render on the rear of the house which is not in good condition. But it may be a bit complicated. Here's a couple of pics:
[Open Image] [Hosted by PhotoGalaxy.com]



[Open Image] [Hosted by PhotoGalaxy.com]

In brief, the black post holding up the porch is rotting at the bottom and has shifted on the brick pier, but is still quite stable even though there is a lovely 'list' to the tiled bit. The windows all need sorting out (take note of flaked paint on left hand and wonderful expanding foam repair to right hand). The render is blown and cracked in many places, has been badly repaired in others. Just level with the soilstack is a low wall which bridges the render at the top, which is level with part of the lawn, but also, seems to be next to where the main drainage associated with the soil stack & guttering is, so am not sure if we will be able to/ have to dig away from the house - depends on the pipes I guess. Not seen around the corner to the left of the picture, is a big hole in the render (2 foot square?) which exposes some of the timer frame, and some grey stuff ?lime - Am new to this so don't know what it is, will get a pic later.
Here is a pic of the side to show where the render stops (the rendered part is 100ish years old, brick is 300ish), the hole is just under the window (the plant matter next to the house is all gone now as is the ivy growing up the chimney)

[Open Image] [Hosted by PhotoGalaxy.com]

So, should we get the render done before the windows or vice versa or try to get it all done at the same time?
How long is it likely to take?
Should I leave the hole uncovered or cover it as the weather gets worse? It's likely to have been uncovered for at least a year or so anyway. We are quite happy to get quotes and leave the work till next year, I just want to get organised!

Thanks in advance for any advice/recommendation of 'good chaps' in Cambs area

 

[Jailhouse John]

Purely from a construction logic point of view it would be more practical to have window and door frames replaced (if that is what you are going to do) ahead of replacing old render because doing them after would b***** up your new rendering.

Looking at the pics it would seem preferable to initially ensure soil was away from walls to allow them to dry as much as possible.

As a general rule I suspect that if you use demolition/pull down first and then put back second you wont go far wrong. Most of it is common sense but I would try and work out everything that you intend doing as a complete scope of work and then sort it out logically into a plan as this would help as you can then arrange to do work as finances permit.

Traditionally the building industry split its work into several sections such as:

1. Foundations

2. Superstructore & Roof

3. Trades 1st Fix (Window and Door frames, services conduits etc)

4. Plastering

5. Trades 2nd Fix (Radiators, fittings, sanitary ware and the like)

6. Finishing Trades (Glazing, tiling and painting)

And the work generally followed that sequence, usually on restoration you dont have item 1 so substitute demolition/pull down instead.

 

[Nemesis]

The windows look repairable.

As for render - as presumably you are going to lime render, then it's getting late in the year for that - don't use lime where there is danger of frost.

Six weeks isn't long to give yourself time to think about what is needed and careful repair. It's often useful to live somehwhere a while before deciding what to do, beyond the real emergencies.

Nice bricks - apart from a bit of repair they look fine, although the plinth looks like it's had considerable repair, and still lime mortar, which is good.

 

[dragonfly]

Thanks

The initial work definitely won't be done this year, just wanted to get the quotes in so that I can butter up the bank manager. Inside the house doesn't feel damp at all, even on the rendered side but having read various bits on the forum I'm keen to make sure that any work done to reduce the damp issue will be undertaken.

Jailhouse - not sure about demolition - was assuming that we could chip off the render, repair any dodgy timberwork and then re-render ( or is that considered demolition in the construction world?). Would have severe problems if the whole timber framed bit did have to come down as that would be both the bathroom and kitchen out of action! As someone who loves to eat and be clean I am hoping for the less is more approach to repairs!

Nemesis, the structural engineer told us that he thought the brick plinth had been rebuilt as part of a DPC that was injected in the eighties (before listing). this was topped up in 2006 and considered a like for like repair by the CO so didn't in the end cause us any problems in terms of LBC.

Don't know if you can see it on the pic but what is peculiar is that on the side of the house on the bricks, there are lots of nails sticking out of the wall, fairly randomly by 3-4 cm. I am just assuming that someone at some point had something growing up there and that the nails had string/ wire etc as support. Having said that, there are many more than I would have used to support a climber! All adds to the character I suppose.

Here's another taster - our lounge pre-furniture. Hate the colour, feels like the backside of a wasp to me with the contrast of the beams but is well down the list of priorities for sorting at the moment!

[Open Image] [Hosted by PhotoGalaxy.com]
Am assuming that it was once a kitchen with a range in there and that the little alcove used to be a bread oven?

 

[Jailhouse John]

Thanks


Jailhouse - not sure about demolition - was assuming that we could chip off the render, repair any dodgy timberwork and then re-render ( or is that considered demolition in the construction world?). Would have severe problems if the whole timber framed bit did have to come down as that would be both the bathroom and kitchen out of action! As someone who loves to eat and be clean I am hoping for the less is more approach to repairs!

I didnt mean demolition in the total sense - but if you were thinking of replacing the roof then that would require taking of the old tiles and possible replacing the odd roof timber - then that would be firmly in a 'demolition' phase so it would be inappropriate to start other internal works until the 'house had a good hat' as somebody on here nicely described it.

 

[dragonfly]

funnily enough the roof is the one thing the structural engineer was generally happy with. It seems that in the 1980's some serious LBC approved renovations took place, one of which was the roof which was stripped back, rafters etc replaced/repaired/strengthened. He was happy that the undulations are mainly due to the shape of the original beams rather than anything failing. There is one purlin in the main roof (just above left hand rear upstairs window) that he thinks needs strengthening, but not urgently, (and the only bit of the tiling that is dodgy is the bit which is on the porch which is gradually falling down due to the rotting upright support.) I kind of assumed that as the purlin is the other side of a sloping ceiling in the back bedroom that it could be repaired from the inside by taking down part of the ceiling, rather than taking the roof off?

 

[dragonfly]

by the way, the living room picture doesn't really show what an awful shade of yellow it is. Think yellow ochre that is suffering depression and you've about got it.

 

[DaveBrigg]

Are those wires going up the chimney?

 

[Cloudscape]

Or maybe like condensate running down the chimney?

 

[Schoolmarm]

I would address the slipped tiles on the roof first. Do the gutters work properly they look a little odd?

 

[Nemesis]

There's one discharging straight onto the porch roof, which isn't a great idea.

And yes - there are slipped tiles, when the image is enlarged.

 

[NT]

Rerendering is likely to make a mess of the paintwork, so render then paint. If both are being done anyway.


NT

 

[alice]

That niche next to the fire place looks to be a bit far away to be a bread oven to me.

You'd have to have a roaring fire in there to warm up that much stone and keep it warm long enough to bake bread. The other possiblity is that it could hold coals that would warm it up, but that's still a good distance to be shoveling hot coals. But back in the day they were made of sterner stuff than I.

alice

 

[Nemesis]

I keep posting about how to heat an oven, but does anyone listen?

No.

Sigh.


Look inside the niche though - has it a domed top?

It could have been an oven, or it could have been a dry storage place.

 

[dragonfly]

the lines behind the chimney look like they are condensation/ tar/ rust from the chimney. I've cleaned part of them off now, but gave up after my elbows ran out of grease. The alcove isn't domed exactly but does slope down in a nice curve towards the back and there is a recess at the top towards the front to which a small striplight has been fitted. My nephew calls it the dragon's cave.

Thanks for the advice re. windows etc. I wasn't sure how much the window frames might be damaged by the rerendering if that was done first, but replacing the frames is probably less of a job than patching newly done render if the frames have to come out? Brother in law is a carpenter so we will get him to look at the windows as the first job.

 

[alice]

Dragonfly, Mrs. C. would like you to look at her archived post of March 19, 2004 about bread ovens.

I like your nephew's comment that it's a dragon's cave, even if they would have to be very small dragons, as that appears to be a very small space.

alice

 

[Nemesis]

If there is a recess at the front top, there is a possibility that could have been connected to a flue.

All depends on the oven.

Some didn't heve them at all, and we had a post just a couple of weeks' ago.