Professional advice - Suffolk

[Jellyfire]

Hi, having made a few posts and got some great advice, I've been attempting a few jobs, stripping beams, taking the odd wall down (plasterboard I hasten to add) etc, but as a complete novice at this, there are various problems with our cottage which need addressing, concrete render and floors, installing central heating, building work done in the modern extension etc.

Whilst Im happy to attempt some of the unskilled work, we can't afford to tackle all the jobs at once, I have a cloud of fear hanging over me that I'll be blowing this years budget getting a new kitchen fitted whilst the timbers are happily rotting away in the walls...

So the question is does anybody know of anybody that provides a kind of period property inspection/advice service in the Suffolk or Norfolk area. Im kind of envisaging somebody who will come round, look at all the work that needs doing, and tell me impartially what can wait, what needs doing first, what I can tackle myself and what needs a professional in. I found this company http://www.handr.co.uk/ but they're not very local, and probably a bit high end for what we're after.
thanks

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Usually it's best to start with the fabric of the building, roof, timbers etc. Heating and plumbing installations will all involve disturbance of your floors and walls, so they are linked, and really need to be done by the proffessionals, and presumably your boiler will be somewhere near your kitchen, so you can't really go ahead with that until the boiler installation is sorted. Any chance that you could tart up your existing kitchen units just for a while?-- best to leave new kitchen until last.

I think Sarah Beeney wrote a couple of books relating to project management, try the library, she set out some good priorities and offered advice.

Best of luck. and I.m sure somebody else will be along with some more help.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Im kind of envisaging somebody who will come round, look at all the work that needs doing, and tell me impartially what can wait, what needs doing first, what I can tackle myself and what needs a professional in.

I think the easiest thing is to pick a bank holiday, say August, and invite the massed ranks of PPUK to a drunken BBQ in your garden! 8)

Seriously, my advice would be to get a good surveyor who understands period properties to advise on the structural/damp/significant issues that need resolving that risk the intergrity of the building - he will be able to advise an order of works (generally strcture, followed by roof, followed by damp).

Once the house is broadly sound, you will want to tackle jobs that make a big mess, or need to clearly precede decorative works - central heating, plumbing, electrics and internal plastering, etc.

Then you can get on with decorative and furnishing tasks - including nice kitchens.

Always add 20% ot the budget and at least double the timescale.

Do not underestimate what can be achieved yourself armed with a good book, t'internet and the collective wisdom of the great folk on PPUK. You'll be amazed at what you can do with a bit of pluck - but remember it is more time consuming than bringing in "professionals".

Finally - a couple of things I have learned:

a) you'll want a mix of all three of the above types of tasks - it can be very disheartening to feel all you are doing is making unseen structural/services progress. Try and finish some rooms/areas to give a sense of momentuum.

b) you need somewhere warm and clean to retreat to in a big project. We lived in ours as we took it back to bare stone and earth throughout much of the centre of the house, and lived in one room altogether (2 young kids) with all our stuff, no central heating and dust/dirt permeating everywhere (and I mean everywhere! This is miserable after the first month and mind-altering by the first anniversary! Keep yourself somewhere clean and comfortable.

Good luck and keep us in touch with progress - there are a wealth or real experts on here.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Lovely advice above, I can't really add much to that at all. I'm going for the BBQ approach myself!

Except that you should buy "The Old House Handbook ", Marianne Suhr.

And also that you can worry yourself sick about invisible timbers, but if you can't smell rot or see it, and everything is holding up, you should just get on with other things and stop thinking about it.

 

[Penners]

PPUK's Agony Uncle, Stephen Boniface, has an office in Suffolk, and I can't think of anyone better qualified to do the inspection/recommendation job that you feel you need.

He can be contacted through his Bury St Edmunds office:-

The Whitworth Co-partnership
18 Hatter Street,
Bury St Edmunds,
Suffolk,
IP33 1NE

Tel: 01284 760421
Fax: 01284 704734
e-mail: info@whitcp.co.uk

I should add that I have no association with Stephen or his business, nor have I used his services personally.

 

[robgil]

where in suffolk are you? if you are close i could pop round if you put the kettle on , i am not a surveyor but i can tell you whats obvious and what isnt.

 

[Jellyfire]

Thanks for all the advice once again, I think I may have made things sound worse than they actually are! The house is perfectly habitable, the roof is thatch and is all fine, and we had a structural survey done before we moved in. There weren't any major problems other than the cement render, its more a case of knowing whether we can afford to leave the render for a year or two (which the lime renderer who quoted said shouldn't be a problem) and get the floors sorted etc, or whether I should be digging up the concrete path at the front of the house or if that may cause problems if its done before the rendering etc. I have a basic awareness of what needs doing, more of a basic lack of knowledge and confidence in what I'm doing and what effect doing one job may have on another.

Heating and plumbing installations will all involve disturbance of your floors and walls, so they are linked, and really need to be done by the proffessionals, and presumably your boiler will be somewhere near your kitchen, so you can't really go ahead with that until the boiler installation is sorted. Any chance that you could tart up your existing kitchen units just for a while?-- best to leave new kitchen until last.

We have had quotes for the heating and that is being done later this month,we are expecting a baby in January, so that's kind of a necessity, but ideally I'd also like to get the internal decor done as much as possible and deal with anything that doesn't require fixing immediately in the future. I already have the old house handbook already, problem is its somewhere in one of the many unpacked boxes!

PPUK's Agony Uncle, Stephen Boniface, has an office in Suffolk, and I can't think of anyone better qualified to do the inspection/recommendation job that you feel you need.

Thanks Penners, he sounds ideal so we'll give them a ring

where in suffolk are you? if you are close i could pop round if you put the kettle on , i am not a surveyor but i can tell you whats obvious and what isnt.

We're just outside Diss on the Suffolk/Norfolk border, you'd be more than welcome to a cuppa if you're nearby Robgil, may even throw in a biscuit if you're lucky! Im not sure my better half would be ready to host a full on barbecue yet though, at least not until I've got more than a concrete floor with a poor attempt at a test hole in it to show for my efforts!

 

[robgil]

if you throw in some biccies i would be glad to offer my assistance.
ms robgil and my self are pretty much in the same boat , we are in a little thatched cottage in walsham , cement floors , cement render , lots of damp issues , new baby , living out of boxes but its not as bad as it sounds , just have to get the heating in before the weather turns.
our cottage suffered terrible damp issues , probably due to the cement render and floors and paint over every thing that is supposed to be able to breath , we need to rebuild the brick plinths and replace the sill plates in a few walls as well as scarf new timber into a few studs. we will get there in the end though.
your cottage sounds lovely ,do you have any pics?
i know what you mean by spending on a new kitchen before doing the more important jobs first and its easy to get carried away , we started by doing one room at a time but there are two sides to every wall so the one room at a time philosophy doesn't always work , nor does the one floor at a time because under every first floor is a ground floor ceiling.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

(Ahem!) Even I have been known to drive out of my own area and pontificate a bit in return for a pint...
...or perhaps we could all meet up on Bank Holiday Sunday in the "Just off the A1 in Lincolnshire" area and compare notes while burning sausages (see Joce's PPUKe Party thread)?

 

[Jellyfire]

our cottage suffered terrible damp issues , probably due to the cement render and floors and paint over every thing that is supposed to be able to breath , we need to rebuild the brick plinths and replace the sill plates in a few walls as well as scarf new timber into a few studs. we will get there in the end though.

We haven't been here in winter yet and touchwood there hasn't been any noticeable damp anywhere yet so hopefully ours won't need quite so much work as that... (famous last words!)

but there are two sides to every wall so the one room at a time philosophy doesn't always work , nor does the one floor at a time because under every first floor is a ground floor ceiling.

Luckily upstairs is pretty much ok, discovered lots of lovely widebeam oak floorboards hidden under the carpets, walls all seem to be lime, though I think they have been emulsioned over (there's another question, do I need to strip them, I'm presuming the matt emulsion will be breathable?)


Have only been a Suffolk convert for 3 months so not too well versed on my geography yet, is Walsham the same as Walsham-Le-Willows? If so were practically neighbours, we're just in Wortham. I'd be happy to get a Fox's selection tin in...

Even I have been known to drive out of my own area and pontificate a bit in return for a pint...

and a pint or two to dip them in Gareth!

Some pictures attached, I'll show you mine if you show me yours...
View attachment 2
View attachment 1

 

[robgil]

nice place , it looks to be in really nice shape as well. ours is a bit worse for wear at present but the same kind of thing , a bit smaller though.

our thatch has two years or so left in it and will need a new weathering coat and ridge , all our ground floor apart from the kitchen has had its floor bricks removed and concrete put in place , all the internal doors are gone and our wide floor boards are only 50% here , most have been replaced with b+q tongue and groove thin pine jobbys , oh and half our inglenook is missing.
on the bright side 99% of the original daub panels is still intact , 99% of the timbers are still strong , most of the lath and plaster ceilings are still here and the rose bushes are coming along nicely.
yes walsham le willows but its easier to say walsham.
we are practically neighbours , i drive past your place regularly on my way to tescos. Is Wortham that 30mph zone on the A143?

 

[JoceAndChris]

Jellyfire, your house is utterly adorable, no wonder you want to get it all right- and you will, I'm sure. I can't post pics of mine as I'm reduced to an iPhone and don't know how to do multiple windows, copy and paste yet. But it looks like a white bungalow with 4 protruding bays and a curious roof.

If I were you I'd bite Gareth's hand off, you won't find more of an expert. And you would of course be very welcome to come to the party if you like.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Jellyfire, And you would of course be very welcome to come to the party if you like.

Especially if they bring jelly. And fire

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol: ooh yes. Raspberry jelly please, and sparklers.

 

[Penners]

Forget the fire. If they're bringing jelly, then there has to be ice cream, too.

How can you have a party without jelly and ice cream?

Jellyfire - if you're having a consultation meeting of PPUK locals, include me in, too. I'm just up the road, near Bungay. Gareth loves arguing with me.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Jellyfire - if you're having a consultation meeting of PPUK locals, include me in, too. I'm just up the road, near Bungay. Gareth loves arguing with me.

No I don't

 

[robgil]

penners you are not that far away at all , i feel a ppuk meet up coming on.

 

[Moo]

Funny you should say that........

 

[Jellyfire]

Your place looks lovely Robgil, looks as though you've got stuck into it a bit more than I have so far, how long have you been there? Our thatch had sprung a leak so we've just had it patched, the thatcher reckons its in pretty good order other than that though and even the ridge has probably got 10 years in it which was a bit of a relief. These thatched roofs look lovely but they don't half give you heartburn thinking about them too much! Same boat here regarding concrete floors and original doors, I saw you're stripped pine one on the other thread, looking pretty impressive!

Yep, Wortham is the 30mph place on the A143, most of the village is spread out on commons off the main road though. Our new landmark is the 15 caravans with associated vans, 4x4s and howling dogs that turned up on the common last week, oh and the piles of rubbish and used loo roll which have coincidentally started appearing in all the hedgrerows and footpaths.
You'd be more than welcome to drop in en route to Tesco

by JoceAndChris on Fri 13th Aug, 2010 9:23 am

Jellyfire, your house is utterly adorable, no wonder you want to get it all right- and you will, I'm sure. I can't post pics of mine as I'm reduced to an iPhone and don't know how to do multiple windows, copy and paste yet. But it looks like a white bungalow with 4 protruding bays and a curious roof.

If I were you I'd bite Gareth's hand off, you won't find more of an expert. And you would of course be very welcome to come to the party if you like.

Thanks Joce, would love to see the pics of yours when you can, sounds intriguing with its 'curious roof'! Thanks for the invite, but we wouldn't be able to make the party Im afraid, I thought life in the country was suppose to be nice and sedate, but I never seem to have a spare day anymore.

Anyway, it looks as though I might be hijacking half the PPUK members for myself, Robgil, Penners, Gareth, Moo, you'd all be most welcome and I would appreciate any advice on offer!

 

[Penners]

Ah yes, Wortham. The place with the tea shop.