House move: Trades/Craftsmen recommendations, Lincoln area

[Terry Casey]

We are hoping to buy a 2 bedroomed bungalow on the outskirts of Lincoln and are looking for recommendations for trades/craftsmen in the local area to carry out detailed inspections and provide quotations for all essential works.

We need someone to carry out an inspection of the electrical system. I had assumed that the CU was an old Wylex or similar unit fitted with cartridge fuse-holders but the surveyor says they are rewire-able! It is unlikely to have an up to date electrical safety certificate!

Similarly the gas and central heating systems required detailed inspection. The central heating boiler is an ageing Glow Worm wall mounted unit, vented through the roof. The surveyor noted that "the boiler was in operation on the day of inspection (and) it was noted that there were high volumes of water running through into the expansion tank."

We also need estimates from roofing contractors to address the following: "The undersides of the roof is lined with a working felt of Hessian reinforced bitumen type. Over the years this has decayed where it is dressed out under the bottom roof edges into the gutters. Water that is running down the top of the felt (which has been driven through the roof coverings) is dropping onto the roof edge timbers and causing consequential decay. Remedial work is needed splicing in new sections of underfelt and possibly new timbers."

Living in an area where most buildings have suspended floors and noting the large number where the air bricks are wholly or partially obstructed where gardens have been replaced by concrete, I must really kick myself for not spotting this - the presence of a solid floor in this bungalow must have given me a false sense of security! The tarmac surround is less than 150mm below the damp course - from photographs, it appears to be only one brick course below: (it would be a 300 mile round trip to 'pop round for a quick look'!)

The garage is at the rear of and to the side of the property and the tarmac driveway from the roadway runs beside the house. Again, this looks to be only

75mm below the damp course.

Would the solution be a gulley all the way round the house? In which case, how wide? How deep? How should it be drained?

Anyway, that is something else that needs to be addressed ...

All advice and comments will be gratefully received!

[ARW]

email me.

I might be able to help with the electrics if you are the correct side of Lincoln.

[Geo]

What is wrong with that? Mine only blew when I overloaded the lighting circuit with an infrared heater in the bathroom. Still have the original card of fuse wire otherwise unused. (47 years)

I don't even have an out-of-date one - don't see what the problem is...

[Capitol]

You don't say how old the bungalow is.

The electrical system using fusewire may well be perfectly OK. How much do you want to spend on rewiring, necessary or otherwise.

If the boiler is working have it serviced and leave it alone. Obsolete= reliable IME. Modern boilers have an average life of 7 years I am told by my boiler servicing man and you rarely can recover the cost of replacing the Glow worm with a modern boiler when you consider installation and servicing costs.

The roof could be a major headache if the timbers were not treated from new. Are trusses used?

If the walls are a stock brick, 75mm above dpc would not IMO be a real problem. If rendered, it may be better to replace the render with a waterproofed one,than mess about digging gulleys. If damp is not present internally, there doesn't seem much to worry about.

[Tim+]

Um, no. Not in this case. If it's "pumping over" as this one sounds to be doing it needs sorting fairly urgently. Otherwise you'll have a damp loft and a lot of wasted heat.

System probably needs a flush and a check over for correct plumbing. Reducing pump speed will probably help in the short term.

See

Tim

[Graham.]

I can't recall ever seeing a domestic CU with cartridge fuses. Were they ever popular?

[Capitol]

Serviced implies that any problems would be corrected. Most parts are available for older boilers at reasonable cost.

[johnjessop46]

Your surveyor has been listing items to use in asking for a discount but th e points raised are trivial. An electrical inspection and report will deter mine whether or not the electrical system actually needs attention. Althoug h rewireable fuses have largely been superceded by circuit breakers there i s nothing in the regulations to prevent their use to this day. If you take up ARWs offer he will be able to advise you further. The felt doesn't sound like a big job to fix and unless the damp course is bridged I wouldn't give it a second thought. Do remember you are asking in a diy newsgroup. We tend not to use contracto rs so can't recommend.

[Tim+]

Solving pumping over isn't part of a routine boiler service. System service maybe but not boiler service.

Tim

[Capitol]

My previous reply stands. When the surveyor mentions pump over this information would be passed to the servicing engineer.

[Terry Casey]

That's what we have here!

Installed by the LEB in 1974. 5, 15 & 30A cartridge fuses and replacement fuses widely available still so, yes, I'd say they were popular!

[Terry Casey]

The surveyor estimates 1955

As much is required to bring it up to a safe standard, if necessary. Anything more can wait until later when we will have a much better idea where additional sockets, etc. are needed

The surveyor says "The roof comprises a traditional rafter and purlin design with site cut timbers and hipped gables."

Brick, no render. I assume you meant to say "75mm BELOW dpc would not IMO be a real problem." ...

[Terry Casey]

Yes, the report makes several references to 'routine maintenance', etc., and I've only picked out those of particular concern to us

However, from following this group from time to time over the years, I'm aware that not everyone here is speaking from a diy viewpoint - ARW being a prime example - and anybody actively pursuing diy interests tends to find out who the local cowboys are!

[Terry Casey]

Thank you for the link, Tim - very useful.

[Martin Bonner]

They used to be the only option. Our house in the early 70's had rewirable fuses. (I think when we moved to one *built* in the 70's, it might have had MCBs - but I could be be imagining that.)

[Capitol]

Sorry, yes ground 75mm below DPC not a problem on stock bricks. London commons are more porous IME. Surrey stock are extremely good, I don't have the experience of Midland and Northern brick types.

!955 will in all probability have non trussed rafters and without wood preserver. This makes rafter repairs a lot easier IMO, but wood preserver needs to be used on the whole roof after repair to prevent recurrence of rot. You may find it better to strip and replace the roof as the tile fixing nails may well be at the end of their life, normally indicated by roof tiles obvious having been replaced(different colour).

The wiring may be rubber insulated (possibly aluminium conductors) unless it has been rewired since construction. (Used up to about

1960)This indicates a complete rewire IMO particularly if you are going to move/add sockets etc. ARW can advise if you are lucky.

[Robin]

What's safe is to some extent a judgement which depends on who is using it and how. I may have missed if this is intended for you to occupy or to let.

If the former you might be happy to live for a while with the fuses and use plug-in RCDs for protection when mowing the lawn etc.

If you will be letting it then, while there's no statutory requirement similar to that for gas, as landlord you are responsible for the safety of the wiring and fittings. And you might want to bear in mind that many tenants these days might struggle to rewire a fuse. But I'm not a landlord so I'll defer to those who are.

[Terry Casey]

That shouldn't be necessary: "The concrete interlocking tile covering was in satisfactory condition with no slipped or missing tiles visible."

All other aspects of the roof were good - everything level, straight and square with some possible attention needed to the pointing at the side of the valley.

I should have said that it is PVC. Unless it has been rewired, in which case I would expect a more modern CU, I think I will be getting reacquainted with

3/029 and 7/029 for the first time in about 50 years!

[Terry Casey]

We are buying it to occupy ourselves. The move to a bungalow is because we are neither of us getting any younger - I will be 72 in a week's time and acute arthritis in both knees is making it increasingly difficult to manage stairs.

Bending to skirting board mounted sockets - of which there are much fewer than needed for a modern life style - is increasingly difficult so we want to move in and settle down so that we can identify the ideal location and numbers of sockets required. As all the walls are of a solid construction, a re-wire to suit all our needs will also require redecoration, which we don't want to contemplate right now.

[Johnny B Good]