bought a 1950's ex-council house
it's just about liveable-in
so, where to start?
central heating, electrics, or the damp patches I just noticed at the base of the sitting room walls
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I'd say electrics first for safety, then heating, and that may sort out the damp patches, too.
A quick check which costs nothing would be for earth built up outside and bridging the damp proofing in the outside walls. Did somone put raised flowerbeds by the walls?
Good luck.....
John Williamson ( snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com) wibbled on Tuesday 11 January 2011 10:45:
and the fact that will lead to much damage so best prior to decorating...
Check the outside of the house to see if you can find out where the damp is coming from. It could be caused by water leaking from downpipes or overflowing gutters - both of which are simple to fix. Deal with the damp before you decorate internally.
All part of the mix.
Start by making up a plan
For example, rewiring and replumbimg are best done properly and that means messing up the walls, so it will need replastering.
Ad that means getting rid of damp FIRST.
Unl;ess that is condensation only.
I would say you treat it as a nearly new build: i.e. gut it of anything that is loathsome, fix and structural or serious drainage issues, then insulate it, then rewire and replumb it.
To be honest, these are all so interlinked... I mean you probably want a mains pressure hot water system, a water softener, new bathrooms etc..plus a rewire plus insulation, then add CH afterwards..oh, and are the windows in good shape? might need DG units..
With luck the mortgage company will lend you the money to do it properly, on the grounds that it will increase the overall property value.
Then ventilation
and that may sort out the damp patches, too.
MBQ
Well, if you're going to do the electrics you're going to create a lot of dusturbance, likewise the heating. While it's all up in the air you might as well bite the bullet and sort the damp all in one.
The absolutely FIRST thing is to check the condition of the roof and gutters. Until they are sound anything else is potentially wasted. Good tight roof over your head and everything else can be done at leisure, but when water drips through ......well you see the point I'm sure.
AWEM
that could be one cause of the dampness for the gable wall
p.s. is it advisable to get a job lot i.e. get reputable contractors to price for the whole job
or lots of individuals doing their bit
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I mean the end (of terrace) wall
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I've got £30, 0000 to play with from the sale of my previous house
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It depends on your level of organisational ability, paranoia and personal skills.
I'd be chatting with personally recommended 'leccy, CH bod and probably other tradesmen myself, but then again, I've got a reasonable knowledge of how things can go wrong and what to check for.
A lead contractor will be using his own preferred subbies, who he will know and trust, but will add a bit on to what they charge him.
Swings and roundabouts. Pay a bit more, worry a bit less.
That SHOULD be enough
Strip to a shell, fix any major structural leaks and cracks, then insulate next..the full monty. cavity wall, loft, and if it has suspended ground floors, that as well. May be grants available here.
If windows are rotten or draughty, replace with DG units. But don't waste money on DG if they are sound and can be draughtproofed. Double lined curtains better and prettier than DG.
Rip out *all* plumbing and wiring. Install new Consumer unit. install new mains stopcock and water softener. Install basic Combi if its just you, or system boiler and pressurised tank if you have friends family guests. Leave the actual rads and so on till later.
Then plan for complete rewire. And re-plumb. Hack into the walls madly here to get a neat installation: expect to have to replaster everything, be happy when its less..
Install basic sockets and plumbing everywhere, or leave wire or pipe ends suitably capped off or insulated for later. Its easy to change a plastic wall plate for something better, its hard to put a socket where there is no wire.
Same goes for sinks and basins and so on. Easy to extend and hook up to capped of pipes. Hard to get pipes there to start with.
Watch out for extra bogs tho. Sewer drains are a bugger to route. If adding a new bathroom or bog, plan very carefully.
What this all means is get your infrastructure right. Its possible to live on one bog and hand basin and a kitchen sink propped up on packing cases in bare plaster walls and no carpets while you DIY the rest, but you want to get pros in to run the pipes and cables and insulate the place.
And the rest is just spare cash and weekends. Tins of paint. Curtains. Tiling the bog. Adding a basin and taps etc.
IME its better to have quality basic, and plain utilities (spend money on tile, not china and fancy taps, in the bathroom)
the first thing you need to do is go around each room and decide what needs to be done.
if you are having it re-wired and CH put in, the chances are, every room will need re-decorating afterwards, so the first thing on the list would be to strip off all the wallpaper - this can be done by tradesmen, but obviously they will charge you for this, another advantage of stripping the walls is that you can identify other work that may be required (someone will be plastering in there shortly, so you may as well find any bad patches now, and he can do them all at the same time as the chasings etc).
secondly, you need to decide what revolting stuff is coming out and rip it out yourself (shelves, rotten skirtings, rails arhitraves etc) - this will save you time and money in the long run EG, an electrician puts cables behind skirtings, rails etc and they get plastered in, and then you remove the woodwork - this will leave a horrid mess which will need re-plastering.
If it's a 50's build, the chances are it's got a full dpc already. Quite often just removing the bottom inch or two of plaster is enough to remove the source of the damp (damp tracks up the plaster if it's plastered right down to the floor - a common mistake at that time). Leave a 2 inch gap and replace skirtings.
Obviously, everything depends on your budget
Regarding dampness, keep in mind that there are lots of companies out there claiming expertise in fixing "damp", and a good number of them are expensive and clueless.
Look for the obvious stuff first - leaking pipes, roofs etc. Then rainwater pipes and gutters. Elevated ground or soil outside. Lots of firms will romp round with a cheap dampness meter and diagnose rising dampness, when in reality its one of the rarer causes of dampness. (simple bridging, and then lack of heat and ventilation being the most common causes).
Remember that not all damp problems are caused by water outside getting in. It can equally be water inside not being able to get out!
Absolute utter first priority - keep the weather out. Everything else follows on from that.
JGH
jgharston ( snipped-for-privacy@arcade.demon.co.uk) wibbled on Tuesday 11 January 2011 20:04:
2nd priority - keep the thieving gypsy bastards out when you have just taken delivery of various things!
Double glazing first - get the messy bit out of the way
If you have damp that needs and injected membrane next
then electrics and central heating - the stuff that needs the floorboards pulling up. Include in this any other cabling you might need (e.g. running telephone and internet cabling)
check the roof
from then on in, all the other bits in whatever order
and the drainage, is there water from outside flowing under the house, i had flower beds too high and drining IN through the ventilation grills. Go out in the rain and see where the water's going.
Can you wait a few months whilst you check it in various weather conditions?
get a good book on insulation like
Read and re-read these posts, there's lots of sound advice here.
My 2c - once you are clear on the basics required, create a flowsheet showing the jobs to be done and any dependencies (ie what jobs need to be complete, or part complete, before others can start). This will help you stay focused when things get hectic and show which trades will affect others. You can also add timescales to the tasks to give an idea of calendar schedule. If you intend to DIY though, don't punish yourself if the schedule slips - things tend to take longer than anticipated (particularly if this is your first major project).
Phil
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