Found a house!!!!! Some advice needed please?
Discussion
Well after spending much time looking I think I have found a good little property. It's an ageing victorian villa right next to a superb primary school. It's a little on the small side and is in need of work.
We will probably gut out the entire interior given that it hasn't been touched for 25 years and will probably commit to an offer of around £530,000. (estate agent claimed someone has already offered £525,000....)
What does concern me is the amount of damp - the brickwork in the stable crumbles like sand with the gentlest of prods and its pretty much like that up to waist height. In the main house, you can see that the damp areas have spread to around knee height.
In order to create enough room, we probably need to extend the ground floor out to the level of the workshop and may also consider a conservatory too. I'm also thinking that we need to extend out the first floor too.
Question is, given the condition of the masonry, how big a money pit will this be? Will it be worth it? Or should I go around the corner and pick something that isn't rotting away?
Your advice is greatly appreciated as we have v little time to decide!
Stan
We will probably gut out the entire interior given that it hasn't been touched for 25 years and will probably commit to an offer of around £530,000. (estate agent claimed someone has already offered £525,000....)
What does concern me is the amount of damp - the brickwork in the stable crumbles like sand with the gentlest of prods and its pretty much like that up to waist height. In the main house, you can see that the damp areas have spread to around knee height.
In order to create enough room, we probably need to extend the ground floor out to the level of the workshop and may also consider a conservatory too. I'm also thinking that we need to extend out the first floor too.
Question is, given the condition of the masonry, how big a money pit will this be? Will it be worth it? Or should I go around the corner and pick something that isn't rotting away?
Your advice is greatly appreciated as we have v little time to decide!
Stan
ColinM50 said:
Definitely invest three or four hundred quid in a surveyor but if it's as rotten as you say then consider it a building plot. Knock it down and start again has got to be cheapoer in the long run.
Closer to £700 for a good structural survey.If you know what the big issues are then go straight for a damp specialist to advise you first. The surveyor will just tell you "signs of damp in x,y,z - recommend you take specialist advice for rectification work"...
Looks absolutely lovely to me. Can't be that bad - Obviously been lived in till now or very recently. Brick construction so shouldn't cost stupid money to get up to scratch. You are obviously prepared to spend decent money on extending etc. so shouldn't add much more to do the existing stuff.
Whoever said "knock it down and re-build" is a fool.
If you really like it go for it. you will need a survey anyway if you need a mortgage. If so the bank will make the decisions!
Love the gardens
Whoever said "knock it down and re-build" is a fool.
If you really like it go for it. you will need a survey anyway if you need a mortgage. If so the bank will make the decisions!
Love the gardens
dickymint said:
Looks absolutely lovely to me. Can't be that bad - Obviously been lived in till now or very recently. Brick construction so shouldn't cost stupid money to get up to scratch. You are obviously prepared to spend decent money on extending etc. so shouldn't add much more to do the existing stuff.
Whoever said "knock it down and re-build" is a fool.
If you really like it go for it. you will need a survey anyway if you need a mortgage. If so the bank will make the decisions!
Love the gardens
Disagree. If paying people to renovate something, costs can very quickly get out of hand whether extending or not.Whoever said "knock it down and re-build" is a fool.
If you really like it go for it. you will need a survey anyway if you need a mortgage. If so the bank will make the decisions!
Love the gardens
As for a bank's "surveyor", they'll tell you feck all.
OP take the other advice above - get a damp specialist and/or decent builder to look at it and give you a decent ball park. And get a decent surveyor to look at it (preferably one with experience of houses of a similar age). 7-900 quid is about right IMO.
It may be that 525k is right and will give you enough slack to do what you need to do in order to have the house you want. But you need to go into it with your eyes open and letting your head make the decisions.
Oh, and if you want to extend/knock stuff down, talk to the planning people BEFORE committing to purchase.
stanwan said:
Any point in involving an architect? I know of a very good one, but am unsure if his services are needed?
I would say so - they can suggest things that you never think aboutOn the proposed layout the kitchen might be dark and view onto car park
Where do all the Q7's park at school run time ?
stanwan said:
Here's an example of my utterly terrible photoshop skills.
and here's the original layout
you need to get yourself google sketchup, or have a go at the room planner on mydeco.com (you can upload your floorplan)and here's the original layout
http://mydeco.com/3d-planner/
Deva Link said:
Not that it's a big deal as you've got the hall there, but I don't think the wc can open into the kitchen.
I don't think even a shower room can these days? Or is it a "minimum distance" rule? I wonder how very open plan places cope with the dining/kitchen/lounge area all open? How do studio flats cope?There are a number of independent damp specialists about, who will come and tell you exactly what's going on, for a fixed fee. I think ours cost us was £250 + VAT, but it was money well spent.
Considering the cost of the house, and any remedial work, it is a drop in the ocean. If it is quite bad, a structural survey would be helpful too.
I hope it's fixable, it looks like a pretty nice pad. We ended up using a membrane called Newlath, which we then plaster-boarded over, and had skimmed. Quite a bit of work, and only recently completed, so I can't give a definitive result yet, but seems positive.
Good luck.
Considering the cost of the house, and any remedial work, it is a drop in the ocean. If it is quite bad, a structural survey would be helpful too.
I hope it's fixable, it looks like a pretty nice pad. We ended up using a membrane called Newlath, which we then plaster-boarded over, and had skimmed. Quite a bit of work, and only recently completed, so I can't give a definitive result yet, but seems positive.
Good luck.
zaphod42 said:
I don't think even a shower room can these days? Or is it a "minimum distance" rule? I wonder how very open plan places cope with the dining/kitchen/lounge area all open? How do studio flats cope?
If I remeber this rightly the door opening issue is no longer the case! Building regs approval is needed however for the installation of a new wc.Here are my amateurish sketch up proposals
Side extension with garage and ground floor extension:
Rearward extension:
For the first example, I would place doors on both sides of the garage so I can drive the car to the rear of the plot to work on it. Additionally I intend to convert the stable block into a gym and redecorate the upstairs annex.
Opinions on my ideas and sketch up tips are extremely welcome!!!!
Side extension with garage and ground floor extension:
Rearward extension:
For the first example, I would place doors on both sides of the garage so I can drive the car to the rear of the plot to work on it. Additionally I intend to convert the stable block into a gym and redecorate the upstairs annex.
Opinions on my ideas and sketch up tips are extremely welcome!!!!
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