Renovating a 1930's semi

[PantsandBoots]

Hi everyone,

Would be grateful for your thoughts on what jobs need doing when renovating a solid 1930's semi.
Overall, it is in good condition but hasnt really been updated for the last 20 years.

My list:
Damp proof course
Partial rewire
Clear gutters
Insulate loft and board up
Refurb kitchen and bathroom
Decorate
New flooring throughout

Anything else?

Thanks

New boiler, plumbing, radiators
Plastering
Maybe some joinery
Windows
Garden, drive, garage etc

You probably dont need a damp proof course? Is there damp somewhere? If so you need to find out what is causing it and fix the problem.

Have you checked the roof is ok?

Floorboards might be good to sand and oil/varnish?

Put in a water Softner if you are in a hard water area - no more limescale and will make washing machine and dishwasher last longer as well as keeping pipes clear and cleaning of showers and baths/taps so much easier.

Re-plumb internally and externally if its not been done already. Lead was a common plumbing material until it became illegal in the 60's.
Update security systems.
Sweep chimneys if planning on opening them up.
Change locks.

I did up a 1930s semi and it needed:

• complete rewire
• complete replumbing and removal of lead pipes
• several layers of wallpaper removing and the whole house needed replastering
• bricking up coal cupboard on the outside
• replacing boiler & removing rotting water tank

-replacing kitchen

• replacing bathroom
• replacing doors
• knocking out fireplaces and getting them made safe
• getting some storage/cupboards built in
• fitting decent loft access

New mains water pipe as your will likely be narrow and give rubbish water pressure.

I would be doing a complete rewire, not partial, and very much consider having the plumbing redone as well.

doesn't need a "Damp proof course"
It was built with one
If it is damp, there is a building defect that needs to be repaired.

The drain gullies will be cracked and leaking.

The water supply pipe will be too small, and either leaking already, or soon will be.

It probably needs reroofing, rewiring and replumbing.

Is the ceiling plaster cracked?

Did you get a survey? Surely that will tell you what needs doing. The rest is personal taste. Most buildings of that era were solidly built. Without seeing it, how can anyone advise you?

Oh this is what we are about to do... on our list is the mains water pipe, replacing existing soil pipe as it’s cast iron, will need to replace a cracked drain too. We have cavity walls, but not suitable for cavity wall insulation so we are going to externally insulate our walls.

Definitely go with your survey though, cos some of these jobs may have already been done.

ROOF. Check condition and get it replaced/ repaired if necessary. The roof tiles of my 1930s semi were in decent nick but the roof wasn't lined. Oh and check the state of the chimney, gutters and any bay window roofs while you're at it.

WINDOWS. Do you have double glazing and are the frames in good condition.

INSULATION. Roof/loft obviously and if you don't have cavity wall insulation, you might consider external wall insulation. We got a grant to do ours but I don't know if they're still available.

Plus plumbing (including boiler) and electrics.

Those are all the boring and expensive but important things to do. It makes sense to sort those first and then do the things that'll make it nice like redoing kitchen, bathrooms and floors, and decorating.

Oh and YY to putting in a whole house water softener if you're in a hard water area (although that's not specific to 1930s houses).

Interesting about the mains water pipe being too small, I didn't know about that. Is it something you can easily check?

Thank you for all your replies!

Yes - we had a survey done. The surveyor recommended replacing the roof flashings and doing a damp course as a precaution. The other comments were very general eg the bathroom and kitchen seem dated and would probably require replacing.

There is double glazing which appears to be in good condition but will check to see if seals are still good. The boiler had an inspection earlier this year, so fingers crossed it should be ok?

As it has been suggested, its the boring stuff that I need to really sort first.

How do you get a new mains water pipe?
Do I need to get pernission from the neighbours if I knock out the chimney breast?

You might need a party wall agreement, I'm not sure.

I thought that might be the case

The ceiling plaster is not cracked...

I don’t know that you could get a new mains water pipe..... is it fairly affordable/ straightforward?

Check for woodworm

I'm in the process of renovating a 1960s semi, so I can say what I've done so far:

• stripped a LOT of wallpaper and skimmed all bedroom walls and ceilings, replaced skirtings
• gutted the bathroom and most the walls fell off...so re-plastered those.
• gutted the kitchen, rewired the kitchen (sockets and downlights etc) and plastered most the walls and the ceiling
• skimmed the huge lounge ceiling as it was a lovely artex pattern
• sent the internal doors for dipping and stripping
• lined the hall, stairs and landing walls and ceilings

There's no damp anywhere and the electrics were mainly okay so no major rewire. The soil stack is cast iron and I'm waiting for my plumber to see if it's rotten and needs replacing... The roof needs attention next year but it's not desperate.

I'm still to install the new kitchen and bathroom, paint throughout, carpet upstairs and the stairs, replace carpet in lounge with wooden floor. And I move into it in 3 weeks... 🤪😭

One piece of advice in hindsight - plan, plan, plan. Plan the order you need to do things - get messy things like electrics out the way first, and think carefully about what you need. I've not done it in the right order and will have to simplify my plans. But I was let down by a plumber so it pushed everything out of sync.

Good luck!

Oh, and I'm getting a new bigger hw cylinder plus a shower pump and new water tanks. It's a vented normal boiler and is fine for now.

@Whatthebloodyell

if you can use a spade, yes.

The difficult bit might be if you have concrete in front of your house. Paving slabs, gravel and flower beds are easy.

Older houses often have suspended floors with a crawl space beneath, which is also easy.

The new pipe does not have to follow the same route as the old pipe.

If you think you may have lead pipes, ask the water co to test your drinking water for lead content before you start work (or, preferably, today) as there may be a subsidy or free connection. They will want to inspect your new pipe before you bury it to check the trench is 450mm deep.

if you can't use a spade, you can employ someone who can, and a plumber. Plumbers are weedy little fellows with petal-soft hands who are not qualified in spade technology.

The water co will have a register of approved contractors who can also do it, at greater cost.

Put in a new blue plastic pipe of 25mm or 32mm diameter with full-bore stopcocks of the same size and your water flow will be hugely improved.

@Misty9 - thats a lot of work! How much would you say that you have spent so far?

@PigletJohn - what kind of contractor should I be looking for to replace the mains water pipe?
LWhat would be the estimated cost of the work? Are there any specialist qualifications that I should look for?

I'm doing this just now. Agree with what people have said about water pipes. We also had an undersized gas pipe from the meter to hob and boiler, which needs replacement (1930s had different gas appliances). Our electrics appear to be mostly original and hence the rubber sheathing has completely perished. The most interesting surprise is that our mains is not earthed!

Insulation in the loft is an easy win and you should be able to get a grant towards it just now. If your doors aren't well insulated you could replace those for warmth. Our cavity walls are as yet uninsulated but we will have to be careful when doing this as the metal wall ties (which hold the inner and outer leaves of a double skin wall together) of this age can be fatigued and not doing their job at all!

In doing out extension our builders have found that the lintel over the original French doors only supports the inner wall (and this is what the roof will be resting on too). The outer wall was supported on the doorframe so started alarmingly falling away when they pulled out the doors. Modern lintels are wider across both leaves of a cavity wall.

@PantsandBoots
I forgot to list the demolition of the internal back porch and new back door too
With the kitchen and bathroom and everything I listed, I'm up to about 18k. But I've had a friend doing some of it for mates rates. My gas pipe in the kitchen looks like a fire hydrant and cadent are coming out this afternoon to look at it and check if it's dead (it's not the current supply pipe).

I wanted to check the mains water pipe but can't figure out where it comes into the house!

@PantsandBoots

In a 1930's house, the water pipe is almost certain to come out of the pavement where the front gate used to be when the house was built, and run under the floor to where the kitchen sink used to be when the house was built. In a few cases there will be a back lane or alley.

It used to have a stopcock under the pavement (may now have been replaced by a water-meter) which may have been hidden under asphalt, and another just inside the front gate (which some idiot has probably hidden under paving or a flowe-bed), and one under the kitchen sink (which some idiot has probably hidden behind kitchen units or an extension).

In a very common design, the hall runs backwards to the kitchen, and the water pipe is under the hall floor. When the house was built, you could probably take up a floorboard and look at it. Today, the hall floor may have been covered in laminate or something in an attempt to make it difficult.

If the hall floor is concrete, and tiled or covered in grano, it will be much easier to run a new pipe under the other rooms of the house, or perhaps under the side path.

Any builder can run a trench (they may not want to dig quite deep enough) but unless you are good at simple plumbing, it would be better to have an experienced plumber connect up. There is no particular qualification, and the water co will inspect it. Some contractors are approved by the water co, but these are the people who usually dig up roads, so may cost more.

The penny-pinching shortcuts to avoid:

• trench not deep enough
• smaller size of pipe used to save a few pounds
• smaller size of stopcock used to save quite a few pounds (the bigger ones are more expensive, but it will be a hundred times costlier to dig up and replace an undersized one later, than to do it right the first time).
• new pipe connected to stub of old pipe which might still leak and obstruct flow. Have a new one all the way. You can add a garden tap in a frost-proof pit for gardening and car-washing.

The effort to dig a trench for a 32mm pipe is exactly the same as the effort to dig for a 25mm or 20mm, so you may as well have a nice big one. You will be astonished and delighted at the improvement in flow.

If the water co replaces their bit of pipe as well (typical if you have a lead pipe) or fits a new meter, then as long as your new one is ready in the trench, and you give them a jaffa cake with their tea, you can expect them to do the connection free.

@PigletJohn - your detailed reply is much appreciated 👌

It's advisable to get the water company out to check that you don't have a shared supply with the neighbours. Ie. One stop tap in the pavement for those sharing the supply.
We replaced our water service pipe ourselves, hiring a mini digger to dig a trench across the garden. I did work for a water company at the time and knew the regulations that were current at the time.