Renovation Tips for Victorian House (Novices)

[optingout]

We are in the process of buying a large Victorian house. It has been in the same family for around 35 years and seems to have had very little spent on it in more recent decades and not much TLC.

It was previously surveyed (sale fell through as buyers pulled out when they missed stamp duty deadline, according to the agent). I've spoken to the surveyor and there is some damp in the basement for which the cause seems clear. He says the roof doesn't appear to need immediate replacement (5-10 years) but advises a specialist roof survey (do they always say this to cover themselves?). Also advises specialist drains and electrical surveys. Fairly minor repairs to sash window (condition generally okay). The sellers haven't serviced the boiler in several years but I think they have agreed to do this. The boiler looks very old. There is no certification at all for boiler, electrics or building certs for garage which was constructed 30 years ago.

So far, we are thinking the following will need doing:
*Treatment of damp, replastering, surveyor has advised a positive pressure pump

• New Boiler
• ? probable rewire due to age
• Replastering whatever is damaged by above/ stripping off old wallpaper *? Internal insulation (EPC is very poor)
• New kitchen and bathrooms. *New flooring throughout *Full decoration throughout.

Possible knocking down full/ part of wall to make kitchen-diner if budget allows
Possible knocking down between upstairs toiler and main bathroom
?.Replumbing- not sure who advises whether this is necessary.

We have lived in an old property but it didn't need any major work all at once. We are therefore renovation novices. We have decided to view with a recommended local builder for advice/ approximate costings.

Obviously it will be a very expensive project which we do have a fairly healthy budget for.
Does anyone have any advice about things that we should check before buying or major things that I have left off the list. I would prefer to avoid lots of nasty, expensive surprises.

Also, tips for actually managing a renovation project, order in which to do things, what to do, what to avoid, etc?

@StrongArm

We are in the same position with a Victorian house and nothing changed since the 1970/80s

You will need to rewire most likely (ours still had sockets in the skirting boards), it is definitely worth getting an electrical and drain report. We got both and have used both extensively.

We have just recently got the quote on refurbishing our sashes - they can only fit us in in April 2022. We are in London and the availability of workmen and materials is really bad.

Just bear in mind that you might have to wait ages to get everything done.

We got the roof repaired - it was leaking - but the roofer needed scaffolding to get up and do the repair. Not much change from £3k just for a repair.

Work is expensive and takes a long time. We had to pay over the odds and get someone to come from NW London to us for the roof as no one in our area could do it for months.

Re the plastering check what is behind the wall paper. I think ours is still lime plaster which I'm keen to keep as it's much better at letting the house breathe. Also check if your ceilings are plaster and lathe as the surveyor will probably recommend they are replaced if you are doing redecoration (you can fix boards over them but depends how old/crumbling they are and what you are ok with keeping - I think the wallpaper is holding our ceilings up!!)

If it's lime plaster, it's best to get all paper off and just use breathable paint- claypaint or lime. We had damp stains on the paper, took it off, scoured off all the paste, claypainted it, no stains or patches any more (and damp will show on claypaint). I suspect the damp stains were condensation for the most part. Our surveyor said about lath and plaster that if it fails, it tends to fail rather spectacularly. I know this is true because I was once underneath one when it did. But ours is holding up well, mostly I suspect by means of the wallpaper on it, which I have zero intentions of trying to strip off. OH peeked at the upper side in the loft when redoing the insulation, especially where I thought when painting the ceiling it seemed to move a little, and the laths seem well attached. So fingers crossed. We'll leave it alone until it shows signs of distress. If it ain't broke......

Thanks @BlueMongoose. I didn't notice your posts until today.

I will definitely look at that book if everything goes to plan.

Many thanks

@BlueMongoose - could you please give me the name and author of the 30s book? We have a 1929 house and I'm sure it would be very handy!

Haven’t read whole thread so apologies if I’m repeating but...

Check water pipes aren’t lead. Can replace with slightly bigger to get better water pressure.
Don’t get regular damp proof course - or if you do don’t expect it to work totally - and don’t be fooled by the ‘guarantee’ - Best thing is to use lime render so building can breathe. There are experts out there that understand old buildings.

Those are the two things we didn’t think about beforehand. I’ll add more of I remember anything else.

The two our surveyor recommended were
ISBN: 1 84425 214 0
The 1930s House Manual, Ian Alistair Rock

and StCakes' one above
ISBN: 978 0 85733 284 4
The Victorian & Edwardian House Manual, Ian Alistair Rock

Our surveyor defined our house as a 'hybrid'. I suspect that's the polite version.

Be very careful substituting modern materials when "renovating" repointing with cement rather than lime mortar can cause massive issues with spalling brickwork and damp. Some damp proofing products fronted by "damp specialists" are also bad for the original fabric of the building.
Victorian houses were made with suspended lower floors that had an air space below to dry out the walls on the foundations. Blocked air bricks and the raising of external ground levels with patios etc. can severely affect the effectiveness of this.
In general a slate roof (welsh or Cumbrian),will last 200+ years so unless the original nails are failing major work should not be necessary in most cases. If removed correctly many slate can be reused and will be far superior in thickness and quality to new Chinese and Spanish imports.
What I'm saying is just be aware that this is an old building many modern methods and techniques "average Joe builder" will tell you you need or he will apply can cause major issues.
Jeff Howell (Telegraph building expert) wrote many articles and books on this subject.
My own house survey for a Victorian terrace recommended ripping out the suspended timber floors and pouring solid concrete ones this would have severely ruined the damp proof and breathability capabilities of the walls.
Just beware please !

@saleorbouy

Be very careful substituting modern materials when "renovating" repointing with cement rather than lime mortar can cause massive issues with spalling brickwork and damp. Some damp proofing products fronted by "damp specialists" are also bad for the original fabric of the building. Victorian houses were made with suspended lower floors that had an air space below to dry out the walls on the foundations. Blocked air bricks and the raising of external ground levels with patios etc. can severely affect the effectiveness of this. In general a slate roof (welsh or Cumbrian),will last 200+ years so unless the original nails are failing major work should not be necessary in most cases. If removed correctly many slate can be reused and will be far superior in thickness and quality to new Chinese and Spanish imports. What I'm saying is just be aware that this is an old building many modern methods and techniques "average Joe builder" will tell you you need or he will apply can cause major issues. Jeff Howell (Telegraph building expert) wrote many articles and books on this subject. My own house survey for a Victorian terrace recommended ripping out the suspended timber floors and pouring solid concrete ones this would have severely ruined the damp proof and breathability capabilities of the walls. Just beware please !

All of this ^ Some * repointed our 1920s house with cement mortar. I'm going to have to dig out all the pointing and repoint it with lime so the walls can breathe properly. Not only that, the * used (badly) an angle grinder or other device to rake out the old lime mortar, damaging the edges of almost every single brick because they are very closely spaced, and making it hard to repoint it in a way that looks neat, because they used too thick a disk (or whatever). I'll be spending a lot of next summer pointing, knowing however carefully I do it it will look like it was me who messed up the bricks. That's as annoying as having to repaint woodwork some idiot left great drips on when painting before me, but at least there I can sand the paint smooth first- the bricks are permanently damaged.

If it was a previous owner who was just hamfisted and incompetent, may their socks rot and their chickens all die. If it was a tradesman being paid, may they rot in hell.

Check the condition of chimneys, are they safe or is it better to remove, but will affect the look of the house if you do!
Sequencing! If you think you want to do a job, identify the ten jobs that will need doing before it.
If you rewire, get it done before you move in.
Asbestos. You can remove it yourself with correct PPE, our local tips took bags double bagged & labelled & charged for it, but saved us a fortune.
Thick curtains, electric blankets.
Get one room nice ASAP so you can lock yourself in it for an hour or so occasionally and pretend you live in a lovely house 😂

For our most desperate do-er upper we did back to brick and floorboards up room by room. Complete rewire and replumb means you can do things like Other Hang the door, put in switches and power points everywhere you want to, move the radiator out from under the window as well as sort out the very dodgy rewire that was done in 1972 etc etc. Generally speaking make the house watertight first (cellar, roof, windows) then do the rest as and when you have the emotional energy.