Renovation Property - FTB!

Arefer

Hello everyone,

I’m a FTB looking to purchase a renovation project, and will do a Building Survey pre-purchase.

I’ve added some photos of potential defects below, and would love to hear your opinions on the same. Is there anything in particular I should be focusing on?

Thank you.

HCIMbtw

Only ones that would kinda frustrate me are the chimney and the bay.. because they are the types of things I wouldn't feel comfortable sorting out myself, but they wouldn't necessarily put me off if the price was right, just need professionals to sort it.  Looks like the footing/foundation of the bay isn't to happy and will need digging out/reinforcing. The chimney stacks need repointing, this can actually lead to water ingress and potentially some of the internal issues, but my slight concern is the one on the right doesn't look straight, id get a roofer and builder to look at those before competing to go in eyes open on cost. 

Most of the internal stuff is water damage and terrible ceilings. I'd plan for taking all ceilings down completely, reboarding and plastering, getting new cornice up as well. The benefit of taking all the ceilings down is you can assess the pipe work and make all relevant repairs and replacements.. seem to be leaks everywhere. An absolutely filthy job. 

Stuff like the fireplace looks fine.. would probs be nice to get an old insert into it and a mantel/surround. The lower band of tiles around the bath might've been removed to take the bath in and out and not have been sorted. Either way you have no waterproof seal around the edge of ur bath, any water going over the side will go through your floorboards onto your ceilings.

If you've got the energy and will have some thousands kicking around after pruchase, happy living through months of progress and filth... crack on

FreeBear

Looks like a 1930s or 1940s build.... The two chimney stacks will want some urgent attention as it looks like the pointing is in a woeful state. Scaffold will be needed - Do not lean a ladder up against them as you could end up pushing them over. The last thing you want is a tonne or more more brick crashing through the roof..

The window at the rear - Looks like a fairly old uPVC jobbie - Quite likely there is no lintel supporting the outer leaf. If there isn't one, the brickwork will be sagging.

Front bay - Cracks in the brickwork suggests poor foundations and/or minor subsidence. Either underpin or demolish and rebuild with new foundations.

Internally, loads of lime plaster and artex - The ceilings will probably need to come down in most rooms and walls taken back to brick and replastered. As this is likely to be way more than 25%, building regs will kick in and you'll need to improve the insulation. Judging by the corbelled brick just below the render, I'd suspect the upper half is solid brick - Adding 60-70mm of internal wall insulation will pay dividends in terms of comfort and energy savings. Taking the ceilings down upstairs will also give you opportunity to make sure loft insulation covers the entire loft space. Often, there is a gap around the edges where the insulation can't be pushed in effectively.

If you are taking plaster off the walls on the ground floor, it would also be lifting the floorboards and fitting insulation between the joists. But only if there is sufficient space so as not to compromise underfloor ventilation.

This is not going to be a cheap or quick renovation job. You will need quite a bit of spare cash and some good DIY skills to keep costs down. If the price is right, you have a pot of money, and the skill set, go for it.

Falafels

Those chimneys are in a terrible state, and they may be responsible for the water damage to internal ceilings. Depending on how long they've been like that, there may be water/rot damage to the roof timbers as well. Have you been in the roof space?
I'd be checking out the roof and the causes of water damage before taking the project any further. This kind of thing can be very expensive indeed; all the more so if scaffolding is involved.

twopenny

Wow that's not so much a renovation than a semi rebuild from the photos.

It really depends on how much you have to spend on it, how much time you can give to it and your building skills.

The cracks in the paint work on the bay bricks looks like it was painted over poor mortaring. The corner crack behind the down pipe is a concern, whether it's an important one or not is impossible to say from a photo. It could be water ingress from the blocked guttering (probably the down pipe too) or it could be and extension that isn't correctly supported. The windown nearby looks like it's been enlarged incorrectly.

Damp is one of the worst things to put right unless you know it's coming from one particular place. A lot of strange bits and bodged pieces. Surely there's something easier or is this a challenge ?

Arefer

Thank a lot HCIMbtw, FreeBear, Falafels and twopenny for your very detailed inputs, much appreciated and certainly food for thought.

As suggested, I’ll carry out full due diligence and costings for remedial works before proceeding, including further specialist independent damp/timber and structural surveys, if necessary.

The property also has a cellar with concrete flooring which were a bit damp at the edges. The loft has been converted into living space, but didn’t see any damp patches there.

Will keep you all updated on how it goes.

Thanks! 

FreeBear

Arefer said: As suggested, I’ll carry out full due diligence and costings for remedial works before proceeding, including further specialist independent damp/timber and structural surveys, if necessary.

If you go for a damp survey, make sure you get someone who has extensive experience of old buildings. Avoid anyone that has links with the PCA or any damp proofing company - They will undoubtedly try to sell you chemical wall injection treatments and waterproof plaster (or worse). Neither will cure any damp problems and just mask the symptoms for a few years.

There does appear to be a couple of areas suffering from damp ceilings - This is likely to be a problem with flashing or a few slipped tiles, so easily fixed. If the property has been unoccupied for any length of time without heating & ventilation, there will be some condensation issues - These should clear up once the heating is back on.

AlexMac

I can't improve on the advice above, but I'd only add the blindingly obvious point about the £numbers. There needs to be a healthy relationship between (A) purchase price + (B) renovation cost and (C) the eventual value, which might depend on the ceiling price for the street and locality, and how you think house prices will hold up in the area in which you live.  If you're palnning to live in it for a few years, that's less important, as you can afford a bit of indulgence on the spec (and spend) on your own home; less so if it's a pure investment.

We've undertaken three projects on the scale of the one you are taking on over the years. We used a mix of paid professionals and DIY, and the latter two were around 10 and 20 years ago, so the historic costs were around £25-30k for a major strip out and reconfiguration job (new wiring, plumbing, central heating, boiler, relocated kitchens & bathrooms, an added bathroom in one and a new roof on the other).

The numbers on the second one were great; (A)£67k+ (B) £27k leading to (C)- a sale three years on at £180k. But timing and the market played a part.  That one was in a London suburb where prices were rocketing around the Millenium, so we'd have made money even if we had lived in the original slum for three years, unimproved. 

We nearly caught a cold on the numbers on third however; buying a holiday home at £150k in early 2008, immediately before a crash in the market took prices down by 20-25% in some areas including that one. Another wreck, so we did a total refit, but kept costs down so we sold on without profit, in fact arguably with a £few k loss, three years on, before prices rebounded fully.  It was also in a coastal area where wages were depressed, so it had limited potential in terms of RoI as rents were low.  But, again, we didn't buy it as an investment but to enoy using it, so that was OK. 

In fact, the lottery of timing and area have played an even bigger part in our subsequent purchase, around 2011 of a ltttle ex-council BTL, using the money from the seaside property.  That seaside flat has appreciated by about 35-40% and would probably have a current rental value of about £700-750 pcm according to Saint Zoopla.  Whereas the little London BtL cost a few grand less than we sold the holiday home for, but has almost doubled in value and commands a rent around £1,200 per month. 

The silly house price inflation of the 1990's, early noughties, and last 10 years won't repeat in the coming decade, in my view, but then I don't see a repeat of the house price crahes of 1987-8 and 2008 either;  so do the numbers and go for it; it will be a lovely house!