buying house that has been empty for a year

[SilverSaloon]

Hi

We are about to (hopefully) purchase a house (bungalow) that has been empty (but closed up) for around a year.

the house is around 100 to 150 years old.

It is now showing signs of damp in a few areas. Guttering looks like it needs to be emptied as its clogged in places.

the house needs full renovation so re-plaster work req after a DPC isnt really a problem since we are going to be moving walls, replastering etc anyway.

There is a conservatory which is dripping wet since its UPVC cladding. The rest of the "damp" appears to be the usual patches in corners of walls.

What would be the best plan of action? my initial thoughts were to get a damp proof course put in as a matter of course, but it appears from various websites that it may be a waste of money.

am I better off warming the house up with the central heating (which has been off all this time), de-humidifiers etc for a few weeks and then "seeing what i've got to deal with" or just ploughing ahead with a DPC from the outset. I'm sure a DPC company would opt for the latter as its good business which why i'm asking on here.

I plan on doing as much of the work on the house myself as I can, getting trade in for jobs i cant do or time doesnt allow.

There is various work we need to do to the house before we move in (put up stud walls, move walls etc), rewire etc - so the DPC could in theory wait a few weeks after we start work on the initial jobs to do the drying out.

What do you reckon?

thanks

Derek

 

[^woody^]

my initial thoughts were to get a damp proof course put in as a matter of course

Why would you want to do that without a reason to?

 

[JohnD]

Clear and mend the gutters,airbricks, cladding and conservatory, mend the roof and flashing if needed, remove any buildups bridging the dpc, ventilate it. This will dry it out better than heating.

Take off any defective plaster to let the bricks dry. Removing defective ceilings will encourage good airflow.

Have a look under the floors as well. There may be leaking pipes or broken drains, and probably no oversite.

 

[SilverSaloon]

is there an advisable way to heat it after standing for so long, or just put the heating on constant for a week or so or something?

We wont be living in the house but will be in a position to put the heating on (whereas previously when its been up for sale, the heating has been off)

 

[AronSearle]

unless there is decorative timber elements like flooring, just put the heating on, if there is, bring it up a bit slowly, 2c a day to avoid cupping from one side of the timber drying much faster than the other.

 

[noseall]

If you are serious about renovating to a decent standard then you would be foolish not to bring the external walls, the loft space and mebbe even the ground floor slab up to current thermal regulations standards.

When planning any work to do with the external walls make sure you allow for the thickness of insulation required plus battens if necessary as the additional thickness will have an effect.

 

[SilverSaloon]

OK thanks for all the advice.

 

[Graeme1983]

Is a wood fire an option? A house this old should have a chimney unless its been modernised. Our wood fire has been better for drying out our damp in our 1890's earth bricked house as it really bakes the house. I lived in a flat with damp before that and the central heating didnt really dry the place up after it had been damp proof coursed as much as the windows being open did. The central heating just made it feel like I was in Malaysia with the heat and humidity.

I recommend doing more research. I bought an old house before doing much research and wouldnt have bought it now had I known then what I know now, but Im in too deep now and a property in our location doesnt come up often. Research will tell you that lime rendering and ventilation are the way rather then DPC and cement+concrete and wood/original rather then PVC windows plus a "french drain" in front of the house for drainage. In the UK you have the advantage of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, limework courses and local conservation officers for advice.

Ive bought a few books on the subject and the best in general for me is The Old House Handbook. The first chapter is "are you up for the challenge of owning an old house?"

 

[SilverSaloon]

The house has 3 chimneys. we want to remove 2. The original living room has 2 chimneys in it, the room has been split a bit to make a large walk in cupboard - plan was to keep this seperation but remove the chimney breast in the cupboard to open this room up a bit and make space for a good sized bathroom and space for the new staircase into the attic conversion (its a bungalow)

the 2nd chimney we wish to remove is on the other side of the house which is between the dining room and kitchen - plan is to remove the chimney and the wall to make a large kitchen diner.

the final chimney (in the living room) we plan to keep and install a log burning stove, but i planned to install that once the works had been done on the property - maybe this should be the 1st thing i look at doing then, to aid "drying out"???

cheers for any further advice

 

[Graeme1983]

Be wary about destroying any original old stuff. I was ready to go in and completely modernise my place before taking a step back getting expert advice and reading up on it. Once something that has been there a hundred years or more and is still solid and viable although not fashionable is destroyed it will never come back. I was thinking about raising my roof early on for a loft conversion as the beams are quite low although very solidly built and strong. Ive now decided to leave them and found a nice surprise when cleaning the loft last week, a date and signature from the roofer in 1921.

Multiple chimneys might come in handy in future from my experience, we have one in the kitchen but not the living room(originally bedroom) and now have to be inventive to heat the place. In a friends hunting lodge, they use one fire to start the others in separate rooms so its not a big hassle, even with radiators you cant beat a good fire when its -20 out although its easy for us to get firewood. An old neighbour of mine had this quality Turkish Ottoman era stove just for show with an old chimney. Those kitchen oven fires (Aga?) also look the part in period properties. Maybe Im just a purist now though, living some 19th century lifestyle but with a shower and wifi.

 

[kingandy2nd]

Assuming the water has been turned off, be careful when you switch it back on as you might have some burst pipes.

 

[SilverSaloon]

I plan to go into the property in a few days to measure up and get some more insight into what i'll face when it completes (in about a months time)

- check/feel walls
- Check attic for leaks
- look for DPC
- look for airbricks/ventilation
- subfloor ventilation?
- check guttering - blocked, leaky
- check drain area for leakage
- check for rubbish/plants around DPC
- check outside wall where damp is in inside wall
- check for previous damp-proofing on internal walls
- feel carpet
- check windows for any sign of water ingress

Does this sound a good plan? Anything else to check for in regards to damp on a limited visit (i dont own it yet so cant remove anything)

The house was built in 1850. The current owners say that "damp proofing" was done in late 70's.

There are no original features, appears house was "modernised" in 60s maybe so we basically do plan to rip everything out and give it a new house feel inside an old stone building. I need to remove the two chimneys in order to create a large kitchen diner and also make space for the new bathroom location which in turn will have stairs going to the loft

 

[luisdesign]

With those dates, I trust that you are getting someone in to check for asbestos!?

 

[Graeme1983]

Asbestos is a great shout, my place was "modernised" as well in the 80's and leathered in the stuff, thankfully mostly in the ugly extension which is getting demolished anyway.

Check for wood rot and woodworm in the attic beams, or any other beams around the place.

If the house has been damp proofed, but is still damp it looks like you'll have a major battle with damp. Maybe buy a damp meter to take with, they are between 10-60 quid. See what you are up against.

Try to do a deal to throw in any old antiques which might be around the place. I inherited all sorts of old mining and other tools and WW2 German military gas lamps, plus about a dozen pre war ale bottles worth 50 quid each and ancient telemark skis.

 

[SilverSaloon]

house is empty along with any contents of value.

Roof looked good - builder did comment on it may be sagging but was going to look in the daylight - appeared to be no different than my previous houses so i'm not worried there.

the house on the walls atleast were not really badly wet or anything, i think they should be fine, re damp.

the floorboards do appear to be rotton in places though so i suspect i'll have a fair bit of replacement and repair to do on that side.

re the asbestos... some webpages say:

"You cannot tell whether a material contains asbestos by looking at it. The only way to know if a product contains asbestos is to send a piece of the suspect material to a qualified laboratory."

therefore, on the basis that i cant send lots of stuff away before i gut the place and a specialist cannot test without taking samples, is there a mask or something i can buy that i can use when handling stuff that could contain it?