Cost for complete renovation

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2 Feb 2013
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Herts
Country
United Kingdom
Can anyone give me a rough ball part figure what they would expect to budget to get a 1930's semi up to livable standard and where to start? I was thinking roof, drains then damprooing first?

It needs
Rewiring
Re roofing,
damp proofing
new boiler and central heating
drains fixed

(im not worried about re plaster or decoration) Pics attached in album link

//www.diynot.com/network/James204/albums/

Thank you View media item 75542 View media item 75542 View media item 75543 View media item 75545 View media item 75547 View media item 75557 View media item 75551 View media item 75556 View media item 75560 View media item 75561
 
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Nice house. Real shame about the windows - shouldn't be allowed.

Do you know what the real cause(s) of the damp is/are?
 
Nice house. Real shame about the windows - shouldn't be allowed.

Do you know what the real cause(s) of the damp is/are?

No Idea what the cause of damp is, survey said rising damp and a damp specialist recommended injecting all the downstairs walls with chemicals at a cost of 4.5k. I will fix the roof and guttering and get the drains checked to see what comes up. The house is in such a bad state and I will have to live there while doing the work. Just hope I can reverse the damage quickly.
 
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A damp specialist will always recommend damp proofing treatments ;)

You should get the roof fixed first, then hire a couple of decent dehumidifiers for a fortnight. Make sure the windows are shut for this time and all the internal doors open. This will dry the place out nicely. Then if the damp reappears or is still there you should start looking at damp proofing.

The electrics don't looks too bad apart from that talexus meter. Yuck. And the storage heaters, but you say you're going to be changing to central heating. Good. Make sure you change the electric tariff to reflect this or you will be paying over the odds for your daytime units.

I would be looking to loose that steel pipework. Change it for copper or plastic. Prices are about on par at the moment, fully fitted.
 
Price depends on your situation, you can do the roof, gutters and damp proofing yourself. I did a friends bathroom extension (re-roof, fixed gutters, damp proof injecting and extractor fan installed) as he had major damp problems and various faults. Did it all for a few hundred pounds, worth considering as it'll cost loads to get pro's in to do it all
 
The electrics don't looks too bad apart from that talexus meter.
Nothing he can do about that.

Presumably the NSH are supplied via that bank of 15A fuses.

The other CU has some non-RCD circuits in it, which can be problematic when rewiring.

And talking of rewiring, as you've you've got a fairly substantial refurbishment to do, now is the best time you'll ever have for any major electrical changes. Think hard about where to have sockets - it's difficult to have too many, and also about what circuits to have. The items on the list below won't all apply to you, but they are worth thinking about:

  • Upstairs sockets
  • Downstairs sockets (or a L/R or front/rear split)
  • Kitchen sockets
  • Circuit for appliances
  • Cooker circuit
  • Non-RCD circuit for F/F
  • Non-RCD circuit for CH boiler
  • Dedicated circuit for hifi
  • Dedicated circuit for IT equipment
  • Upstairs lights
  • Downstairs lights
  • Lighting circuits with switches in the usual places but with 2A/5A round pin sockets at low level.
  • Immersion heater
  • Loft lights
  • Shower
  • Bathroom circuit
  • Alarms
  • Supply for outside lights
  • Supply for garden electrics
  • Supply for shed/garage
Plus any peculiarities brought about by your house layout & construction - e.g. in mine because of solid floors and where the socket circuits run, I have a radial just for a socket in the hall, the doorbell and the porch lights.

RCBOs have come down in price to the point where it's quite realistic to use them throughout, but if not the CU should have at least 3 sections, 2 on RCDs and one not into which you can install a mix of RCBOs and MCBs.

It can be a good idea to put all wiring in conduit for ease of future changes. And if you specify metal conduit for switch drops, or BS 8436 cable it removes the need to have RCDs on lighting circuits (apart from bathrooms).

If you live somewhere where supplies are dodgy in the winter, have the lights, the boiler supply, and a socket in each room wired to a separate CU, or a separate section in a large one, that can be supplied by an emergency generator - lights, heating, TV and a kettle/microwave make life a lot more bearable.

Flood-wiring with Cat 5e, Cat6 or Cat6a cable is worth thinking about. Do not listen to people who tell you that wireless is a perfectly good alternative to wired networks - it isn't.
 

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