by Hugh Schkok »
Wed Jun 19, 2019 10:29 am
Don't worry kid you're not the first and you wont be the last to be in this situation. You however are smart enough to outstretch your hand for help, many don't and the whole project ends up laid on it's back wit it's arms and legs in the air.
My first question will be "is this renovation your personal home or a second fixer upper for profit and you own other property?"
First and important step is get yourself an A4 pad, pencil and a pen along with a tape measure, a torch and a digital camera is always a plus. Go into the loft and look nay study exactly what is there and in your opinion what looks good and what looks tired or aged. Check your roofing felt snapping off shots at everything while you are there. look at the ceiling trusses for damp, cracks or cuts again mooch piccys are necessary.
Get out of the loft and go through the crib room by room measuring, checking photographing everything. same with the bathrooms, johns, kitchens and every where .
Have your electrics and plumbing checked out you may need a rewire or new boiler but at that time if it aint broke then dont fix it.There's an easy way to check out y6ou electrics that you can do yourself.
Next go outside and look to see if you have air bricks at low level (that means your floors are suspended so there will be a heating overhead to consider). Check under all manhole covers measuring the pipe diameter, material and depth width, flow direction (N,E,W,S) and condition. Check the condition of the exterior the driveway, fences, access (for material deliveries, skip placement and the like.
Tis is a synopsis of the information you will need to harvest from your new domicile.
Go inside and fire up your word processor and compose a comprehensive report prioritising the work and the available budget required to complete them. You will need to have your boiler and any gas appliances tested and serviced but save the servicing til later as they will have a lot more grime in when you have finished the work so schedule it then.
Do not under any circumstances disconnect your kitchen, bathroom and your place to sleep, save that closer to completion. Have all your services checked out and reported on and include all them activities into your report wit piccys you have taken during your survey. See how much you can do and how much you need to have help in for. Look at the cost so far and if you have enough cash then get to work starting from the top to the ground. Don't bodge it to save money it will return and bite you on the ass and to rectify it often costs more than a job well thought out and executed. Stack up and cover all waste material (except any asbestos just keep that wet) and when you have a mountain of it get a truck and grab in to load it up and dispose of it responsibly (see their certificate for responsible disposal practitioners before you engage their services). It could end up as a fly tip where your kids may play dont allow that to happen.
When you've done the report get back here and seek further help. Do not be shy as myself and many others are here competent artisans are looking forward to passing on good advice to help someone along. I think its our raisen d'etre.
Good luck
Hugh
