Renovating an old home can be a good step towards having a much more beautiful building, adding more value to one’s lifestyle and property thereby making one feel a great sense of achievement and satisfaction during and after the whole process, but going about this project in the wrong manner can lead to something awful. Before an old home should be considered for renovation, the fundamental factor guiding its rule must be put into consideration:
The motion behind the initiation (renovation), that is ‘who are you renovating for?’ probably for yourself to live in, a buyer to purchase or a tenant to hire.
After establishing a strong or profound reason for embarking on this project (renovation), it is very important to have feasible idea on how to renovate an old home without losing its authenticity, below are a few guides:
– Knowing fully well that renovation is a stressful project and highly time consuming process, it is therefore essential to know a lot of things as much as possible if not all about the old home to be worked on, with this strategy in place, information on the type of construction and materials used will be provided, enabling one to have proper overview of where to work on, type(s) of compatible materials to use, that will not obstruct the basic design of the building. Moreover, details about any defects will be gotten, the remedy and indication of the likely cost.
– Basically, renovation should aid in making an old home much more appealing to see and live in, but it can turn into a nightmare if the subcontractors or builder employed for the job fail to carry out the project as required, such subcontractors are called ‘cowboy builders’. In order to avoid such contractors, one should be always suspicious of a quote or estimate by them that is relatively cheaper. So the owner of the old home to be renovated should ensure the builder has undertaken the similar work before, have a proper understanding of what one is trying to achieve and whatever involved in the task to embark on.
– If one is to have a new or better still different building of whatever design in vogue, it is quite advisable for the owner to start a new one entirely, since the case in this context evolves around renovation, it is very imminent to avoid usage of incorrect or incompatible materials. The golden rule when renovating older buildings with solid walls is to use traditional materials that are compatible with the way they were originally constructed. Therefore it is necessary to ensure such materials are sympathetic, avoid replacing soft lime mortars with hard cement mixes when re-pointing. Also do not use a waterproof sealant or paint on traditional solid walled buildings instead make use of a flexible, breathable lime-rich mix, which is much more preferable and better, avoid hard cement backing for gypsum plaster on the inside of the external walls in solid walled buildings.
– In the course of the process (renovation), removing original period windows and exterior doors can destroy the building’s value and character. In order to make up for the damages, the parts destroyed can be sympathetically replaced but this can be outrageously expensive, therefore repair should be considered a first option, not all materials can fit into the original openings, in order to find compatible materials, one should try and observe the materials and techniques used in the building’s original construction so repair can be carried out on a like-for-like basis. Moreover avoid usage of modern hybrid products, such as front doors with built-in fanlights.
– When renovating any building, the order of process is important but when it comes to renovating an old home order of process is much more essential so its authenticity will not be lost; the first step is to keep out the elements (the building insurance). Secondly, stabilize the building that is, making the site safe enough to work on by inserting steel props, beams to prevent further collapse before repair, next is to strip back and salvage what can be reused. However, build or replace any roofs, floors, extensions or walls, once the roof structure is completed, one should ensure it is weather-tight.
– Now the next thing is work on the internal stud walls, door linings, floorboards, after that, repair any damaged plaster or better still, apply dry-lining to walls and ceilings.
– Penultimately, fix skirting, lay timber, hang doors, install the kitchen bathroom, boiler and fit radiators. Lastly complete all staining, tiling, and painting.
End Note:
This article was brought to you by the Perth based Construction company Austwest – https://www.auswestconstruction.com.au . AustwestConstruction services include Construction services, renovations, home restoration services, project management and supervising, repairs and maintenance, plastering and rendering, roofing, carpentry and plumbing.
