60's ex - council house. Needs stuff done. What order is best?

M

Mr Tea

Guest
Hi
My Partner just bought an ex - council house in Dublin.

It would 40 odd years old now and it needs a lot of stuff done to it. I was just wondering what is the best order to do these jobs. This is the order i reckon but my reckon'n isn't say'n much as I am no expert in any of this.

Job list in order (chronological)

1. Put in double Glazing.
2. Total Rewiring. ( The wiring is a mess with wires running up, down and across walls totally visible. No chasing done. its a trip-switch fusebox though so someone did something at some stage. )
3. Have the plumbing looked at. OFCH. (I think there is a back boiler in chimney but not sure about this and there is old covered up chimney in the kitchen where an oil fired stove used to be)
4. Insulate front and back walls. (mid - terraced)

These things need to be looked at but which first. wires before windows or plumbing before wiring. I don't know for sure.

Any Advice appreciated.

MT
 
Mr Tea said:
Hi
My Partner just bought an ex - council house in Dublin.

It would 40 odd years old now and it needs a lot of stuff done to it. I was just wondering what is the best order to do these jobs. This is the order i reckon but my reckon'n isn't say'n much as I am no expert in any of this.

Job list in order (chronological)

1. Put in double Glazing.
2. Total Rewiring. ( The wiring is a mess with wires running up, down and across walls totally visible. No chasing done. its a trip-switch fusebox though so someone did something at some stage. )
3. Have the plumbing looked at. OFCH. (I think there is a back boiler in chimney but not sure about this and there is old covered up chimney in the kitchen where an oil fired stove used to be)
4. Insulate front and back walls. (mid - terraced)

These things need to be looked at but which first. wires before windows or plumbing before wiring. I don't know for sure.

Any Advice appreciated.

MT
Click to expand...
Rewire & plumbing either or at the same time if there is enough room for both to work
Double glazing
Insulation ( the plastered finish will cover over the damage done by the electrician & the window guys )
 
Bertie1 is spot on. If the wiring is as bad as it sounds then electrical work comes first.We recently gutted a house (ex council) and had both the electrician and plumber there by appointment at the same time, If for no other reason just for them to understand exactly what we required and so there was joined up thinking between them. Once you explain to both tradesmen what equipment you are getting and where you want it to go, It is simple. Windows and insulation I would consider next, The plastering and painting is cosmetic work. Assuming you will be getting some tiling work done I just read here lately that a lot of tilers will not lift bathroom fixtures so maybe have the tiler there at the same time as your plumber. A headache I know, But keep a list of things to do be done and priortise. We were looking at an empty shell as a home for a family member and within 6 to 8 weeks it looks fantastic, Hope you have the same luck.
 
Definitely rewire first - it's armageddon (well, it was when I got it done, but then my old wiring was on the outside of the walls and all the new stuff had to be chased). You definitely couldn't do it down the line when you're living in it. I would say do any plumbing work the same time, as the plumber may need to rip up floorboards or whatever too.

If you're getting external insulation on your walls then you could pretty much do that any time after you're living in the house. So I would say get double-glazed windows before external insulation. If you're getting internal insulation then get it done before the windows as you'll probably need skimming done at the same time, and again that would be a nightmare if you were living in a place.
 
Bought a similar place a few years ago.

Definitely Rewiring and Plumbing First. Get them done at the same time, that way they wont be ripping up 2 different areas unneccesarily or doing things twice.

If the attic is insulated I would do double glazing next. Thats where you will prob lose most of the heat.

As its mid terrace (like mine) you only have the 2 external walls. Ours arent insulated but we do have double glazing.

To be honest depending on how much sun your house gets during the day, it can be very warm so may not be immediately neccessary to insulate back and front. Worthwhile doing though if he has the budget to do it.
 
Not sure if these sorts of schemes exist in ROI, but when I upgraded my heating from electric to gas, I got an efficiency discount off the cost of installation, and also got free loft and cavity wall insulation, so worth keeping an eye out for this type of thing. The utility companies have government targets for getting customers off old inefficient systems, and wouldn't be surprised if its an eu wide thing. The cavity wall insulation can be done at any time at all, the contractor didn't even need access to the house and did it when I was at work - all they do is drill holes on your outside wall, and pump the stuff in from there. The loft insulation was a bit of a joke, think he just stood on the landing and threw the insulation in from there from the shape of it!! should have complained, but felt cheeky when I wasn't even paying!!
 
Just a quick point....

While bertie1 has the order of works bang on, depending on how quickly you want all the trades in-and-out you may need to order the windows before anything else happens. It depends where you get them but delivery might be 2 weeks or more.
 
rustbucket said:
To be honest depending on how much sun your house gets during the day, it can be very warm so may not be immediately neccessary to insulate back and front. Worthwhile doing though if he has the budget to do it.
Click to expand...

I have a two bed ex-Corpo terraced house and I could only afford to get either double glazing or wall insulation. As I thought it would be less disruptive down the line to replace the windows I opted for the wall insulation (internal, 10cm thick). The difference is incredible. Even with the single glazing it's the warmest place I've ever lived in. It really retains any heat you put into it. Even three years down the line I am still getting dressed in the morning for one kind of weather only to step outside the front door to find it's several degrees colder than I thought from the temperature inside my house. And obviously I have the reduced heating bills to show for it too. Can't recommend it enough. (Though am still saving for double-glazing as well).
 
Thanks for all the feedback, lads/lassies I reckon rewiring first is the best course of action.
 
Mr Tea,

Due to the fact you bought a council house it would be resonable for me and you to presume there is no fire protection in the attic. Get up into your attic and have a look at the seperating wall between you and your neighbour. You will note no fire protection. This will need to be done to protect you from fire from next door. With nothing there if your neighbours house goes on fire it will spread into your house in a matter of minutes. Putting you and your family at serious risk as your roof trusses only have 10 minutes once the fire gets into your attic before they collapse on you. If you are asleep you will hear nothing until the roof tiles are on top of you.

You should get onto the council and insist they fit a certifiable fire break on your party wall as they sold you a house that is not in compliance with Fire Regulations and that is against the law. The law requires for you to have seperation between you and your neighbour and that is for 1 hour in the case of a fire. Any fire stopping put on your party wall should give one hour fire stopping and should be tested in that location (ontop of a party wall)

One fire stop that I know about that gives this seperation and certification is "firebar" look them up.

As regards wiring and plumbing speak to your tradesmen and ask them what they would prefare and try work around it like that. They can work in the house together but it can get a bit crowed at times so sometimes it is better to have one at a time.

Build4less.ie
Cheaper building materials and insulation
 
While build4less makes a valid point about the spread of fire, I think the other posts about services and wiring might address the causes of fire.
Really you need the house properly inspected and assessed by a building professional and a list of works to be carried out needs to be drawn up and dealt with as best you can.

Just make sure all firesealing is done and any disturbed elements/services runs are made good and fixed in position/sealed.
Prioritizing this is not an easy call and its the luck of the draw as to which upgrade will protect you from disaster.

Don't ask the person benefiting from payments to assess the house. Get it independently and professionally assessed and then go out to tender for the works.
That way you'll be safe in the knowledge that the important things are covered and you'll have an idea of the price.

Wishing it could all cost nothing and selecting the contractors on the basis of unrealistically low tenders should be avoided - you cannot pay your way if you're not charging enough to cover your costs.
If they are doing this all over they chances are they will either go bankrupt on another job and use your money to keep going, or they may go belly up on yours.


Be careful of people who are not permanent residents here, with C2 tax clarance forms and insurances - there are plenty of fly by nighters out there.
Be careful of people with accredited qualifications, their safe pass "ticket" and who willing to do work for cash and not give certificates - that's just not good enough these days.
Use some common sense in all of this and protect yourself from chancers.

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.
 
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