Renovating old house

[daveaspy]

I am looking for any advice on where to start with a property that has been inherited from an old relative. It is a 2 bed terrace (with 1 bed made into 2 - think that will be merged back into 1 though) and in need of lots of renovation. I have had it cleared of all furniture leaving just light carpets and lots of dirt to get rid of! (seriously, probably not been cleaned for 10+ years, although it did get a new roof and upvc windows quite recently).

Hoping to go over this weekend to start on it - first job probably to clean it, there is lots of dust which I think needs cleaning up just so we can see where things are at. Whats the best thing for cleaning down walls and floors? Lots of cobwebs around the floor edges too - can I just vacuum them up? I have a bit of a phobia about spiders!

It has an open coal fire with back boiler - no central heating. I think there is gas in the meter cupboard but no appliances.

Electrics - I would imagine this is pretty dated unless they had it rewired for some reason when they moved in 30 odd years ago, anything I can look at to indicate if the whole place needs rewiring?

Heres some pics of the current state...

kitchen



front


bed 1a


bed 1b (1a and 1b were originally 1 room - I can just knock down that wall right?)


bathroom (whats that wall made out of??)




Stairs

 

[Steve]

If it was rewired 30 years ago, its time for another rewire!

Things to look for are brown fusebox with fusewire, black or brown cables with degrading insulation (hint: DO NOT TOUCH THIS you'll only make it worse)

Looking at the place its the right time for a rewire - its empty. I'd love to get my hands on a place like this. I'd strip it right back to brickwork and renovate it top to bottom. Make a healthy profit

 

[wanabechippie]

A decent steam cleaner and some sugar soap should help shift all that muck. Be careful with the steam around any electrics and with old plaster tho!

Good luck!

 

[Space cat]

Sockets with round pins are a sure sign of obsolete electrics. On the other hand square pins do not mean it's OK. When square pins and ring mains first arrived, a common trick was to replace the old 15 amp round sockets with 13 amp square ones! To get a better idea of what's what look at the consumer unit - if you've got one!

But before you start on any renovation, have a look at something that's often left until it's too late, security. The old houses I've lived in didn't have much of it. You wouldn't be the first property developer to have a fireplace stolen.

 

[simoniris]

Reference the partition you want to remove, first check the loft space to make sure it's not supporting enything - ceiling joists, walls, water tank etc. Only worry about joists if they stop / start along the line of the partition.
Inside the room, knock on the partition to check it's hollow. If it is, get yourself a hammer and tap a hole in it. Make sure you do this away from any sockets - wires should drop vertically to sockets so don't make holes directly above a socket etc. From the hole you should be able to confirm the construction - likely to be timber studs & plasterboard only.
Make sure any sockets have been made safe before removing the partition.
When the partition is removed you will likely have some making good to the plasterv & ceilings around the edge - be gentle when removing the end studs to minimise any plaster falling off walls.
Bathroom wall could be acrylic or just gloss paint - picture not great. Doesn't look too dangerous though. Probably have to strip it off before you tile though as adhesive unlikely to stick.
Looks like a nice little project, has potential. Good luck.