Is a 1930's bungalow likely to be cavity wall?

[danlightbulb]

Hi all,

I'm looking at a house for sale which is an approximately 1930's bungalow. It is mostly externally rendered, and so I cannot tell how it is constructed. I have asked the vendor via the agent and they don't know either.

The house also has a flat roofed rear extension (possibly 1980's built) that is also rendered on the outside. This was built before the current vendors bought the house and so they don't know how this was constructed either.

How can I find out more details about the construction of the house? Is it all down to the survey...if I paid for a full structural survey how much would this tell me about the house? Would it tell me anything about the footings? Is there any information about how bungalows of this era would have been likely to have been built?

Thanks

 

[danlightbulb]

As above, you want a width of 250mm. A solid wall will be around 220mm. Post some pics up.

Its hard to see much from this really but this is the closest view of the brickwork i can get at the moment. I 2nd view the house on Sunday.



You can see it has bay windows at the front, and airbricks are visible at just below floor level.

It is also slightly elevated from the road at the front. And you can see the steps up to the doorway as well. I would like to estimate how deep the footings might be as well.

 

[danlightbulb]

Yeah the painting is annoying. I noticed it was flaking on first viewing so it would need brushing off and redoing.

I did notice what looked like one complete row of bricks with a round metal cap of some sort attached on the brick face. About an inch diameter. I guess like the head of a rivet. Does anyone recognise this as a special type of brick?

If the best guess is that it is solid walls, does this suggest caution needed or even that I shouldnt buy it?

Will the house have a dpc? I didnt notice thst the floors were wooden when walking inside - normally can tell this? Ill pay more attention sunday.

 

[danlightbulb]

It does have a floor entry toilet soil pipe in the bathroom. I need to investigate this Sunday as if its too far from the wall it will be awkward to fit a replacement toilet easily. Does this indicate anything on the floor type or age?

The 1930s guess was the vendors, it hasnt been substantiated.

Three downstairs rooms have chimney breasts which have been removed above roof level and capped, and bricked up internally. The 80s extension (rear living room) then also has an external chimney breast constructed for a gas fire. The inside of the room is flat.

 

[danlightbulb]

Hi all, got some more photos to share for opinions hopefully.

Here is one of the windows which appear to be hardwood. I assume is some kind of paint or coating that is peeling off, so they all need some sanding back and retreating. Any major concerns with this? What product would you use? As you can see the windows are double glazed but they are very thin units, looks only 6mm. I wouldn't be able to afford to put in uPVC.




The extension has been built with a chimney which Ive never seen done before. Does this help pinpoint the age of the extension?




Here are the lower unrendered sections of the walls. The thickness of the walls at the window and door sections was around 250-280mm give or take. Do you think cavity? I can make out the thicker section of mortar where the DPC is in these pictures. What are the bricks with what look like rivets embedded in them for?

 

[danlightbulb]

I assumed it was some sort of cork material or window putty that was used to fit the glazing units into the frame. But yes, it does need replacing. I assume the glass would be loose if I was to scrape out that flaking material, silicone wouldn't be able to properly seat/hold the glazing would it?

Those rivet/nail head things are in a single row of bricks all the way round the house, a few courses up from the ground.

There is a relatively new looking condensing boiler in the kitchen, feeding a vented cylinder and header tank in the loft (pics below). I had originally thought I would replace all this with a simple combi. However, as the boiler seems relatively modern, I could also replace the vented system with an unvented one. Could a 200 litre unvented cylinder go in the loft in the same spot? There is a disused airing cupboard in the bathroom where it could also go, but I was thinking of taking this out to make the bathroom bigger. Do you think the costs of replacing the system with a combi and the unvented cylinder option would be similar? A combi would simplify everything substantially which is an advantage, and then nothing needed in the loft except pipework.

 

[danlightbulb]

No reason why it shouldn’t have a cavity, albeit a narrow one given the width although at 250mm wide it would be on the narrow side.
Those plugs at the base of the wall look suspiciously like an injected damp proof course.

Windows look alright, rub them back and redecorate. If they are hardwood have a look at linseed paint, it is significantly better than most others particularly for wood since it penetrates the material. It is more expensive but will last a lot longer.
The bead between the pane and the frame; to be honest you could probably leave until you have the money to replace them, you might be able to find a firm who can recondition them if you’re set on doing something.

The cylinder size will depend on how many people are in your house, a 200L one won’t go too far with four people but if it’s just the two of you it would be ok.

Is an injected dpc a problem? I didnt see any obvious damp in the house but the walls needed replastering in some places.

Only me living there, one bathroom only, currently no shower fitted. So I guess 200 litres would be enough. Id probably just go for whichever option is cheapest to do. A cylinder would fit straight in place of current one and keep existing boiler whereas a combi boiler would need additional pipework running to it. 200 litre easyflo cylinder about £700 online ready plumbed. Fitting about the same again? Compared to combi swap about £2500? The bathroom is in desperate need of refit but Id have to sort the hot water solution first.

 

[danlightbulb]

Pretty much all because of the dockyards and the Navy, going right back to the Thirteenth century it has been one of the most important dockyards in Britain, and was cutting edge in many areas.

Interesting though this is, dont really need to know about the construction history of portsmouth. Any more opinions on house condition?

 

[danlightbulb]

Back to yours. On your second pic of the wall with the rake on the right, is that the ground level on the left - a step?

If you look at the 2nd wall pic with the very dark red bricks. Look 2-3 courses down from the riveted bricks and you will see a thicker line (just behind that little green weed). I am taking that to be the physical DPC. The ground level varies around the house with the back being slightly higher. If you look at the 1st wall pic (showing the gas pipe), the thicker mortar line is 3 courses up from ground level. At the very front of the house, the thicker mortar line is about 5-6 courses up. The 'riveted' brickwork is consistently 2 courses higher than this thick mortar line all the way around the house.

That thing that looks like a step was just a chunk of rock/slab which someone had put there.

Well personally from all your questions, I would say you have two choices.

1; Buy it and live with it and sort things as you go, hoping nothing ends up a major issue.

2; get a full level three building survey done, probably between £500 and maybe £2000 depending upon size of house, and how detailed you want it to be.

Thanks, yeah I would definitely go for more than a basic valuation survey.

The house is a detached bungalow with a later rear extension. All being on one level means I should find most maintenance work/project work relatively straightforward. No lifting of floorboards to get to electrics etc.

There is a mining report with the house which shows 3 shafts within 20m of the boundary, there is nothing near to the house though or within the plot itself.



Its hard to decide. I don't mind a project but after handing the deposit over I won't have a lot of cash left. When I first bought houses I didn't think too much about the possible risks, but now Im older Im being more cautious for some reason.

The biggest job I'd want to do is to build a front driveway but the front garden is elevated from the road so will need a retaining wall and digging out of the area.

I can't decide if Im taking on too much.

 

[danlightbulb]

Does anyone have any high level ideas for how to improve the frontage of this house please?

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.553...4!1s9c8RiR4f0VUHatMzKF5XMQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656




Its elevated from the road and I would like to make off road parking there. This would require a retaining wall about 1.5m from the house itself, potentially restricting the accessibility of the front door.

The house is angled compared to the road, so the off road parking would have to be triangular in shape.

 

[danlightbulb]

Yeah I'd be painting the house and getting rid of that red colour. Cant afford to change the doors straight away, its already a small porch area behind that first door.

The dropped kerb would be £1k+, but I wouldn't do this immediately. The kerb is not too high so can be driven over.

Even the deepest section on the right is not deep enough for my Mondeo estate car (5m long), at least not whilst trying to keep the retaining wall a reasonable distance from the front of the house. I would be resigned to parking longitudinally so room for just one car.

The section to be dug out would be approx 8m wide by 5m back at the deepest point, 2m at the narrowest point, to a depth of around 0.6-0.8m. This would be around 20-25 cubic metres of ground. Then a retaining wall would be needed at the back of it parallel to the house and some steps put in probably on the left side. I reckon this is a £10k job if getting someone in (?) which I don't have so I'd be looking to do it myself. I don't mind digging but this may be a step too far, I just can't decide.

House on left built retaining wall, but they did so right up to front door level so its about 4ft high. This house has an extra set of steps up to front door, which if kept, would reduce the height of retaining wall needed to I think 2.5 to 3 ft max.

House on right didn't need major landscaping as is fairly level with the road already, which is sloping downhill to the left.

 

[danlightbulb]

Yeah I could park in the road I guess. I know lots of people do it or have no choice. Ive just always lived in houses with driveways. The house does have a rear access up a lane between two houses and then round the back. But it would be a hassle doing that everyday and walking across the back garden with the shopping bags. I know, first world problems...

@Dis86 do you think the windows are poor? I know the paint is flaking but I couldn't see any rot. Anyone know how much a replacement bay window of that size would be? Its kind of a shame to get rid of good hardwood and put upvc in its place.

Re the dropped kerb. All the houses in the street have driveways, but one a bit up to the right has put a bit of wood up the gutter to help his car up it. If I did park in the road, I'd be parking half on the pavement in any case, the road isn't that wide.

 

[danlightbulb]

I think this area would be the kind of place that would mostly ignore it. Whilst this particular road has mostly drives, the surrounding streets are a mix. I wouldn't want to bring down the look of the road for everyone by parking on the street. Plus I like my privacy.

Its really tough decision. Im not going to find a detached house with a large garden like this for my budget. It needs work and Im unsure on some of the more technical aspects of its condition (i.e the damp proofing, the construction type). Buying any house will take most of my cash at 10% deposit, and I can't find anything already completely modernised anyway, even in a much smaller semi or terraced. Well there are one or two around but they either have tiny gardens or no garages etc.

Just worried about stretching myself too far. Its took 4 years to save the deposit and I only got most of that through matched betting. There is no more where that came from.

 

[danlightbulb]

The place is habitable now. Aside from a shower. A cheap electric shower could be fitted for a few hundred quid and a simple pole mounted shower curtain.

Couple of minor repairs to roof tiles and guttering at the back.

I would say though the bathroom is first big job on the list. Its green and really ugly! But to do the bathroom properly I would need to sort the hot water supply as currently not enough hot water pressure for a thermostatic shower. Thats where the combi (or unvented cyl) comes into play. The disruption means I'd have to do those jobs first.

The bathroom and one of the bedrooms are very dark, being at the back of the house and partially obscured by the rear extension that has been built. So I was thinking a sunpipe to each room.

Then internally it is plastering, carpets and decoration needed in every room.

I'd need to fit a dishwasher, rest of the kitchen is fine for now.

Loft ladder and boarding.

And driveway.

 

[danlightbulb]

There are hundreds of streets in this area where people park on the pavement fully or partially. Its not ideal i know, i really would have liked a good sized frontage/driveway, which is difficult with this house. At the same time its a detached on a good size plot which is rare at this price.

 

[danlightbulb]

Yeah i appreciate driveway is a luxury. I think what is holding me back though is that whilst there is a potential for a driveway, it would be a limited one due to the shape of the area.

No driveway straight away - fine.
Potential to build a driveway - great.
Limited space to actually do it - ah...

 

[danlightbulb]

Its the convenience factor you mentioned. Last thing you want in pouring rain to have to open gates in a dark alley at the back then drive car in, close gates, tread across garden to back of house.

Although there is space to do it and rear access on a gravel alleyway one car wide.

 

[danlightbulb]

Half of my brain says it shouldn't be. Half of my brain is trying to convince me it is an issue.

Its not ideal. But what is.

But what might come along next week, you know?

Im probably striving for too much perfection but can't help it.

 

[danlightbulb]

I never went through with the house, it needed too much work.