It’s an electric trimmer. We had just attempted a little hair cut, unsuccessfully.

Ah so now the cat gets used to it, and the next attempt will be a guaranteed success!

Small radiator on the landing doesn't work, has a lock shield both ends, how do I know which end to turn to get things working? Both pipes in are cold, so that doesn't help identifying the feed

Could be that the radiators need balancing. There are plenty of videos on the subject.

Open them both and see which pipe warms up first.

Consider why it's lockshields at both ends and isolated. Be ready with towels and spanners

Anyone know where to get towel rails similar to this one with a solid/flat backing plate?

https://west-lock.co.jp/en/products/agaho/11m

They seem to not exist in .co.uk realm.
I want to cover drill holes in tiles and this kind of thing would be perfect.

https://www.amazon.com/11M-N0002-SA-Towel-Agaho-Aluminum-Silver/dp/B071W4R3QZ

https://www.architonic.com/en/collection/west-inx-bathroom-accessories/3103749/3005712/1

How about any old stainless (or alu) plate followed up with an industrial strength grab bar?

Rutland's currently seeking their plunge saw for £120

rutlands plunge saw with guide rail

That's pretty much how I got the idea but I have nowhere to make it and just assumed there'd be loads like this already. Like, every stainless hotel/airport/office bathroom.

Doesn't answer much, but is the radiator where the thermostat is or once was, if yes guess that potentially makes it the last radiator on the system. [And has no open/close value soas not to muck the thermostat up]

Okay, so the survey is back and I've captured the main bits below

Overall opinion of property

• condition of the property is considered to be consistent with age and type of construction, no significant defects were identified.
• prepared to accept the cost and inconvenience of dealing with the repair/improvement works reported.
• traditional construction comprising solid brick wall construction, pitched tiled roof and double glazed UPVC casement windows.

External

Chimney stacks
• We believe that the rear building chimney stack has been removed, potentially before the current owners. Due to high moisture readings on the rear building chimney breasts- both at first and ground floor, we advise a competent roofer closer inspect where the chimney breast was previously and ensure the stack has been removed satisfactorily.
Roof coverings
• shrewd to have them firmly re-embedded in mortar to ensure they remain firmly positioned.
• We observed signs of bowing to the roof slope although it is considered to be within reasonable tolerance it would be prudent to have a competent roofer closer inspect the roof and ensure timbers are in adequate condition.

Rainwater pipes and gutters
• Staining and minor moss growth was noted, most notably at the junctions, and this normally indicates leakage. We recommend that this is attended to by a guttering specialist in the immediate term to prevent potential moisture ingress. This is normally a fairly easy repair and entails taking off the junction piece and either cleaning out the seal or replacing the whole junction piece.
Main walls
• Due to the application of render we are unable to comment on the condition of the brickwork underneath and it can conceal potential defects, the risks of this must be accepted.
• Sections of hairline cracks and blown render was noted externally, we advise infilling and resurfacing where necessary so as to prevent more severe defects arising over time.

Other
• A property of this age is likely to contain a damp-proof course DPC (bitumen membrane running in-between courses of brickwork approx. 150mm above ground level) I was unable to verify this due to the rendered elevations- although evidence of injected DPC was noted in parts, mainly at the flank elevation. The moisture meter test provided significant high readings to parts of internal surfaces indicating that the damp proof course is not currently operating effectively in these areas.

Internal

Roof structure
• It would be shrewd to have a timber report conducted so as to ensure there is no ongoing infestation.
• We also noted within the lean-to roof space area an obsolete water tank as well as fibre quilt insulation. Discoloured timbers were noted assumed to be due to condensation due to inadequate ventilation within the area, advise affixing roof ventilators.
Ceilings
• A textured coating has been applied to some of the ceilings within the property. This material may contain small quantities of asbestos fibre.
Walls and partitions
• High moisture readings were noted at various locations, mainly within the rear building chimney breast, both at the ground and first floor.
• internal repairs should follow namely hacking off areas of contaminated plaster and allowing underlying masonry to dry followed by re-plastering and redecorating.
• Failure to apply a salt retardant plaster after treatment is the most common cause of continuing damp problems (the migration of hygroscopic salts) after a remedial damp issues.
• Evidence of bubbling wallpaper was noted in parts indicative of blown plaster underneath, if removing the wallpaper some areas may come away and require re-plastering which will increase costs.
• Heat recovery fans were noted in areas, mainly within the kitchen dining area, indicative of historic high moisture ingress in the area. Due to the presence of damp and moisture within the property we advise having a damp survey prior to legal commitment of the purchase. It would also be shrewd to budget for potential re-plastering of various rooms, quotes should be ascertained prior to exchange of contracts.

Floors
• unable to confirm whether the flooring in the original solid ground floors contains a damp-proof membrane or insulation.
Woodwork
• The underside of any staircase should not have any exposed detailing, such as timber. In such circumstances we recommend that 12.5mm plasterboard should be installed to comply with Fire Compartmentation Regulations and The Building Regulations 14th Edition. This will give a minimum of 30 minutes’ fire protection to the underside of the stairs in the immediate term, as your main form of escape from the first floor.
Electricity
• Due to the apparent age of the fuseboard and wiring we would recommend to budget for rewiring of the property.
Water
• Where visible the water supply pipework is run in copper, no leaks were noted. Older properties may have lead pipework within the fabric of the building or underground which can be hazardous to health.
Drainage
• A separate drainage system connected to the main sewer comprising above ground: soil and plastic grey water pipes and below ground: manhole inspection chamber not located.
• We can confirm however that no evidence of blockages were noted currently when taps and toilet were tested.

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So from my rough calculations

DPC - £2,500

EICR - £300

Exterior Render fixes - £300

Guttering fixes - £100

Removing asbestos - ? probably not necessary

Replastering - unsure on scope but online suggest about £2k per room

Fire Safety understairs - £200

Fixing ridge tiles - £300

Then the big hitters if necessary, still working out what the next steps for these are.
EICR - £300
Rewire - £12,000

If anyone has thoughts, can improve my pricing accuracy or genuine advice I'd be super grateful

Fwiw plastering a 3x4 room cost us £550.

Asbestos can be tested diy for some one to come over, both pretty cheaply.

Rewire unlikely to be £12k unless it’s huge / all the wires need doing. Likely loads of them will be fine.

Generally that sounds and looks great to me!

Get a new distribution board, leave the rewire unless absolutely needed.

The problem with that is that modern wiring codes require many more circuits than before.

The above looks like it has ~6 circuits on the distribution board. A modern house is going to be more than double that depending on size. You can't just magic up the extra wires by putting the same 6 circuits in a distribution board. If you need to have the oven on its own circuit then you'll need a whole load of new wiring from the distribution board to the oven, and the existing ring/spur the oven is currently on will need to be adjusted. If you need to split a lighting circuit in two you'll need a load of new wiring and the existing wiring adjusted, etc. Sure you may get to keep a bunch of the existing wires but it's not a simple job.

My 3 bed flat has just 4 circuits on the distribution board. It should probably be >10. I haven't ever bothered to work it out but I think it's currently something along the lines of:

• Kitchen (everything including the socketed 13A oven)
  
• Lights everywhere
  
• Sockets in half of the rooms
  
• Other half of the sockets
  
  

If I get bored tomorrow I'll try and work out what the split is. Only been living here for 17 years and have never bothered so far.

Every time I start to think about a rewire of our place it always escalates:

• Many of the cables are below the floorboards (it's a first floor flat) so that means all carpets up and probably time to get new carpets in most rooms (a couple would survive though) and/or discuss having bare floorboards in the bedrooms (assuming downstairs are ok with this)
  
• If the floorboards are coming up it's a good time to put in better sound insulation between us and the flat below (they said they'll pay part of this)
  
• Also a good time to rip out the old alarm system that we have never used. PIR sensors in several rooms and wires that trace around door frames, etc. Cheap/easy to do but adds to redecoration burden.
  
• May as well get some network cables put in to make life a bit easier/faster - nothing crazy but silly not to if the floorboards are coming up
  
• Oven would need to be on its own circuit, which probably means ripping out much of the splashback tiling - so probably leaning towards a new kitchen (existing one is 2005 MFI and showing its age - we've also been living with its impracticalities for too long - a single fucking drawer in the whole thing!).
  
• Also a good time to get an extractor fan fitted to the bathroom - forgot to do this last time round, requires minor rewiring
  
• Much chasing in the walls = lots of redecoration / painting
  
• If the carpet in the main bedroom is coming up probably need to do something about the built in cupboards along one wall that have been built on top of the existing carpet. Cue at least £10k bespoke joinery to get something reasonable to replace the existing thing (~5.5m x 2.5m x 1m deep) that also has a built in vanity unit.
  
  

So it starts to become a £40k+ refresh project. Happy to do that once the timing/money is right, but trying to get away with a minimal rewiring would be a false economy.

There's a lot of CYA stuff there. A dam survey might be an idea though.

Exterior Render fixes - £300

£3,000 - £8,000 : you can't fix that spray on acrylic shit. And if you could, next year you'd be fixing a different bit. And the next.

You need it stripped, the paint underneath chemically removed, and then re-render in lime or juts re-point.

My guess is that the mortar has turned to same behind the render, where water has pooled. And could be leading to some of the damp.

The loft needs that blown foam removed from the eaves behind that knee wall. Cold roofs need airflow and ventilation from the soffit.

DPC: £0 you're not going to replace a bitumen DPC with anything else. If you're considering an injection job, you may as well just set the house on fire to fix the damp.

You need to get under the floor to find out what is going on with the DPC. Otherwise it's just pointless guesswork.

Zero point replastering until the source of damp is identified, and the outside is fixed.

EICR - Why? Just get a spark in to look at your electrics on the promise of extra work.

Fire safety boards? Lol no.

Maybe budget to have the chimney removed entirely.

Your surveyor doesn't seem very clued up about damp being caused by the wrong building materials on solid walls.

Pull handle on-plate?

I wanted it solid backed so I can use VHB double-sided tape or glue instead of adding even more holes to the tiles.

This was my fear. It's a 3 bed house and covered in laminate flooring that I imagine is difficult to resuse. So all of a sudden you need new floors and a lot of plastering

Live in it for 5yrs, then sell it as a project house and use the proceeds to buy something requiring less work.

Thanks a lot, quite a bit to digest and swung me back into a bit of fear.

You need it stripped, the paint underneath chemically removed, and then re-render in lime or juts re-point.

Ah, from the pictures I thought it was just going to be a touch up job on the cracks and bits

The loft needs that blown foam removed from the eaves behind that knee wall. Cold roofs need airflow and ventilation from the soffit.

I assume that's an easy DIY job?

DPC: £0 you're not going to replace a bitumen DPC with anything else. If you're considering an injection job, you may as well just set the house on fire to fix the damp.

From the solicitor search there was DPC done in '82 but the 30 year guarantee has obviously expired.
So yes, I thought the injection was the best next step but more research required.

You need to get under the floor to find out what is going on with the DPC. Otherwise it's just pointless guesswork.

In 2021 they installed underfloor insulation so imagine it's going to be tricky to get at?

It doesn't sound terrible. If you're buying a 100+ year old house there are going to be some problems but it's also been standing for 100+ years so there probably isn't that much you need to do instantly.

There's also a benefit of doing a few things at the same time. Your rewire is going to be cheaper if there's no making good because you're replastering and redecorating the place.

From my own experience, my main concern would be the damp because it's the most awkward thing to easily fix. You've got potential causes and you tend to have to chase those around and fix a few, see what happens, have another look, fix some more, etc. But there seem to be a fair few easy fixes that might clear up quite a bit.

Sounds a lot like mine, why not knock a wall down while you're there. Then you get to pay a lot of money for an engineer to send you a pre made template with lots of numbers you can't understand.

Sounds a lot like mine, why not knock a wall down while you're there.

Don't joke. We've got a chimney stack in the corner of our kitchen (from the ground floor flat below). They've taken out the fireplace that used to be there and we could do with the extra space we'd get from removing it...

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