TR18 Penzance CornwallDue to years of neglect this property had extensive rising and penetrating damp, crumbling walls and major structural defects.
The client was concerned that the render had cracked on the exterior first storey wall, and that it needed replacing. On further inspection I found that at some point in time the upper section of wall had been replaced with 3 inch timber stud work just meshed and rendered, expecting to be able to hold the full weight of the A frames and roof. Clearly this was not structurally sound, as the soldier course over the window had collapsed and an old doorway badly blocked up, as well as cracking on the lower section. I recommended taking the whole side of the house down and re-building in cavity insulated block work. This would solve the issue of penetrating and rising damp as well as the heat loss associated with a single single brick wall. Most importantly it would be strong enough to support the roof. The house was also showing signs of penetrating damp on the exposed stone walls. On inspection I could tell the house had been re-pointed with a mortar mix not containing any lime. The knock on effect of this was that the wall could not breathe so any moisture penetrating into the wall could not come back out hence being pushed inwards. This was all removed and re-pointed with the correct mortar, solving the issue. The house was mostly stripped back to bare stone walls, timber repaired or replaced where necessary, re-wired and re-plumbed with the addition of central heating and an A rated combi boiler. Then house was then renovated to a sympathetic finish for the age of the house. The client also required the rear courtyard entrance to be widened with a strong new gate for the security of the rear of the property. All the necessary building control sign-offs, gas safe and electrical certificates were organised and obtained as the job progressed. |