Are you planning to renovate your current family home in Hampshire? Or have you bought a rundown Surrey house that you want to transform before moving in or renting out? No matter the specific nature of property renovations, they always represent large investments and a challenging, yet rewarding, task. As a multi-disciplined design, build and management company, SLK Construction has significant experience overseeing renovation projects from start to finish.
Our company is the trusted choice for renovations in Hampshire and Surrey. A selection of our key service areas in the region includes Basingstoke, Farnham and Guildford, to name a few.
The success of renovations lays in the design and planning stage. In this blog, we look at some of the most important considerations you should keep in mind before the onsite services start.
The points below are far from exhaustive. For a complete range of the tasks involved in your own project, call the office on 01252 408431 or Scott on 07967 288384 to schedule an initial consultation.
Budget for New Electrics
By their nature, renovations typically involve work on an old property, especially one that has become outdated or fallen into a state of disrepair. While many aspects will require an upgrade, you should pay particular attention to the electrical system. Look for old-fashioned light switches, fuse boxes, round pin plugs and fabric-coated flex.
Your renovated property must comply with various building regulations, including Part P for electrical work. Completing services to this standard improves performance and safety. After all, it wouldn’t make much sense to renovate a property only to have a high likelihood of electric shock or fire.
At the time of writing, a full rewiring for an average 3-bedroom house can cost anywhere between £3,000 and £4,000. As with any aspect of property renovations, costs for your own job in Basingstoke, Farnham, Guilford or the neighbouring areas could also run higher than this.
Look for Signs of Subsidence
The long-term success of any building work rests on strong, solid foundations. As older properties are more susceptible to subsidence, structural repairs and alterations are a common, and necessary, feature of renovations. To ensure you get the most from your investment, look for signs of subsidence as early in the process as possible.
It’s important to note that cracks in walls don’t always spell disaster. In many cases, they’re just the result of minor historic settlement and thermal movement.
Having said that, at the more serious end of the scale, cracks can be a tell-tale sign of ground movement beneath your property. Failure to diagnose subsidence may eventually make it almost impossible to take out building insurance. Serious work like underpinning can add tens of thousands of pounds to your budget.
Beware of Damp
Damp presents itself in numerous ways, but not always. The obvious signs to look for are water marks on walls and floors. Common causes include:
• Ineffective Damp Proofing
• Poor Modern Interventions
• Leaking Gutters
• Blocked Drains
Identifying damp at your Basingstoke, Farnham, Guildford or local-area home, and its causes, helps to clarify what kind of property renovations our team needs to perform.