New Year, same problems.
Roland Locke
At the start of each new year, we always enjoy reflecting on the pleasures of working with our nations amazing heritage homes. Old buildings have a very different appearance and atmosphere, to their modern counterparts. Period properties, have a charm and an innate character that has been woven into the very fabric of the building by the passage of time. This is a large part of what makes our heritage and traditional buildings, into such special and highly sort after homes.
Period living, is the aspirational life style for thousands of us, every year. For those of us who are lucky enough to inherit a period home or those of us who realise the dream of buying and owning one. There sometimes comes the issue of maintenance. How do you keep your much loved, period home in a tip top state of care and repair. How do you understand what to do and when to do it. For others who are buying a property or selling one, there can be the worry of how the condition of a listed building or period property, may affect its market value.
Old homes need not be difficult, expensive, damp, draughty or incommodious, because they are old. Likewise old homes never fail, solely based upon the fact of being old. Nor indeed does their age need to impact negatively upon their market value. There are simple steps and strategies, that all old home owners can employ. A regular maintenance plan, is the simplest but most effective way you can look after an old building. It is a fact, that it is the small jobs being left undone, that can lead to the big jobs being required.
We are frequently asked, is it hard or massively costly, to repair an old building? And our answer is invariably, no it is not! It is however, a sad fact and a reoccurring constant of our daily working life. That the use of inappropriate modern, building practises and materials, are a problem for owners of all old houses. Which in the long term, can wind up costing them additional, unnecessary expense because of the need to put right the resulting issues that this causes.
Owners of all old buildings, are wise to be careful, when researching trades people to carry out any work, however small. That they only employ genuine specialists. who thoroughly understand about the construction of period buildings and homes and only use the correct, specialist materials to effect repairs. This need not be prohibitively expensive and the resulting work will be far superior in its effectiveness and appearance, as well as being the only reliable method of maintaining the buildings structural integrity and full heritage and market value. We would always recommend the use of Professional, Historic Building Conservators, rather than builders. All fully qualified, experienced and knowledgable, craftsmen run companies, will be more than happy to show you their credentials and their portfolio of work. it is also wise to take into account that all good professionals and those at the top of their discipline, will invariably be busy and require to be booked in advance. Finally, a good state of repair and the use of correct materials for all works carried out, will also positively impact upon the the thermal efficiency of you old house, keep it damp and defect free and ultimately, give you peace of mind