If you ain't earning, you're learning - Part 1
Over the past few months we’ve been trying to refurbish & set up a property for renting out as an HMO/ co-living development. This is a new strategy for us, so it’s been a steep learning curve in dealing with the process.
The property we bought via modern auction is a larger than average (for the area) 3 bed end of terrace, which had gone into probate. As is often the case with these types of properties, there was no central heating, the interior was dated, and there were a few other issues due to the neglect of maintenance at the house.
Being an end of terrace, the property has suffered some structural movement to the gable wall, where it had bowed slightly due to the lack of restraint between the wall and floor joists which are running parallel to the wall. This issue had meant that the property was currently in an unmortgageable state, so the previous sale prior to our offer had fallen through on the property. We managed to secure a nice discount on the purchase, knowing that the fix for the issue was relatively simple, and not terribly expensive either. Helifix Bow Ties (long steel rods/ screws) were drilled and resin bonded (glued) into the brickwork at the first floor & ceiling joist level all along the gable elevation. These rods tie the wall into the floor joists, securing the wall and preventing further bowing of the wall. This fix has made the property structurally sound now, and the works comes with a 20-25yr guarantee, mortgage should be sorted now.
What else did we find wrong with the property? Well, as we were planning to go back to brick with the refurb in order to thermally insulate external bedroom walls, upgrade sound insulation between rooms and floors, as well as upgrading their fire resistance, we managed to find a whole host of previous bodge work & underlying problems.
We always wondered why the ceiling in the bathroom had been brought down lower than the rest of the ceiling in the rear addition of the property. Well it turned out that this was to hide a defect in the roof’s valley hip between the main and rear roof slopes. They’d basically dropped the ceiling and clad it in PVC to hide the large leak from poorly fitted timber & lead. It was acting as a kind of bucket for the water over the top. Lots of rotten wood and slugs were waiting for us once that was removed.
The roof is relatively new on the property, so why the issue was there is crazy. I can only imagine it was case of the roofers being lazy, rushing the job, or just trying to screw the poor elderly resident out of some money.
After 2 roofing contractors had tried to fix the issue (the first ones pretty useless, second awesome), it turned out to be that the lead within the valley wasn’t long enough to fully stretch over the valley board, and it wasn’t turned over at the edges under the tiles either, meaning water was just running off the valley during a downpour, and into the roof space and on to the timbers. They’d just ran a bead of silicone up the lead to stop water running off. Good work chaps!
As you can imagine, there were a few rotting timbers around the leaks which needed cutting out and replacing, as well as the whole valley being replaced and re-leaded. All sorted now, thankfully, but more costly than hoped in the end. We found a few issues with the pointing at the ridge tiles and at high level on the gable wall too, but they were an easy fix in contrast to the hip.
We seem to have had no luck with builders too, up until very recently. Although the last 2 firms had been recommended to us (and by family), it has been clear once the projects began that maybe we hadn’t made the best of choices. We’re finally nearing the end of this project now, but a combination of the Christmas period, organising various trades around each other during this busy period, and the previous builders not being able to change their silly ways of working, has cost us dearly in time delays, and which will lead to money too. I have to admit, we probably have contributed to some of this by using our own trusted (and often cheaper) local workmen to carry out the electrical & plumbing works, rather than the trades who the builders wished to use, but it’s been a constant struggle to keep everyone working together as there seems to have been a breakdown in communication between the builders and our other teams. Things were not getting done in the correct order, leading to trades having to go back to rectify issues due to the other teams not using their heads, and the each trade pushing the blame onto each other. “The electricians have done this, the plasterers haven’t done that, why have the builders done this like that?”.
Electrical back boxes were left standing too proud of the walls even though we’re re-boarding the whole house, floor plans detailing which type of plasterboard goes on which wall seem not to have been followed, paint & PVA going on too soon so coving won’t stick or plaster is getting splashed across painted walls, lack of communication on what job is being done by who, what materials will be needed when, "I’m sure that gap around the fire door is fine", just to name a few things that spring to mind.
We’ve both learned some valuable lessons on this project though, and I’m sure, although annoying at this moment, we’ll both be stronger off the back of this development. Trust your gut if you don't think someone is right for your job is definitely one thing.
After all of that moaning (sorry, I'm better now, I promise!) now the positive stuff. We’ve been fortunate enough to meet some great, reliable tradesmen off the back of that project, who we hadn’t worked with previously. They are refurbing our recent Buy-to-Let project that was bought around October. First impressions on that project (1 month in) are all good, and their positive attitude towards helping & solving issues as they arise makes for a refreshing change from the HMO project. Feedback from other trades has been positive, which is something we’ve not been used to at the HMO either. If all continues as is, we’ve probably found the ideal build team going forward on all our projects. They're even getting us out of the shit with the other project, so we'll finally get that ready to market soon. We may be using that as an additional Serviced Accommodation unit in the short term though, as an opportunity to house some contractors working on a new local distribution centre may have popped up. It would be a shame to pass that up!
Cheers.
