When renovating your vintage house, you should remember to check all parts of the house. It is important to combine all renovation efforts so that no future problems are incurred. Carrying out renovation on lesser parts may increase the total cost of the work. Remember, a short term loan can tide you over until restoration and sale has taken place, it will affect future repair work, and could be inefficient.
These tips should help you when you are renovating your vintage house.
Repairing masonry
You should know your vintage house’s maintenance cycle in order to plan your renovation. Standard homes will only need tuck pointing after very 50-60 years. If the maintenance cycle is almost up, it would be wasteful to make any superficial repairs and renovations.
Your vintage house has a specific mix of mortar. It has a unique color, elevation and texture consistency. When renovating your vintage house, you need to match the new mortar with the old. You should look into the ratios used to mix the old mortar, and match it as closely as possible. Avoid using too much cement as this will affect the consistency of your mortar and damage your vintage house.
You may also replace damaged units with the same material, either in part or as a whole unit. Avoid choosing different materials where possible because they may be incompatible with your repairs.
Repairing the radiator
Most vintage houses have a radiator unit. It contributes to the vintage ambience, and can be used to warm the house during cold seasons. When repairing your house’s radiator, you should look into its design and operation. If it is a one-pipe radiator that uses steam, you should not throttle the unit. Keeping the pressure valve either fully open or closed will reduce breakage in the pipe work.
You should seek to control your radiator output to manage costs and efficiency. You can manage your radiator unit for best output by zoning your radiator with valves. To ensure that the equipment lasts a long time, you should get a good finish. Most professional renovation services use sandblasting and powder coating for a non-stick and durable finish.
Since the radiator gets hot, you could be tempted to spend more money preventing possible fires. This would be a waste of resources because it does not get hot enough to spark paper, and will not burn down your house. For homes with children, insulation can be a good idea.
Managing your Woodworking
You should find the most durable and disease-resistant wood. Experts recommend using heartwood, since it checks those boxes. You should avoid sapwood at all costs. Find blocks and boards with rift or quarter-grain cuts. They are stable, and look good. They will not expand or contract seasonally, which is better for stability.
Most vintage houses were made with handcrafted wood and traditional joinery. In order to maintain the authentic feel, you will need to learn how to use a few woodworking tools. You may also need to learn some basic joinery to replace the woodworking in your vintage home.