When you first move into a house, whether second hand or luckily, a brand new build, there is much excitement and plenty of jobs to occupy the new owner. Looking over every room properly, before all the furniture and effects fill every corner. It is easy to overlook things in the excitement of looking over any house that first appeals. It is not quite the same if the property doesn’t appeal – you just know if the house is right or not almost straight away. In some properties there might will be a strange smell or a touch of grubbiness that turns you off. The property auction programme on daytime lifestyle TV shows so many seriously ghastly places that I can’t bear to watch it. If you’re buying with your own money, then you wont go down that route but if it’s property being bought to add to a property portfolio then it will be the company money and contractors will be drafted in to do the ghastly clear up before any remodelling or decorating begins.
The best method to get some order into the equation is to make a list of every fault that needs addressing; then decide on the order of priority to get the important jobs done first. Outside for example the guttering that leaks in the rain, then that ought to be high on the list Leaking or damaged gutters will lead to water ingress in an old house where water has been dripping down the brick wall underneath. Mortar in old brickwork will be weak and water ingress is a big problem. Inside the house when there has been a long term water ingress, it can cause mould in the corners of rooms, at ceiling level if the water has seeped into roof rafters for example. There are so many ways that houses can cause nightmares for the new owner. Anything to do with rot, be that wet or dry; water ingress; mould; are all major problems that have to be addressed before anything else is done. No amount of decorating can mask these issues – they will just rise again months down the line.