Improvements to a 30 something house

chickey

Have a house built from 9" cavity blocks c. 1971 in Wexford town. Pretty much everything dates from that time - i.e. electrics, heating, windows, decor!

Houes is very cold which is something I'd like to change. Got attic insulation topped up by 200mm recently and am getting double glazed windows shortly.

Would hope to do something with walls and heating system too. Wouldn't be confident to do dry-lining myself and wonder if anyone could direct me to companies who would qoute for drylining in wexford and/or external insulation of walls.

Also curious as to best sequence to proceed with improvement - i.e. get walls dry lined before or after heating system changes. If I was going to get house
re-wired how would that fit with other changes. Is re-wiring worthwhile, know its recommended but do people actually get it done in older houses?

heating is an old oil boiler and old style single fin radiators - some of which get hot themselves but dont seem to give off much heat. would new rads even with old boiler be worthwhile or should I try change the lot. Again before or after getting walls insulated?

hope to make progress on improvements before SSIAs kick in!

Any advice appreciated.

rooferPete

Hi,

I think your house is just about right for rewiring, if not a total job then at least all the new sockets you want and the old fuse board changed to a new type.

The old rads did take longer to heat up but they also took longer to cool down, the new rads will heat up a lot faster.

It might be a good idea to have the wiring and the heating done before the insulated dry lining because you won't be doing any damage to the finished walls.

Also you should save money with the electrical work becayse the plastering will not be an issue, a coat of bonding over the conduit should suffice, you will also be able to move the W.C. and hand basin if needed along with the radiators.

Some might say I am biased when it comes to boilers seriously though it depends on the location to determine if it's a "must do".

The newer boilers can be a lot more efficient and you may be able to eliminate the old flue pipe and fit a balanced flue on the new boiler.

While I'm spending your money there is some very nice hand printed wall paper available just kidding, with the walls plastered you should be able to choose almost any finish you want.

.

mad m

rooferPete wrote:

While I'm spending your money there is some very nice hand printed wall paper available .

Got a good giggle from that quote....Funneh!

chickey

Thanks for the advice - makes sense re. walls. Got a laugh out of wallpaper joke too!