Buying house, think its TF?

Mattatooi

First time buyer. Looking at a house. Houses prices are relatively cheap in comparison to rest of area. On the street, the houses are all similar style. When viewing i noticed the front of the house in the bedroom internal sounded hollow, ie stud, and was surprised it was not solid. It made me think that the house was timber frame, but it could be drylined?

I am going to have a look at it again, could you tell me what things to look out for to know if its TF. I will have access to attic.

We would want to bring the insulation up to high standards. I believe the house is about 30-40 year old or so. So knowing if its timber or brick with cavity would change the budget as I believe its more expensive and more difficult to insualte walls in TF as you can only do in between the battons etc.

In northern ireland here, can you find out details of when house was built and who built it and of what construction etc? I know in England you can get some details from land registry, is there something similar in northern ireland and how much would it cost?

Also how does the internal walls work in these TF houses regarding structural? As in knocking down walls to open plan kitchen/dining. Most of the internal walls when i looked all sounded hollow and not solid. As I said I will be be sure to check every wall on next visit.

If it is TF house, does this effect value of house? And will it be more difficult to get mortgage?

Thanks in advance!

galwaytt

Mattatooi wrote: »

First time buyer. Looking at a house. Houses prices are relatively cheap in comparison to rest of area. On the street, the houses are all similar style. When viewing i noticed the front of the house in the bedroom internal sounded hollow, ie stud, and was surprised it was not solid. It made me think that the house was timber frame, but it could be drylined?

I am going to have a look at it again, could you tell me what things to look out for to know if its TF. I will have access to attic.

We would want to bring the insulation up to high standards. I believe the house is about 30-40 year old or so. So knowing if its timber or brick with cavity would change the budget as I believe its more expensive and more difficult to insualte walls in TF as you can only do in between the battons etc.

In northern ireland here, can you find out details of when house was built and who built it and of what construction etc? I know in England you can get some details from land registry, is there something similar in northern ireland and how much would it cost?

Also how does the internal walls work in these TF houses regarding structural? As in knocking down walls to open plan kitchen/dining. Most of the internal walls when i looked all sounded hollow and not solid. As I said I will be be sure to check every wall on next visit.

If it is TF house, does this effect value of house? And will it be more difficult to get mortgage?

Thanks in advance!

It can be hard to know if it's TF - but have a root around in the meter cabinet - you might be able to see the inner leaf there somewhere. Or indeed around any other services - if you can see the top of the inner leaf in the attic, it should be obvious whether it's masonry or not. If it is masonry, is sounds like it's drylined. If it's TF, then it's not.

You have several options to increase insulation - but it does depend on how much ripping you are prepared to do.........

We work in UK and N.I , and we have to submit full drawings + specs to LBC in advance of commencement. I don't know how long that has been a requirement though, but I assume a long time - ask your local authority building control officer to see if they have anything on file for that address. not sure if/any costs involved.

You cannot just assume any internal wall is non-structural - it depends entirely on the design of the house - so don't go knocking anything until you know for sure whether it is or not. Again, if LBC have info, this may become apparent from drawings.

TF will not affect value, nor ability to get a mortgage.