Renovation
Buying a house that needs work: what to check and what to cost
The expensive problems in a neglected house are rarely the ones that look bad in the photographs.
Budgets, trades, sequencing and the work behind a finished photograph.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 2 of 2
Renovation
The expensive problems in a neglected house are rarely the ones that look bad in the photographs.
Renovation
Removing a wall is presented as a lifestyle choice and is actually a load path problem. What the wall was carrying does not…
Renovation
Almost every flooring failure is a subfloor failure. The material that was blamed was usually installed correctly onto something…
Renovation
Old buildings ventilated themselves through gaps nobody designed. Sealing those gaps saves energy and removes the accidental air…
Renovation
A building is a record of what was normal when it was made. Some of those materials are harmless in place and hazardous the moment…
Renovation
Cornices, shutters, boards and fireplaces are not preserved by accident. They exist in a house because at every renovation someone…
Renovation
Most disputes on a building job are not about workmanship. They are about two people holding different pictures of the same…
Renovation
The dividing line is not difficulty. It is whether a mistake is visible, expensive to undo, or capable of hurting somebody.
Renovation
The heat comes out of the floor, so the floor becomes part of the heating system. What you lay on top of it decides how well it…