House Renovations in Sunderland

By finding the cause first. Failed pointing, a bridged damp proof course, a blocked gutter or raised external ground level cause far more damp than rising damp does, and treating the symptom without fixing the cause simply moves the problem.

Often yes. Structural changes, new or altered drainage, replacement windows, new heating appliances and work that changes the thermal performance of a wall, roof or floor are all notifiable, even when the job feels like decoration from the outside.

A whole house typically runs from several weeks to a few months depending on scope, how much structural work is involved and how quickly material choices are confirmed. We give a written programme rather than a vague estimate.

Possibly, depending on exactly where the property sits. Sunderland has a number of designated conservation areas, Ashbrooke and Roker Park among them, and if your property sits inside one the council will want to see materials and window details before anything visible from the street changes. If your property is affected, the design is shaped around that from the start rather than revised afterwards.

We hand over a plaster ready or plastered finish as agreed. Decoration can be included by arrangement, though many clients prefer to handle that themselves once the building work is signed off.

All of them. Around Roker and Ashbrooke the stock is mostly Victorian and Edwardian terraces around Ashbrooke, Millfield and Roker, and further out Sunderland has post war and later estates out toward Doxford Park, Silksworth and Farringdon. The right approach depends far more on the age and construction of the individual property than on the town.

They can. Sunderland sits on the edge of the Durham coalfield and takes in the site of the former Wearmouth Colliery, so parts of the city fall inside a Coal Authority Development High Risk Area. We raise it at the quote stage rather than after the digger arrives, so you know whether an investigation or an assessment is likely to be needed.

Yes. Alongside Sunderland we regularly carry out house renovations in Washington, Houghton-le-Spring, Boldon Colliery and across the wider North East, working from our base in Blaydon-on-Tyne.

Sunderland comes under Sunderland City Council for both planning and building control. That is where a building regulations application is made and where the inspector who signs the work off comes from. Building regulations approval on the structural and thermal elements is what they will be looking for.

Changes are normal on a renovation. We price a variation in writing before carrying it out so the effect on cost and programme is clear at the time rather than at the end.