Renovations that nearly broke you?

I've done plenty of renos, oldest house being maybe 70 years.

I recently bought a 140 year old house and I thought it would be a piece of cake. Sweet jesus is this pushing my limits. The foundation, brickwork, roof structure...all of it from an era that most of my team aren't even familiar with. I've finally wrestled it and I think it's all under control now, but let's just say anything older than say an early 1900's Californian bungalow is probably as old as I'll go in the future. I love the classic stuff but you need some deep pockets to make it work.

What projects have you undertaken in the past that have really pushed you to your limits?

 

Took on a Federation home that was in very bad shape, deceased estate, we are talking serious structural damage

At the time was our primary residence so we actually lived in it while renovating, not for the faint hearted

i cant remember everything but it nearly killed Mr MTR.

Stabilise limestone footings
New roof
Extension
New kitchen
Replaced lead light
New ceilings to passage and 2 bedrooms, oh joy.
painting house
Strip fire places bring back to former glory
Remove verandah floorboards with new
New posts front verandah
Tuck pointing, front verandah
Replace 2 ceiling rosettes
Terrace gardens

Jarrah floor boards were perfect

We ended up selling after 16 years, purchased in same area, bigger home, better location and completely renovated Could not do this again

These homes are lovely, but the work never ends even once renovated. So much timber

 

My ppor is now a fully renovated and raised 1903 Queenslander. It was a lot of work and endless headaches but I must say it is a magnificent house and will outlive most houses. We lived on site in our 3 bedroom ex farmhouse granny flat that we moved in 2003. Made things interesting. Glad we did it and lots of people stop and chat to us as the neighbourhood saw it developed over 18 months. But never again.

 

Should have checked the death certificate of the vendor "death from stress of home renovation"

 

Yes.
Am still going on my 1916 (approx) house. It's actually in pretty good condition and very livable but there's still so much work to do. Thank goodness I didn't have to restump or change ceilings or roof but the bathroom reno took forever and the painting is endless. Gardening too. Fences. Weeds. Mulching.
Evap air conditioning makes a huge difference and will get split system for back room. Garage and not-yet- present driveway + carport + paving still to be done.
I said I'd never do it again but I've now bought an 85 year old (1937) which does need ceiling and brick work, possible restumping in places and /or re-concreting/paving plus painting all over, floors sanding, etc etc but it's such a good house: double brick with those wide window sills for cats and lamps and possibly plantation shutters. I can't resist this stuff.
Damn hard work though.
It's nearly broken me a few times because tradies are extremely busy and I'm not always on-site. I think these beautiful old houses can take a lot of 'extra' which is why it never ends ....

 

Knowing what to expect (the unexpected) is the fun bit.

I've taken on an 1880's barstool-ized Victorian dealing with rising damp, bathroom water penetration, poor subfloor ventilation, power upgrades, new MSB & panel, rotted timber window members, broken sash weights/cords.

None of these are value-add - who cares if the place has damp which will come through the coat of paint once the tenant is in place? Likewise if the 2Φ power setup costs the occupant more than normal? Or wind rustles through the windows? It may be fine in a bargain rental but not in an inner-Sydney freestander.

Drilling the brick walls for a liquid dampcourse (10 holes/m, removing/replacing skirtings, chemical injection etc) - huge physical effort.

It has then taken forever for the trapped moisture to evaporate from the walls (& kept reappearing in bubbled paintwork). Subfloor exhaust system has dramatically improved the air quality.

The easy bits - new kitchen, LED lighting, air conditioning, ceiling fans, bathroom upgrades, carpet/floor polishing/vinyl strip floor, landscaping, external drainage etc.

Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.

 

We're looking at purchasing a 1890s house for our PPOR. The building report shows that the walls a significantly damp, but the inspector says its fairly average for houses of that age.
How effective are the rising damp treatments?
How much do you think it would be for a ~90 sqm house?

 

1840's weatherboard place with lime based concrete (full of shells) basement in Battery Point (Tasmania) perched on the south facing ridge. You could watch the Arora Australis from the lounge/kitchen. It had been divided into 3 flats, one of which operated a s brothel serving the Japanese tuna boats. The back verandah (containing the main kitchen and bathroom would lift and fall in strong winds. It took a hell of a lot of work to get it back together while living in it and renovating on weekends. Worth doing though for the historic nature of the building and the "eventual" financial rewards when sold.