16 Dec 2023 — New Year, Newly Refurbished House
We all depend on our homes to shelter us, keeping us warm and safe from the elements. Most of the time, your house will do just that — but elements of its structure suffer wear and tear over the years. Does your home need a little TLC, in return for the TLC it gives you every day?
Here are a few areas where your house might need a boost to start the New Year in great shape.
Repairs to the Masonry
Whether it’s the bricks or stones themselves or the mortar holding them together, the masonry that makes up your home’s walls can wear down over time. Besides looking shabby, this can weaken the walls, making them less efficient at their job.
In some cases, individual bricks may be damaged enough to need replacing, but often it’s enough to reface or repoint them, while stone walls can also be repaired or refaced. Or, if the masonry is sound but has accumulated decades of grime, cleaning the façade can make it look new and vibrant again, as well as protect against wear.
Reinforcing Masonry
Sometimes, though, the damage to masonry goes deeper than refacing or cleaning can solve. Walls that are cracked, whether through ground movement, increased load or simply weathering, may need to be reinforced.
There are various approaches to reinforcing cracked masonry. For example, the wall ties may be corroded or broken and need replacing. The chances are that the existing ties will be an old-fashioned type and can be replaced by up-to-date alternatives like the DryFix tie from Helifix.
On the other hand, if the cracking is more serious, it will need a tougher solution to make it stable again. One example of this is the Helibeam System, which creates concrete beams to bind the wall together and distribute the load more evenly.
Repairing Fire, Flood and Impact Damage
Most repairs and refurbishments your home might need are the result of regular wear and tear, but of course, major incidents can also happen. Your house could be hit by floods, whether from extreme weather, burst pipes or overflowing drains, and this could leave masonry damaged and structural timbers rotted.
Similarly, the effects of a fire or an impact (such as a lorry crashing into it) can vary considerably. You could need urgent structural repairs, or your home may even need to be substantially rebuilt.
In any of these cases, the first priority is to get an expert structural survey done, to find out exactly what repairs are needed. The good news is that, in most cases, your building insurance will cover both the survey and the repairs.
Whether it’s the result of wear and tear or of an accident, refurbishing your house will ensure that it continues to do its job efficiently into the New Year and beyond — not to mention looking great.
Drop us a line to find out how we can help you give your home the TLC it deserves for 2023.