Old Villa Maintenance?

[Bling_Bling]

I have two very old rimu/kauri Villas in Auckland. One I live in and the other is rented out. Polished floors and high ceilings.

What do I need to do regularly to keep it in tip top shape? How often do I need to paint the outside? What else do I need to know? Please advice.

Thanks.

Bling Bling The phone number of your local fire bug for when the maintence bills get to high.

[Bling_Bling]

Enigma, cant be worst than the new leaky houses. Old Villa are made of good quality hardwood that is now hard to get or are way too expensive to build.

Why, have you have bad experiences with old villas? My villas are 1920-30s.

[Steve]

Bling, just make sure that you do things such as painting the outside once it is needed and you won't go wrong. It is when you defer the maintenance on these old houses that they start to get away from you...

Yes I own 1/5 of one through an estate and the maintenance is horrific unless you do it your self and as I am in australia and house is In NZ with one elderly brother living in it and the other not far away and both well over seventy it is a nightmare. It would be a good candidate for a new TV show in Aus Renovate or Detonate and on economics most get Detonated. I have seen one here supposedly renovated (Owners are now sueing) at a cost of $400000.00 plus where a new home 25% larger than the supposedly renovated home, would have maxed at $350000.00 Another Option would be to give it to the local fire brigade for practise. Many Magazine & newspaper articles this side of tasman on how to save a $100000.00 on a renovation start with a bulldozer

Bling Bling. I do house mtce for a living. I own two rimu weather board clad villas in ChCh - 80 & 102 years old now - and rent both out having bought them in poor condition and lived in one while I did it up. Most of them have borer in the structural timbers (joists, studs, bearers) as they are close to the ground and borer prefer damp cold conditions. If you have to replace weatherboards check out the joists between the concrete rim foundation and the floor boards as they are often in poor condition on the rainy side. Bung 100 x 100mm H4s on their ends under any shonky bearers or floor joists and shove a wedge under squeaky floorboards or saggy/dropped joists or bearers. Generally nothing wrong with the roof timbers as the trusses are warm and dry from the heat in the roof space. In ChCh the original iron will last nearly a century if it's been painted every 10 years or so and some of the lower laps may have been replaced.

Get on the roof with a bag of 75mm twist-shank springhead nails, a cpl of tubes of silicon RTV, replace any popped nails and RTV the tops of any over-driven nails or ones where the lead heads are damaged. You can also RTV around any laps that are too fragile to nail.
Repair any leaking gutters and downpipes - water buggers the weatherboards and fascias, and leaky down pipes cause foundation collapse and eventual floor sagging etc.
Clear your stormwater drains and replace them yourself if they're cracked or full of roots etc. It's not hard - just saves gym fees.
Weatherboards: The northern and eastern aspects will suffer from cracking and the south and west from damp and water damage so replace any rotten weather boards pronto as they hide wet and dry rot damage to the studs and floor timbers. Buy a 150mm disc sander with decent 24 and 80 grit pads and get to work on the weatherboards. You must sand, prime and get the top coats on quickly as each stage deteriorates within a couple of weeks or so. If you allow the "red" colour in the sanded rimu to go grey then the cellulose has oxidised and the primer won't be as effective. Same with the primer - get the top coats on quickly as the primer won't handle the weather. Plastic bog is OK but it doesn't flex like a decent NoMoreGaps type of thing where you need it on the sunny aspects. Do one wall at a time as this progressive finish will help to keep your spirits up and Madame Bling Bling's too.
If the chimneys or other exterior brick need repointing (and most villas may have a perishing lime-based mortar)in them then rake out the old loose mortar and bung some new stuff in. A real drag this job and you'll lose more than you can stuff in.
Any internal gutters especially on parapet walls? Line with butynol and install supported 150 x 25mm duckboards to stop sudden heavy hail blocking them up and causing rain to flow inside.
Villas are great as they have character and style but they need time, love but not necesarily a lot of money. Retain features like ceiling roses, authentic stained/leadlight glass, tiled fireplaces (but dung out the chimneys and put a log-burner or gas fire in the space,) oiled kauri/rimu doors, rolled verandah roofs, picture rails, claw footed baths with modern showers into them.
Have fun and I hope this helps.

[Bling_Bling]

Thanks for the info guys, especially Longtak.

I will take Longtaks advice and go through it with a fine toothpick. The only problem is that I am no maintenance person. Will need alot of messing around to know what I am doing. Oh well, at least I am retired and have time to look around and do some repairs.

I really love villas. They have so much character and style. I dont like the new houses beening built these days. They feel more like a hospital or an office.

Again, many thanks.

[stephen]

I know what you mean, Bling Bling - it's like living in a motel.

[Capitalist]

I live in a kauri villa over 100 years old. Up in the attic there are hand-made nails. I love it, even though the design isn't too functional, with the long hallway and add-on plumbing. But it has a lot of character. In fact it is going to be photographed for an Australian homewares magazine.

Well Longtack, you seem better than a lot of tradesmen. It took me a long time to get the gully in the roof fixed (it leaked when the wind blew the rain in a certain direction). Everyone looked at it, and if they couldn't glue it they didn't want to know about it. But apart from replacing a few weatherboards here and there it has not cost much.

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by Capitalist

It took me a long time to get the gully in the roof fixed (it leaked when the wind blew the rain in a certain direction). Everyone looked at it, and if they couldn't glue it they didn't want to know about it.

Don't mention gullies, Cap![V] I had exactly the same trouble after I first bought my villa.