Evaluating your Old or Derelict Building and Advising on its Potential to be Rescued and Rejuvenated

  • Paint in Derelict HouseThe layers of paint work show a colour pallet from light & very deep blues to ox-blood red and bright yellow reminding us of the vibrancy the house once knew.
  • FireplaceThe beauty of the stonework over the fireplace made of local red stone with lime mortar and could easily be wire brushed clean to make the room look comfortable like the example to the right.
  • Wall ShelfEven a cub-hole by the fireplace which would have had another function back then, can be made an attractive feature in a revived stone cottage.

Fixing up and bringing an old and neglected or derelict building back to its former glory can present a financially and emotionally rewarding investment opportunity. And local planning restrictions can mean conserving and enhancing a neglected or derelict building is the only way of living in a dream location.

There is sometimes a fear surrounding conservation work that it is expensive and only for the BIG houses. This is not the case.
There is also often a mistaken belief that extensive damage, especially large cracks in external walls, means an old house is either beyond repair, or too costly to repair. Our hands-on conservation experience, and knowledge of traditional building methods and materials, has taught us time and again that this is far from being the case.

We offer a sensitive understanding and methodical analysis to what can be repaired or adjusted to transform an old structure into a usable comfortable building again. We advise on minimal adjustments and cost-effective methods and materials.

The derelict house shown above is an example of a house that we visited just before it was to be bulldozed. We captured its remaining highlights. For example the layers of paint work show a colour pallet from light & very deep blues to ox-blood red and bright yellow. This reminds us of the vibrancy the house once knew. Another example is the stonework above the fireplace. The red stone of the region and the lime mortar could easily be wire brushed to clean and make the room look very inviting.
Sadly this house through its large cracks along the front elevation and gable end was not thought to be worth rescuing. However this was not the case. The Thatched Cottage shown in the project section was in an equally poor state but was rescued with a minimum amount of intervention and for a cost far below that of building a new house.