Free advice session on Victorian house retrofit

Urban Design Build’s large scale model of the ground floor and roof section of a Victorian house is now on show at Create until 28 March.  It forms the backdrop for an exhibition and practical demonstrations by ‘RealRefurbs’ exploring issues related to refurbishing a solid wall terrace property.  Over the next few weeks the house will be transformed live ‘in situ’ beginning with a look at repairs, maintenance and low-cost options, moving on to insulation and finishing with a look at solar and renewable energy.

The event, which launched phase one of the exhibition, ‘Fabric First’ – Repairs & Maintenance, focused on assessing property for repairs and maintenance works that need to form the first steps of a retrofit, aiming for a structurally sound, dry building.

The visitors were advised on stopping water getting in via damage, maintenance problems, or rising damp as well as the particular considerations in solid wall properties with regards breathability, ventilation and condensation. There were over 50 visitors who were shown practical demonstrations of fixing guttering, sofits and downpipes and painting with clay paints. These demonstrations were carried out by Vit Repa, a master joiner The Natural Building Store works with to provide customers with a specialist ‘small job’ retrofit service for all the essential jobs it’s hard to persuade a builder to take on.

A master joiner by trade, Vit’s service for The Natural Building Store covers a range of small works, from simple draught proofing & top-up insulation, to a full painting service and expert wood repairs. Vit is especially experienced at doing these jobs using the natural, breathable materials we supply.

The most commonly-asked questions at the event were:

- possible solutions, to suit all budgets, to manage draughty single-glazed sash windows

- managing air flow & condensation, particularly in bathrooms

- difficulties with planning over adding fans for ventilation to listed buildings