Walk through almost any village in County Durham and you'll see them: long rows of brick terraces built for miners and their families, many over a hundred years old. They're good, honest houses, and they're often great value.
They also have predictable problems. We work in these houses every week, so here's what to look out for before you buy and what to budget for when you renovate.
Most colliery terraces have solid brick walls with no cavity. They behave differently from modern houses. They need to breathe, and trouble starts when they can't.
The usual culprits are ground levels in the back yard built up above the damp-proof course, cement render or hard cement pointing that traps moisture, and leaking gutters or downpipes soaking one patch of wall. Fix those first. Injecting a chemical damp course is often sold as the answer and often isn't. Our damp guide goes into this properly.
Most terraces have a single-storey offshot at the back holding the kitchen and bathroom, often with a flat or shallow roof. These were frequently added or rebuilt cheaply decades ago.
Common findings: a tired flat roof, poor or no insulation, a floor laid straight on earth, and drainage that's been altered over the years. If you're renovating the kitchen or bathroom anyway, it's often worth rebuilding or extending the offshot at the same time.
Opening up the two downstairs rooms or taking out a chimney breast are the most popular jobs in these houses. Both are structural.
Solid walls lose a lot of heat. Internal wall insulation works, but it has to be detailed properly, with the right materials and attention to where moisture can go, or you swap cold walls for mouldy ones. External insulation is often not practical on a terrace. Loft insulation and draught-proofing are the cheap wins to do first.
This is general guidance, not formal advice on your property. Rules change, so we check the current position at the free site visit and handle any applications as part of the job.
No. They're solid houses and often good value. Budget for the common issues (damp caused by blocked walls, tired offshots, old wiring) and they make excellent homes.
Yes. Removing a load-bearing wall or chimney breast is structural work under building regulations. You need an engineer's design and building control sign-off.
Only once the real cause is found. In solid-wall terraces, damp is more often caused by high ground levels, cement render or leaking gutters than by a failed damp course.
If an EICR shows problems, yes. A rewire is much less disruptive and cheaper before new plaster and decoration go on.
Whatever the brief, the route in is the same: ring us, we'll visit, we'll come back with a fixed price in plain English. Free site visits across Durham, Sunderland and Newcastle.
Or email enquiries@atkinsonsgroup.co.uk
No call-out charge for quotes. Fixed prices, in writing.
