Heritage Building Consultant Aylesham
RICS Conservation Accredited Professional Aylesham
Building Consultant. Home Heroes Limited is a RICS regulated building surveying practice located in the historic City of Canterbury, our principle surveyor has a particular specialism in listed and historic buildings working with almost every type of pre-1919 building in the local are. Offering Listed Building Surveys in Aylesham
We are not PCA members so have no interest in selling you modern plasticised damp proofing materials and paints, we are true advocates for traditional building materials such as lime mortars and the reintroduction of breathability for long term remedy of your damp problems.
There is only one way to survey a listed building in Aylesham or even a non-designated traditionally built property and that is to truly understand how its been built, what its original materials would have been and how they work together, and then begin removing the layers and adjustments which have been made overtime.
On a pre-purchase listed building survey Aylesham we are limited in the investigation we can make but if you already own the property and are prepared to allow more intrusive survey methods, sometimes with the assistance of a local builder including floor lifting, core samples and strip back of small areas to find out more details of the makeup of the property. Building Consultant
Historic timber-framed construction works in quite a different way to modern load-bearing structures, which is why in-depth specialist knowledge of historic buildings is so important. We understand all about wattle and daub walls, cobb walls, brick-clad walls and the nature of lime mortar.
Structural movement and its relevance is quite different for these kinds of historic properties. We can provide expert historic building advice to help you through this potential minefield. Even your requirements for house insurance will be different from traditional brick and mortar properties. With historic houses in Aylesham, structural movement depends more on the stability of the timber frame than the foundations.
Historic Building Surveys Aylesham:
- We can advise on restrictions on window design, use of roof materials, and other matters controlled in listed buildings.
- Thatched roofs can be a potential fire hazard and we can advise on how these fires can be a serious threat to the stability of the structure. Wood stoves need special treatment if the roof is thatched.
- We can advise on alterations that have been carried out without listed building consent and suitable ways to comply with listed building control.
- Damp can be a particular area of concern. Traditional damp control methods such as injecting chemicals into walls are not appropriate for historic properties and so alternatives can be considered with the advice of the right building professionals.
- Woodworm and death watch beetle can be controlled with the right advice and understanding of what is serious, affecting the structural stability, and what is of less concern.
- The whole site of a listed building is included in the listing, so outbuildings such as garages, storage buildings and stables are also controlled. Even walls may be included, so advice is also given on these aspects.
Your needs for alterations can be included in the report with general advice. You may wish to alter the internal layout or build an extension and we can discuss these with you.
we use and reference the following British Standards:
- BS 7913:2013 – Guide to the conservation of historic buildings
- BS 5250:2011 – Code of practice for control of condensation in buildings
- BS 6576:2005 – Code of practice for diagnosing rising damp in walls of buildings and installation of damp proof courses
In addition, we also use the new RICS Joint Dampness Methodology Statement.
All our Listed Building Surveys in Aylesham are Home Survey Standards 2020 (Level 3) surveys only formally the building survey or full structural survey full Level 3 Listed Building Surveys Aylesham
Home Survey Standards – This service is delivered in accordance with the Home survey standard (1st edition) RICS professional statement and is equivalent to Level 3. We use our own custom templates for this now due to the standardisation and a copy is available on request we no longer use RICS or SAVA forms
Contact Us Today
If you would like to discuss a specific historic building with us, please call our friendly team and they will be more than happy to help. Our extensive experience with historic properties means we are ideally placed to give you the correct historic building advice and information you need to make a safe and considered purchase.
Fill in the form to find out more about the specialist historic building surveys we provide for historic houses in Aylesham.
Listed Building Surveys in Aylesham we also undertake the same level 3 surveys to non listed traditionally built buildings in Aylesham as they require the same level of care and skill.