As Bangalore grows at an impossible pace, many of us who have
old houses consider ourselves lucky to live in areas that are well-connected
and centrally located. Yet, these houses, that are at least five decades old,
need constant maintenance and do not have many amenities that are needed today.
So, after a lot of thought and planning, we decided to renovate our house to
maximize space and light, modernize the bathrooms and generally make it easy to
maintain. Here are some of the lessons we learnt along the way:
Old, independent houses used to be built like fortresses. In
the absence of pillar construction, there would typically be parallel
supporting walls of 15-inch thickness. The problem is that even the
non-supporting walls were thick since they accommodated double-doors or
built-in cupboards. Knocking them down not only opens up the area, but also
allows more light into the house.
Identify the supporting walls from the original blueprint. If
you don't have a blueprint and don't want to hire an architect, any experienced
contractor will be able to identify the supporting and non-supporting walls.
Do not alter the supporting walls, especially if there is a
floor above.
- If necessary, plan openings (doorways or windows) only at the end of a supporting wall. When moving a doorway, ensure that the original opening is walled up before the new opening is made. This transfers the load correctly. Openings can also be made where a cupboard niche existed.
- Most walls in those days used to be built with a lintel (mostly rough granite slabs) at a height of around six feet. This restricts doorways to that height, unless you cut through the lintel (which is difficult and leads to weakening due to vibrations) and support the wall further up.
- Non-supporting walls can be demolished completely. It is interesting that the bricks of those days are at least twice as heavy as present-day bricks. Clay rather than cement was used as a binder.
- For demolished non-supporting walls, affix a steel I-beam just beneath the ceiling to be safe. Openings in the supporting walls can also have a stone slab or a small I-beam across the gap for support.
- For old and wet patches, identify the source of the leak and fix it before plastering the wall with waterproofing material.
- For cracks in the wall, the mason should use a wire mesh to hold two sides of the crack together and then, plaster the portion.
- Ensure that the plastering is done evenly and smoothly. No amount of putty or white cement will hide the ugly undulations on the walls.
- If you plan to fix cladding tiles to some walls inside the house, ensure an uninterrupted and even surface is available. Remove small outcrops and borders, plaster indentations, if any.
- From a safety point of view, the wiring of the entire house should be earthed. Old houses generally had three-pin plug points only in the AEH (all electric home) connections. You may have experienced a music system or the computer giving mild shocks from lack of earthed connections. In fact, rewiring the whole house is a good idea.
- Concealed wiring was prevalent five decades ago, but the conduits were made of GI pipes. Rewiring allows you to replace the GI pipes with PVC wherever possible.
- In the earlier days, plug points were restricted to a couple of two-pin points. Convert all these to three-pin, earthed connections.
- Plan new connections so that a switch or a two-way switch that lights up the room is just beside or near the door.
- Conceal telephone and cable connections in all the relevant rooms so that there are no wires entering the house through openings in the windows.
- In the bathrooms, mark the height of the light above the mirror or washbasin taking into account how high the floor will be.
- Keep the plug points for ACs, geysers, exhaust fans, washing machine and refrigerator as close to the actual position of the appliance as possible. For some reason, the length of the wire that comes with the appliance is very short. The switch to operate the appliance may be placed at a convenient height.
- Plan to have 15A plug points for places where heating elements (electric irons, coffee makers, microwave ovens) or mixer-grinders and water purifiers are to be used.
- Check the position of the fan hooks and connections. Removal of a wall to enlarge a room may require re-positioning of fans.
- Typical houses built in the 50s and 60s had concrete overhead tanks that sat flat on the terrace.
- Although these houses are taller (ceilings are usually nine ft high instead of the eight ft height of ceilings these days), the water pressure may not be sufficient for water to rise to a geyser, shower-head or water purification unit.
- A regular plastic tank may be raised on a fabricated metal stand to deliver the required water pressure.
- Alternatively, a pressure pump (a half to one 1 HP should do) can be fitted to achieve the required water pressure.
- If there is no problem with the sanitary pipes, it is best to leave them alone. The old ceramic pipes that were fitted one into the other are sturdier against bandicoot attacks than the PVC pipes available today.
- Mark the height of the washbasins, taps, mixers and showerhead taking into account how high the floor will rise, since these connections are done before the flooring.
- Ensure the correct space (five-six inches) is maintained between the cold and hot outlets for the mixer.
- Ensure a minimum of seven inches gap is maintained between the side of the commode and the wall for ease of use of a health faucet.
Teak, all the wood used in those days were sturdy and would
have weathered another 50-odd years in the house. So, replacing them should be
carefully considered since majority of the wood available today is not
seasoned.
The biggest advantage of modern sliding windows or single
doors is that nothing juts into the room or outside. Sliding windows with clear
glass allow much more light into the room than windows with wooden frames and
frosted glass. A single door that opens against a wall also gives a sense of
space.
Retain the doors or windows and use them as such with a
repaired frame and new hinges. However, of all the above-mentioned woods, only
teak can be refashioned into new furniture.
A good carpenter may be able to fashion new frames out of the
old ones. Very few saw mills agree to re-lathe the wood since it gives off too
much dust. The wood is also so brittle with loss of oil that it may crack with
the gentlest blow of the hammer.
Among sliding windows, aluminum frames have a longer life
than UPVC frames. The latter are less expensive but their long-term durability
in our weather conditions has not been tested. It is best to get a local
fabricator to do the windows - some of them are really good and it works out
cheaper than the UPVC windows.
Old houses usually had cement floors with or without red
oxide. It is commendable if the red oxide can be retained and someone can
spruce it up! However, if the house has poor natural light, the dark red color
of the floor will not help in any way. Also, if the floor is pitted in several
places, faded unevenly or (since these houses are more often than not on the
ground floor) if there are patches of dampness, it is better to remove the
flooring completely. The floor should definitely be removed when the doorways
are only about six feet high since it is not advisable to raise the height of
the floor by another three inches.
For houses that have poor natural light, consider a
light-colored floor in shades of white, cream, beige or fawn.
Natural stone is the most attractive choice for floors.
However, all sandstones and slates are porous and when laid on the ground, the
floor may throw up the same water seepage problem as cement floors. Sandstone
or limestone also stains easily. Ask anyone with a white marble floor how much
they need to bleach the floor to keep it sparkling! Granite floors are hard on
the feet but last forever and are relatively easy to maintain. The only problem
is that it is difficult to find light shades in granites.
Fully vitrified tiles are truly value for money. They are
100% waterproof, easy to maintain and available in a mind-boggling variety of
shades and patterns.
Whether you decide on tiles or stone, get the mason to make a
sufficiently deep (1.5-2.0 inches) groove of 3-4 inches width above the floor.
This will allow the tile or stone layer to fix the skirting flush with the
wall.
Even the stone sourced from the best quarries or tiles
manufactured by the best brands may have some defects. Ensure the defective
part is hidden by using the piece for skirting or in an inconspicuous corner of
the room.
Make sure the floor is laid with the level sloping in the
right direction towards the drain in the kitchen, utility and bathrooms.
Grouting must be done within a day or two after laying the
floor so that the dust does not get into the fine joints between the tiles or
slabs.
Acid washing of tiles is mandatory to remove the excess grout
or cement on the floor. Scrubbing the floor with soap and water is an option if
there are chrome- plated fixtures that may blacken due to acid fumes.
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