Why rooms wear out
Everything inside a building slowly deteriorates (gets worse) with use and time. Causes: sunlight fades paint, rubbing wears floors, water causes damp and mould, temperature changes cause cracks, and insects like termites eat wood.
A room has a life: finishes last about 5 to 15 years, fittings 10 to 25 years, the frame much longer. Knowing this lets us plan care.
Maintenance: care before big trouble
Maintenance is the regular work that keeps a room safe and working.
- Routine: daily cleaning, wiping, airing.
- Preventive: planned checks and small jobs: look for cracks, damp, loose tiles, leaking taps, termite signs; repaint every few years.
- Corrective: repair after a fault is found.
Early repair is cheaper: a small crack costs 1 unit now, about 3 units after two years and about 8 units after five years, because water spreads the damage.
Repair, renovation and rebuild
Repair fixes a fault and keeps the room as it was. Renovation improves the old room: new finishes, new layout or better services. Rebuild removes and builds again. More change usually means more cost and time.
Choose by asking: What is wrong? How big is it? What do we want after? What is the budget? Is the frame still safe? A survey answers these.
Steps of renovation
- Survey: inspect the room and note faults, measurements and what is behind the walls.
- Plan and budget: decide the work, drawings, cost, time and any permission needed.
- Strip out: remove old finishes and fittings carefully; protect people from dust.
- Services: pipes, wires and ducts are changed while walls are open.
- Finishes: ceiling, walls, then floor, then joinery.
- Clean and handover: clean, test, check quality, give records.
Safety: switch off power, wear masks, and check old materials for harmful dust before breaking.
Key formulas and definitions
- Total cost = sum of the cost of each job
- Health % = 100 − (fault points)
- Early repair cost < late repair cost
- Renovation order: survey → plan → strip out → services → finishes → clean
Worked examples
1. Fixing a crack now costs 1 unit; after 5 years it costs 8 units. How many times dearer is waiting?
8 ÷ 1 = 8 times dearer.
2. You repaint (3 units), fix damp (4 units) and fill a crack (2 units). Find the total.
3 + 4 + 2 = 9 units.
3. Why are pipes and wires changed before new wall finishes?
Pipes and wires are inside the wall. If finishes are done first, we must break them again to reach the pipes.
4. A room needs only new paint and one tap repair. Repair, renovate or rebuild?
Repair. Only small faults need fixing and the layout does not change.
Common mistakes
- Ignoring a small crack or damp patch until it grows.
- Painting over damp without finding and stopping the water.
- Starting finishes before pipes and wires are done.
- Skipping the survey, so hidden faults appear in the middle of the job.