Thread: Sunroom Reno

Hi All,
I have a timber sunroom attached to the back of my house. Its about 40years old and the wood in some areas mainly around windows where putty has fell out and been left by previous owners has become wet and rotten. This has extended beyond the window frame into the surrounding woodwork. I have a couple of weeks holidays coming up and am keen to tackle the job myself. It looks like replacement of wooden beads holding windows in place and supporting woodworking around them plus about half a dozen floor boards. The mostly dmaged wall is stud with MDF as outside and inside walls painted 'badly' I will post pics tommorrow to give you a better idea but I am thinking of replacing rotten stud work, floorboards, weatherboarding the outside and replacing beading/putty as required oh and a repaint too. My query is does anyone have experience doing this? I'm a beginner but keen to get stuck in? I reckon I can chop out most of the rotten stuff and replace it but what with? Would treated pine be ok for a stud wall/ replacement wood and the floorboards too? Also what is the best way to weatherboard the outside? All help gratefully received.

Here is some of the horror. More to Follow. All suggestions welcome!

Here are the rest.

I don'tknow too much about it but having just had some renovations/extensions done, I can tell you that there are different grades of timber used for frames. get the better grade so you don't have problems later on with movement and twisting. Floorboards should be hardwood, not treated pine.

Hootsmon, this "little reno job" has all the Hallmarks of one of those divorce jobs. I think you need to investigate further and maybe reverse your plan. i.e its not what you need to remove its more of what is actually going to be good enough to stay.

Get underneath and be sure the joists bearers and stumps are good. Most of the damage looks like water ingress. Where is it coming from and how are you going to prevent it. While your around check out for the little white wood chewing beggars, you might need to get a pro in for them.

If the wall framing is basically sound then just trash the cladding and dressing. Then you need to start over. If the window frames are buggered this can take a lot of time and money to fix. Sometimes just buying 2nd hand windows from a salvage yard can be easier.

I may be pessimistic but I have also had some experience in picking up the pieces from over ambitious projects. Just try and get a really good handle on what, and how, needs doing before you start.

If you are unsure maybe see if you can track down a good chippy to have a look at and offer advice. Down the track maybe he can do some of the more complex stuff while you do all the cleaning out, leg work etc.

BTW MDF Outside, I saw some plywood but was the original builder nuts???

Cheers and good luck. I project I'd love to tackle.

Thanks Squizzy,

The water has ingressed mainly from the windows due to poor maintenance of the putty. Hence the damge done is limited mostly to the wooden straps holding the pane inplace inside and the corners of the uprights. The other framework seems good. The supports and joists underneath seems sound with the floor having no sag or bounce. No evidence so far of white beasties but I haven't taken all the cladding off. I plan to remove it chop out or replace the damaged sections or whole bearers as required. I will then reclad the exterior with weatherboard (Suggestions welcome!) Reglaze and bed in with putty. I have copies or a coupla articles from here. Then a prime and repaint. The window frames look bad but are sound, I plan to sand, fill, sand, prime and paint after any reglazing necessary. Thats the plan so far but will depend on ehat I uncover. Of course if all else fails how much would you love a project like this and how much is a ticket from Perth to Melbourne? LOL
Thanks again for all advice.

Hootsmon, there has been some threads on weatherboards before, have a bit of a search "Seriph" may have posted a good link I think. I'm no weatherboard expert by a long shot.


Cheers

Hi,

I have another question for you guys. I was looking at timber in Bunnings today. Is the structural timber the stuff to go for to relace uprights etc that are water damaged. Bearing in mind this will be water tight once I do it via primer and paint on exposed surfaces and weatherboard on others?

my understanding is ( and I'm sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong ) is that timber which is stamped as structural timber will have been graded - i.e. the number and type of defects allowed is defined. Which means that you can use it with a degree of confidence if you are building to the Australian Timber Framing Standards. This means that the size of the timber and the grade of timber that you use is dictated by the spacings that you intend to use.

As you are replacing timber in a sun room you could probably get away with using other timber ( the owner of my house certainly did ( ) but you're probably going to find that the local council will want you to get a building permit for what you are planning anyway as you will be replacing part of the structure of the building and the Building Surveyor will expect you to use appropriate materials.

If you don't get a building permit you have to accept the risk that if at a later date someone climbs on the roof of the sun room and your repaired wall gives way that, even if you've moved on, you could find yourself picking up the bill.

I have to say that I struggle with a feeling that there is too much Big Brother here demanding that you get permits to breathe but know that if I were to suffer from the shoddy workmanship of a previous owner then I would want the full might of the law coming down upon their heads.

Hmmm,

Good point about the permit. But when does it become repair and when replacement though? I might have to give this some more thought?

if the cost of paying someone else to do the job ( labour and materials ) would be over $5000 then the council will say that it doesn't matter if it is repair or replacement then you need a permit anyway If it is under $5000 then it may be open to interpretation.

Go to the web-site for your council and see what they say on there, most councils give some guidance to their interpretation of the rules.

You can ring them up ( witholding your phone number - just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean to say they aren't after me! ) and say you are thinking of making an offer on a property in their area which you know needs work doing on the sunroom - will you need a permit if the internal timbers have been damaged and how much would it cost.

Hmmm, good idea. I've also found two panels of asbestos sheeting while pulling off the cladding. I'm waiting for a bloke to come for a quote to remove. This looks like a whole that is getting deeper and deeper.

Hootsman, don't worryabout getting someone in to remove the 2 sheet ..... Do It Yourself.

Get some bondcrete and mix it with water, spray that on the sheets to bind the surface. Get a P2 mask and disposable overalls from bunnings. Punch the nails through the sheet and then remove the sheets whole if possible.

Wrap the sheets in 200 micron black builders plastic, sealed with tape or just throw it in your neighbour's dumpster or otto bin.

Lastly spray the framing again with the bondcrete. Alternatively buy or hire a HEPA vacuum (Nilfisk GD1010 for $700 from Rapidclean) to suck up all the dust. Don't use a normal one because it will just spread that lovely dust.

All this will work out cheaper and you know it is done properly.

Cheers
Pulse

Pulse,

Thanks for the info. I'll still get the bloke out for a quote though. If its not too dear I'll probably get him to do it. SWMBO like things done properly and my attempts would only cause strife. I'm debating now whether to use hardwood for the framing or just structural pine. Some of the wood will end up being external as it will form part of the sill but will be primed and painted. What does everyone think?