ENROL NOW

Building Renovation

Course CodeBSS104
Fee CodeS2
Duration (approx)100 hours
QualificationTo obtain formal documentation the optional exam(s) must be completed which will incur an additional fee of £30. Alternatively, a letter of completion may be requested.

Bring something old and worn back to life

  • Find out how to add value to a property.
  • Learn about the tools and techniques involved in building restoration.
  • Learn to plan, prepare and execute a renovation project to repair or improve part or all of an existing building.
  • Find ways to improve an existing renovation business.
  • Enhance your employability in construction and building maintenance.
  • Improve your knowledge of practical aspects of building renovation.
 

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

  1. Introduction to Building Renovation Projects
    • Identifying Constraints
    • What and Why are you renovating
    • Determining what is worth doing
    • Where to begin
    • What tooms to renovate
    • Managing risks - avoiding surprises
    • Determining costs
    • Dealing with subcontractors and tradesmen
    • Safety on Site
    • Allowable tolerances
  2. Core Structural and Site Works
    • Moisture problems - drainage, condensation, plumbing, roof leaks etc
    • Biological damage -animals, mould, dry rot, etc
    • Fire damage
    • Foundations
    • Load bearing beams
    • Reparing damaged walls and roofs
    • Using scaffolds, cranes, temporary supports
  3. Replacing/Repairing Roofs and Floors
    • Roof characteristics
    • Roof coverings -slatyes, tiles, thatch, shingles, metal sheet, etc
    • Roof repair Jobs
    • Cleaning and Painting roofs
    • Floors - ground floors, upper floors, suspended floors, etc
    • Floor finishes
    • Solid floors, wood floors
    • Floor repair jobs
    • Cleaning and staining floors
    • Floor coverings -linoleum
  4. Doors, Windows and walls
    • Wall maintenance
    • Rendering
    • Sealing
    • Cleaning efflorescence, types of stains, etc
    • Preserving timber
    • Repair jobs
    • Re-pointing
    • Replacing bricks
    • Window frame materials - aluminium, metal, UPVC, wood
    • Window types
    • Repairing broken window glass
    • Doors -panelled, flush, ledged and braced
    • How to hang a door
    • Adjusting existing doors
  5. Plastering and Tiling
    • Plastering tools
    • Using plaster
    • Cutting plasterboard
    • Fixing plasterboard to walls
    • Jointing plasterboard
    • Repairing holes in plasterboard
    • Repairing cracks
    • Fixing plasteboard to ceilings
    • Plastering over plasterboard
    • Finishing outside corners
    • Tiling tools
    • Tiling floors
    • Tiling walls
  6. Carpentry Renovation
    • Carpentry tools - hammers, saws, chisels, planes and other hand tools
    • Power tools - nail guns, saws, drills, grinders, planes, sanders
    • Choosing wood -types of wood
    • Buying wood - stress grading timber
    • Working with wood
    • Types of joints -edge, angled, framing, housing, halving, dowel
    • Fixing joints -nails, screws, glues, other fasteners
    • Finishing -sandpaper, wood fillers
    • Applying woodworking skills
  7. Painting
    • Painting tools
    • Paint work
    • Before painting - preparing different surfaces
    • What to paint a surface with - brick, concrete, cement, stone, plaster, metal, wood
    • Preparing to paint
    • Using brushes
    • Cleaning and storing brushes
    • Using rollers - cleaning and storing
    • Spray painting
  8. Plumbing Basics
    • Tyupes of plumbng jobs
    • Roof plumbing and guttering
    • Drainage plumbing
    • Grey water plumbing
    • Water supply - water tanks 0- underground tanks, other water sources
    • Plumbing tools
    • Plumbing fittings
    • Working with copper pipes - cutting, joining
    • Working with plastic pipes - cutting, joining
    • Replaving taps
    • Earth bonding
    • Sanitary appliances
  9. Electrical Basics
    • Understanding electricity - current, voltage, resistance, Ohm's law, Voltage
    • Basic home electrics
    • Tools -voltage tester, socket tester, other tools
    • Basic wiring jobs - wiring a plug, wiring a light switch
    • Light fittings
    • Lighting design
    • Solar power
    • Energy ratings
  10. Renovating a Room
    • Planning a room renovation
    • Scheduling works
    • PLanning time
    • Drawing a budget
    • Project management
    • Choosing materials and appliances
    • Special Project

Aims

  • Determine the nature and scope of work required for a building renovation project.
    • Explain how to prioritise and address the most important structural deficiencies in the early stages of any building renovation.
    • Explain how roofs and floors can be repaired or renovated in an old building.
    • Explain how doors and windows can be repaired or replaced in a building or room renovation.
    • Explain how plastering and tiling work is undertaken
    • Explain tools, techniques and applications for carpentry work in building repairs and renovations.
    • Explain selection and use of paints in interior and exterior decoration of buildings.
    • Explain plumbing work for renovation jobs
    • Explain electrical work for building renovations.
    • Plan and either manage or undertake the renovation of a room

Learn to understand and Counteract Deterioration in Construction.

Some construction does last (consider the pyramids), but for the most part, there are things that cause deterioration. Understanding those impacts is the first step in detecting and circumventing problems with deterioration in building construction.

Buildings are affected by the weather, and living things such as wood rots and animal infestations. If left unchecked, biological or chemical deterioration can and will occur in any building. 

  • A poorly constructed building will be more prone to deterioration.
  • Buildings exposed to harsher climates will be more prone to deterioration.

Protective surfaces can break down, subsidence can cause movement of foundations and cracking in walls, and ground or air water can bring their own toll on a building's integrity.  

Moisture
Moisture is a common problem, which may be caused by a wide variety of problems including:

  • Water moving upwards from the ground (this is capillary action - similar to the way a sponge dipped into water will soak water up into the drier parts above the water).
  • Leaks from the roof, windows or seals around pipes, vents, chimneys or anything else on the outside of the building.
  • Leaks through cracks in exterior walls.
  • Leaks from internal water pipes or drains.
  • Condensation on poorly ventilated surfaces in a humid climate.
  • Runoff rainwater seeping under building or into walls.

Animals 
Termites are something of a 'silent destroyer' of timber in houses because they often cause extensive damage without homeowners being aware that they have invaded.
Rodents are another unwelcome guest in properties although the damage they cause is less likely to affect the structure of properties unless the house has been vacant for many years. Rats and mice gnaw through materials to make tunnels through which they can pass. They have teeth which continue growing throughout their lives and gnawing is how they file them down.

Birds
Birds are only usually a problem in vacant houses which have entry points such as smashed or missing windows and holes in roofs. 

Mould
Moulds are a type of fungus. Different types of mould can become problematic in households. Moulds thrive in moist environments. Outdoors they can be found on wet leaves beneath a forest floor, in caves or in clogged gutters. Indoors moulds can be found in wet areas like kitchens and bathrooms but they also emerge where there is inadequate ventilation and moisture such as on the insides of windows where there is condensation and between the linings of curtains. 

 

WHY STUDY THIS COURSE?

  • You may want to renovate your own home, or perhaps your place of work. Doing it yourself can not only save money, but provide more control over how the job is done; not to mention a wonderful sense of satisfaction when the job is completed.
  • Learning to renovate can also enhance your employment skills. It can help you secure employment in the construction or property management industry; or lay a foundation for developing your own small service business.
  • You may simply want to become a better handyman, to do more of the day to day maintenance at home or work, avoiding the cost and often wait, to get a tradesman in to fix a damaged floor or wall, or sort out a door that isn't working properly.

 

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