Anyone know of any renovation forums? I am looking for a place with info for renovating/restoring really old homes. As the place has been vacant we want to see if there any grants or programs to help with costs to bring it back to liveable. I have seen some info about grants but looking for more guidance. I have tried to google for forums but mostly find sites with info, I am looking for a place to read about experience others have had etc.
We are trying to figure out if we should get a structural engineer to give us a survey on whether the place is going to crumble and kill us...its been suggested here to reach out to builders as they might do a free assessment but I am not sure how well they can determine possible structure issues, if they would just refer us to an engineer. We considered Building survey but as I understand that, even at the highest level they would probably just say to consult with engineer...seems like they are Jack of all trades but not really master's of any so if they aren't certain the reports will note to comsult a specialist...plus they won't go higher than 3 meters from the ground, seems a bit restricted. Might still see if we can get free assessment from local builders as they might have engineers they use which they can recommend.
