article_snippet: Every room needed a facelift from top to bottom.
article_snippet: It cost around £15,000 for the structural work and this involved digging a metre-deep trench round the house. '
article_snippet: Every four years we need to inject chemicals into the walls and spray every bit of timber to make sure we don't get termites.'
article_snippet: From termite infestations to monsoon damage, it cost around £15,000 to take on all the structural work and 14 months to complete .
article_snippet: Mr Steen said: 'The langurs running around on the roof of the building, coupled with the four-month period of monsoons and high winds, meant the roofing tiles needed constant repairs. '
article_snippet: The last time we had we done, we had to buy 1,500 new tiles. '
article_snippet: It took 14 long months to complete the renovation of the property and it's one of those houses which constantly requires maintenance.'
article_snippet: we arrived with the intention of taking over a colonial estate which is 700 years old, and it took a lot of fixing up. '
article_snippet: The pair arrived with the intention of taking over a colonial estate, but at 700 years old, it required a lot of fixing up .