A free event is being held in Campbeltown to help owners of tenement and traditional buildings with maintenance.

The Campbeltown Look Up! event takes place on Tuesday, 28 November 2017 at 11am and will give free maintenance guidance, provided by local building experts, to home and property owners on how to check if their homes need to have work undertaken.

The event, organised by Campbeltown Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS), is part of National Maintenance Week and open to all property owners in Argyll and Bute.

The walk around Campbeltown town centre starts from the Campbeltown CARS office at 3 Harvey’s Lane and will be led by a conservation accredited architect. A seminar and presentation will follow. All those attending will get a free copy of the Tenement Handbook.

Councillor Aileen Morton, Leader of Argyll and Bute Council and Policy Lead for Economic Development, said:

“The free event will benefit owners of tenement and traditional properties in the area and inform owners of the signs to look out for that could show their homes and commercial properties have suffered damage and what to do next.

“The event will be very informative and led and supported by people experienced in the conservation, repair and maintenance of traditional properties and is a great opportunity for owners to arm themselves with invaluable guidance.”

The rewards to owners of knowing how to properly take care of their properties are many, from lower fuel bills and avoiding damp to cutting future repair costs that have the potential to greatly increase if not dealt with at an early stage.

Winter rainfall in Argyll and Bute has increased by 45 per cent over the past 50 years. Rainfall can cause issues for roofs, gutters, walls and drains.

A four-point guide to saving your home from damp:

1. Check your roof for slipped slates or tiles.  From street level, you may see loose slates sitting in the gutter. If you can get some height from a neighbouring building, you can also use a pair of binoculars. Roof leaks are also visible from inside the loft where wet timbers and walls show up leaks.

2. Check your gutters when it’s raining – is water coming over the top because they are blocked or leaking through broken joints leaving damp stains on the walls below?  Are the gutters sloping the right way to the downpipes?

3. Check your downpipes for blockages caused by plants and leaves.  Check the backs of your downpipes too – some painters leave the backs unpainted allowing the pipes to rust and crack.

4 .Check your drains at ground level too to make sure they are clean and taking all that additional rainfall away.

If you live in a flat, the new Under One Roof Scotland website (www.underoneroof.scot), will help you persuade your co-owners to take part and tell you what to do if they won’t join in.

The website has more than 100 articles on how to manage tenement, flat and apartment blocks and more than 200 illustrations of typical building problems and specifications to help you get the best from a builder.

Campbeltown CARS is a project jointly funded by Historic Environment Scotland and Argyll and Bute Council. It provides grant funding for repair and conservation works to buildings in and around Main Street as well as traditional skills training and community engagement events.

Find out whether your property is eligible for grant funding and how to apply. (https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/campbeltown-regeneration).