1890's old terraced house

Wobblydeb

My old house was an 1890s brick terrace and I loved it. Lived there very happily for 8 years.

As long as you are aware of what will need repairing / replacing in the next few years then there is no reason not to buy an older house. If work is needed though, be sure you are able to pay for it, and happy to either do it, or engage tradesmen (I never did enjoy that bit).




As well as the damp and asbestos, you're probably going to need to look at the condition of:

• Roof
• Windows
• Exposed structural timberwork
• Electrics
• Plumbing
• Pointing
• Chimney stack
• Plasterwork
• Stairs and floors

Your survey should cover all of this though, and give you an idea of any repairs needed, and the likely cost.

p.s. Timber sash windows are a b*gger to keep on top of.

martinthebandit

To me an older house is a bonus so that wouldn't put me off at all.

My advice would be, make a cheeky low offer and when (if) its accepted get a full survey done, but be aware that the results of the survey will make scary reading.

If its been empty for a while and there are no obvious signs of damp then I wouldn't worry about damp.

One of the biggest causes of damp in older houses is people sealing them up too much by installing double glazing and blocking fireplaces etc.

Oh and one last bit of advice, some posters tend to hide good advice behind a veneer of rudeness, I don't think they mean anything by it

Catty212

martinthebandit wrote: »

To me an older house is a bonus so that wouldn't put me off at all.

My advice would be, make a cheeky low offer and when (if) its accepted get a full survey done, but be aware that the results of the survey will make scary reading.

If its been empty for a while and there are no obvious signs of damp then I wouldn't worry about damp.

One of the biggest causes of damp in older houses is people sealing them up too much by installing double glazing and blocking fireplaces etc.

Oh and one last bit of advice, some posters tend to hide good advice behind a veneer of rudeness, I don't think they mean anything by it

Thank you. We'll see what this week brings.

Just wish some folk would be either not reply to posts at all or be a little more polite

madeupname1

Catty212 wrote: »

The house is a 1890's end terrace.

My own two pennies worth as a fairly recent owner of one of these!

As one of the earlier posters mentioned, you have to identify where the problem is coming from. For example, it may be penetrating damp if the external walls aren't sound; or it could be rising damp (i.e. dampness rising from the ground level). Alternatively it could be a leak - from a roof, a window etc etc

In my case recitifying the penetrating damp in the end of terrace wall required access to the gardens of 2 of my neighbours and therefore their consent. They were eventually helpful but it took some time to coordinate. If the same applies to you, you'll want to know how friendly / helpful your future neighbours will be

Also - get a range of quotes as they can vary wildly. From recollection the quotes I received started at £1,200 and went up to about £12,000. Also, obvious, but check that they are all quoting for the same thing and the quote relates to all the work you'll need to get done. Assume the worse case scenario!

It can take quite a long time for the damp to dry out. Ideally, internally, this requires chipping off the old plaster to the brickwork, leaving the brickwork to dry out, and then replastering. Do not underestimate the disruption, especially if you are expecting to move in and live in a pristine home from day one.

BTW - Sorry some of the responses have been less than polite. I myself learned the hard way that you need a thick skin on these forums!!!

redlady_1

Been there, bought one, renovated it, would never do it again. It takes your very soul!!!! Let alone double your budget unless you know tradesmen who can do mates rates.

then there is the problem of tradesmen...

Also, my survey was less than glowing but I still went ahead and am very pleased I did.

jc808

redlady_1 wrote: »

Been there, bought one, renovated it, would never do it again. It takes your very soul!!!! Let alone double your budget unless you know tradesmen who can do mates rates.

then there is the problem of tradesmen...

Also, my survey was less than glowing but I still went ahead and am very pleased I did.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

spannerzone

Southend1 wrote: »

Just wondering how you know this? I would have thought it is very hard to tell on most houses - e.g. may be covered with render etc

Definitely a good idea to get a proper survey if you make an offer but don't let the age of the house put you off!

Good luck!

THis is a good point, my 1906 end of terrace house with cavity wall does not have a visible damp proof course on the outside brickwork, it simply isn't there. However when I removed a brick to fit an extra airbrick there was a slate damp proof course clearly seen in the inside cavity wall brickwork, I'm still not sure there's a DPC on the external brickwork though as none was visible when removing the brick.

Catty212

madeupname1 wrote: »

My own two pennies worth as a fairly recent owner of one of these!

As one of the earlier posters mentioned, you have to identify where the problem is coming from. For example, it may be penetrating damp if the external walls aren't sound; or it could be rising damp (i.e. dampness rising from the ground level). Alternatively it could be a leak - from a roof, a window etc etc

In my case recitifying the penetrating damp in the end of terrace wall required access to the gardens of 2 of my neighbours and therefore their consent. They were eventually helpful but it took some time to coordinate. If the same applies to you, you'll want to know how friendly / helpful your future neighbours will be

Also - get a range of quotes as they can vary wildly. From recollection the quotes I received started at £1,200 and went up to about £12,000. Also, obvious, but check that they are all quoting for the same thing and the quote relates to all the work you'll need to get done. Assume the worse case scenario!

It can take quite a long time for the damp to dry out. Ideally, internally, this requires chipping off the old plaster to the brickwork, leaving the brickwork to dry out, and then replastering. Do not underestimate the disruption, especially if you are expecting to move in and live in a pristine home from day one.

BTW - Sorry some of the responses have been less than polite. I myself learned the hard way that you need a thick skin on these forums!!!

I know there are issues with two of the windows (bathroom and 2nd bedroom) which are going to be replaced.

We just wan an idea whether there's potentially going to be issues straight away with damp. Hence the visit on Wednesday. Providing there's nothing major obvious, we'll then make an offer and get a full survey (structural survey) before we sign anything.

This is our first buy and we're a little frightened, mainly due to it's age I think.

Fingers crossed:cool:

SGE1

If you like the house, go in a put an offer. The structural survey will highlight any issues, so there's no much point in trying to second guess what it might come up with. Especially if the vendors don't accept your offer, in which case you've done a whole lot of worrying for nothing!

Our house (also first) is a 1890s terrace. The survey said there was a bit of rising damp, and a lot of other stuff too - while most of it sounds scary, none of it actually is. Damp isn't actually always a problem - we've done nothing to fix ours as we're really not sure it's worth the hassle, see here (if the 'damp meter' says there's damp, but there's no physical sign of any damp - no flaking paint, no smell - then you probably don't need to worry too much!)