Was there anything you didn't notice as quite common until looking to buy?

Person_one

Art_Contrary wrote: »

Good god, the pink ones are awful. I saw a studio flat a couple of years back: pink suite, pink tiles, pink carpet. WHY?! I've never seen a brown one! :shocked:

We moved into a new build when I was a kid in the early nineties. I remember the brochures for picking the fittings, and we ended up with one bright pink bathroom suite and one sickly peach! I don't think white was even an option, I wanted turquoise...

moneyistooshorttomention

Re the ripping out period home fittings - I'd tend to agree with keeping them if they are there.

I guess the thing is though that maybe they've been ripped out at a point at which they had stopped being contemporary, but hadn't yet got to old enough to be considered "period".

Take the 1970s for instance - oh please...take the last shred of 1970s out of my house:rotfl:. That is exactly the place where 1970s stuff is basically at the moment - but maybe 50 years from now people might be going "Why on earth did she rip out all the 1970s from this house? I wish she hadn't":rotfl:. But...yep...right now....most of my house is now circa early 21st century.

Jhoney_2

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Re the ripping out period home fittings - I'd tend to agree with keeping them if they are there.

I guess the thing is though that maybe they've been ripped out at a point at which they had stopped being contemporary, but hadn't yet got to old enough to be considered "period".

Take the 1970s for instance - oh please...take the last shred of 1970s out of my house:rotfl:. That is exactly the place where 1970s stuff is basically at the moment - but maybe 50 years from now people might be going "Why on earth did she rip out all the 1970s from this house? I wish she hadn't":rotfl:. But...yep...right now....most of my house is now circa early 21st century.

The point is that if someone wants a period property, the innards are part of the attraction, e.g if you do not like the 1970's fireplace and it is not your forever home, there are alternatives to knocking out the entire chimney! That is vandalism in the extreme - worse than wallpaper, PTT, coloured bathroom suites, Artex, and pebble-dashed exterior walls combined!.

lessonlearned

There is another point to add to,the issue of modernising/vandalising period properties, especially ripping out fireplaces and chimney breasts.

Buildings need to breathe and period properties were built in such a way that the open fireplace was part of this process. So often people block up a fireplace and make no provision for ventilation, then they wonder why the property develops a damp problem.

ive seen this so many times, also closing off cellar ventilation so that sub floors develop damp And rot.

I know energy costs are high but so often people don't see to grasp that it costs more to heat a damp house than it does to heat a well ventilated dry house.