Victorian detached houses.

[Chippo1]

Knot quite Victorian but I did have a semi in Chelmford built in 1913 , should still have it , but thats another story .

It was nice house to live in as other said sort of comfy nicely proportioned rooms etc .

But heating bills are high ,a DNS tuff always needs doing

As with houses this age built with virtually no footings about 450mm of corballed brickwork striaght on the clay ! So the semis ,a U shape , our rear leg of the U would fall away in summer and rejoin for the winter as the ground dried in summer , listen to the surveyors at sale and it would have required all sorts ,mbut it was fine just about a 5mm crack.

The timber was all lovely Canadian Douglas fir , rot resistant striaght and few knots , Zero rot anywhere

The original survey I had now 20 years ago said it need roof work due to the nails holding the clay tiles were at the end of their life , which I could have seen the limp wristed d head trying to get a tile off , god they were secure , and las time I drive past they were still there ,maths clay tiles were made in rotherhithe .

I got the bells working again , front door , back door ,mktichen , dining room and lounge

Kept other features where practical and generally refurbished

But yes it's a mission and expensive compared to a modern house of similar size.

[Jaguar steve]

My sister lives in one. Lovely period features including a grand staircase and beautiful doors and joinery and fireplaces and servants quarters in the loft.

It's bone crackingly cold in winter despite the heating system using more kerosene a day than Concorde on a late go around and needs a back of a fag packet £75k spending on it.

They've had enough. Going on the market in spring.

[hyphen]

Jaguar steve said:

It's bone crackingly cold in winter

Have they added insulation between the joists on the 1st floor, added insulation below joists on the ground floor?

Appreciate hard to do once floor is finished, but otherwise relatively cheap to do if you DIY it.

[Welshbeef]

hyphen said:

Have they added insulation between the joists on the 1st floor, added insulation below joists on the ground floor?

Appreciate hard to do once floor is finished, but otherwise relatively cheap to do if you DIY it.

It's the single glazed sash windows letter boxes and figment of the external doors leaking heat outplus it's a solid external wall. Big height ceilings mean like for like it will be much cooler or your going to be burning more heating to keep it at a good temp.

[MDMA .]

Welshbeef said:

The problems are roofs can be easily over £100k on slates alone/it's cheaper to demolish and build a new house in its place if work is stacking up.

[blade7]

AFAIK the roof is OK, I'm just weighing up what it could potentially cost in years to come. I'd be surprised if the imitation slate didn't last 20 + years though.

[TA14]

MDMA . said:

Welshbeef said:

The problems are roofs can be easily over £100k on slates alone/it's cheaper to demolish and build a new house in its place if work is stacking up.

I think that that price relates to his 83 bed ancestral pile in Wales...

[Sunnysider]

blade7 said:

AFAIK the roof is OK, I'm just weighing up what it could potentially cost in years to come. I'd be surprised if the imitation slate didn't last 20 + years though.

You're forgetting that many of these houses were built as 'gentlemans residences' & as such were made to much higher standards of quality & craftsmanship than other dwellings.

Ours had a new roof on 35 years ago which still looks brand new, & we replaced the last few original windows with double glazed units this summer, so there's really nothing else for us to worry about for a good few years.

Get a full structural survey done as we did, & if there are no major issues just buy it, or chip off the price to pay for any problems.

[hyphen]

blade7 said:

AFAIK the roof is OK, I'm just weighing up what it could potentially cost in years to come. I'd be surprised if the imitation slate didn't last 20 + years though.

As the house has been standing before most of us were born, and will be standing long after we are gone, subject to a surveyors all clear, I wouldn't worry.

Is it in need of a bit/full modernisation, or is it already done up?

[MDMA .]

TA14 said:

I think that that price relates to his 83 bed ancestral pile in Wales...

Well at £30 per m for reclaimed ones, it'll be a big roof at over 3000sqm. Or maybe everything is 20 times the going rate down South

[cranford10]

Welshbeef said:

The problems are roofs can be easily over £100k on slates alone/it's cheaper to demolish and build a new house in its place if work is stacking up.

If you live in Downton Abbey !

I had 6 bed detached Victorian and quote was £17,000 about 2 years ago. Gas & electric was £600 pm in the Winter and we were still freezing ! Everyone else loved that house except those of us who lived in it

Now have 4 bed , 1965 built that costs £110 pm gas etc and we are lovely &'warm

[Jag_NE]

cranford10 said:

If you live in Downton Abbey !

I had 6 bed detached Victorian and quote was £17,000 about 2 years ago. Gas & electric was £600 pm in the Winter and we were still freezing ! Everyone else loved that house except those of us who lived in it

Now have 4 bed , 1965 built that costs £110 pm gas etc and we are lovely &'warm

Had a similar experience, Victorian houses are cold and generally a PITA.

I also don't agree with the "character" argument unless you live in something relatively magnificent. Its got to the stage where people are calling out "character" in 3 bed terraced houses, it isn't character, its just fking old!

In fairness I can see why some people can talk themselves into thinking they are great houses as they can tend to be good value in terms of floor space, especially when comparing the lower end of the market Victorian terraces versus an equivalent price newer build shoebox.

[Welshbeef]

Lead pipework
Cast iron guttering & sometimes lead
Vast chimney stacks which all need Re pointing
Old wiring
Ceptic tanks
Chimney breasts which seep smoke into bedrooms so lining all of them.
Covings which are bespoke and cost a fortune to repair
Bespoke roses (lights) which get damaged cost a fortune to fix
Rotten weather boards
Rotting roof woodwork
Wetrot
Dry rot
Single glazing
Cold
Did I say cold

[TA14]

Welshbeef said:

Cast iron guttering & sometimes lead
Vast chimney stacks which all need Re pointing
Chimney breasts which seep smoke into bedrooms so lining all of them.
Rotten weather boards
Rotting roof woodwork
Wetrot
Dry rot

If that's really what you've got put the extension on the back burner and fix roof inc the whole of the chimneys and exterminate the rot, especially the dry rot.

[Welshbeef]

TA14 said:

If that's really what you've got put the extension on the back burner and fix roof inc the whole of the chimneys and exterminate the rot, especially the dry rot.

Not what I have - I don't have a Victorian house, but yes if I did I'd fix the big issues first before going for extension s

[MDMA .]

Concrete st box -

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/prop...

Victorian detached -

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

Hard choice!

[Welshbeef]

MDMA . said:

Concrete st box -

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/prop...

Victorian detached -

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

Hard choice!

That Victorian house how much is the slate on that?

[MDMA .]

Welshbeef said:

That Victorian house how much is the slate on that?

Your price or reality price?

[smn159]

MDMA . said:

Concrete st box -

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/prop...

Victorian detached -

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

Hard choice!

I wonder which footballer owns the Victorian detached?

[hyphen]

Welshbeef said:

Not what I have - I don't have a Victorian house, but yes if I did I'd fix the big issues first before going for extension s

Where did the £100k roof come from, and why that big list without a "You are unlikely to have more than a few of these" type introduction?

Very confusing.