Victorian house or new build?

[Sahmof3]

I live in a beautiful Victorian property packed with original features. Most of the year I absolutely love it, but in the winter it is positively arctic and I'm beginning to dread the onset already. Having to cook dinner with three jumpers and a coat on is no fun, and that is with the heat on! I usually end up in bed by 9pm, just so that I can take advantage of the electric blanket. With fuel bills on the rise again, I'm wondering whether it's time to bail out and buy a new build? I'd be warm and cosy and have a lot more dosh, but new builds are usually short on space and rather bland and uninspiring. Plus I worry that a new build would be a poor investment...or do you think perhaps they'll become more attractive to purchasers as energy prices continue their march upwards? What do you think? Would you prefer to live in an old property or a new one?

[Thumbwitch]

Old, no question.

Why is your house so cold - is it draughts? Do you have badly sealed sash windows?

[EeyoreIsh]

I'm in a victorian terrace and it was freezing last year. We're doing all we can to improve the situation with improved loft insulation, plugging gaps in floorboards etc, but at the end of the day the insulation in a new build will be far superior.

They are a bit like new car, in that the cost tends to be higher. And the storage isn't always great. But, I wouldn't rule out living in a new build as they can be very well laid out and so snug!

[Sahmof3]

Hi Thumbwitch. The sash windows have been refurbished, so they're not draughty, but they are huge! Floorboards have also been sealed. Being Victorian, the property is single skin which means we can't take advantage of cavity wall insulation. We've also got extremely high ceilings, which doesn't help.

[HappyAsASandboy]

If you have the money to move (estate agent fees, stamp duty, moving cost etc) then I would sink some of that money into insulating your house.

We live in a georgian house, built in early Victorian era. We have just taken the floor boards up downstairs to reveal the bare earth and wooden supports underneath, all of which is open to the draught through ventilation bricks. It is important for the house that there is air movement under the floors, but it is fine to insulate under the floor boards with kingspan or celotex. It was a horrible job, but has made so much difference to warmth. You could pay someone to do it - we were quoted about £1500 for someone to do a 5m x 5m room.

We also have secondary glazing, but you may be able to fix up your windows instead. Draughty sash windows make a very cold house.

So, I would stay put, but fix some of the things that might be making your house cold :) I think new builds are mostly small and badly built and tend to have very small gardens.

[Sahmof3]

HappyAsASandboy, did you find that secondary glazing helped? I've been told that it is great for insulating against noise but not so good at keeping in heat.
LifeofPo, I've been thinking of a woodburner, but what are the running costs like?

[Thumbwitch]

Yes, I would second looking at secondary glazing, and sealing your floorboards.
Also, do you have floor length curtains? And consider getting a curtain for your front door as well (I needed one, it made such a difference!)
If you have open fireplaces, they're a beast for draughts, so get a plate thingy to close off the chimney when you're not using it, or a woodburner/rayburn to close it in if you prefer.

New builds all have their own problems too, not least the fact that you don't know how well they've been built and they could start having problems within a few years (I lodged in one once, it had subsidence and cracks in the ceilings after 9 years, not good enough!) At least with pre-WW2 houses, you know they're not likely to fall over at the least provocation!

[Sahmof3]

Thumbwitch, we do have open fireplaces...lots of them! Stupidly, I hadn't really thought about those being a source of draughts!

[MummytoMog]

We spend about £300 a winter on wood, when we've been lazy and haven't scavenged, and we have the stove on from the minute we get up until we go to bed, September to May. It makes the most enormous difference - takes a couple of days to build up a nice head of heat in the house, but you feel better the minute you light it. We fitted internal shutters into our bay windows, which also helped keep in the heat. Our door curtains made a big difference as did insulating our unused chimney breast and side stack. You can get consultants to advise you on where you can insulate, and sounds like you should consider it. I was also a bit embarassed by how rubbish our loft insulation was, we shoved a load of space blanket over the top. Massive heavy curtains are good - ikea do winter liners

www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/70230861/

Although I bought fleece blankets (from Ikea) and stitched them onto the lining of our curtains. That helped, as did big rugs in the living room.

[Thumbwitch]

Ha, I know what you mean Sahm!
My last house in the UK still had its open fireplaces in the living room and bedroom above it, but the bedroom one had been made "ornamental", in that under the grate had been carpeted, and the chimney closed. Well bugger that, thought I - I quite fancied having the fire in my bedroom going! So I removed the chimney plate, and all the newspaper stuffed in behind it, cut the carpet back and re-established the hearth - and the draughts were terrible! I ended up having to re-stuff the chimney...

[SoftSheen]

We have a Victorian terrace that was very chilly when we first bought it.

Two things have helped: replacing the boiler with a much better one (big outlay) and stuffing old pillows up the chimney to prevent draughts (minimal outlay).

We also bought a portable oil-filled radiator, mainly for the kitchen which has no other source of heat and was often 10 C in the winter.

However I do sometimes fantasise about living in a nice warm, modern house where you can wonder around in a shirt during the winter, rather than needing at least three or four layers including a thick jumper.

[Thumbwitch]

Oh another thing that helped - draught-excluders on the doors, internal and external.
And keeping doors shut around the house - it's much easier to keep small areas warm at a time.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Loft insulation helped a lot here, but I must admit to living in a dressing gown and having a hotwater bottle stuffed up my jumper at times! Hadn't thought about the chimneys - how stupid am I?

[Perplexing]

My house is 1920s, I love it and would (have) sacrificed the chance to have a bigger, newer house to stay living here. It can be chilly in winter. Most of the draughts seem to come from underneath the floorboards - the downstairs suffers the most - upstairs is fine. We have a void, not big enough to be a cellar, but varnished boards (no carpet).

I think older properties tend to be more 'desirable' and hold their value better.

[WorrySighWorrySigh]

Living in a new build (well it was new when we bought it 8 years ago) I would agree that new builds have their problems.

• We have had to replace our boiler because the original one was faulty and had been badly fitted.
  
• The white UPVC door beading has yellowed badly.
  
• The decorating was all builders magnolia (the building trade's answer to blotting paper)
  
  The barest minimum is done by the builder and to the barest minimum standard.
  
  The problem with new build is that so much of the work is done by 'the lad' rather than a skilled tradesman. If you have your house rewired or new central heating fitted then the work will be done by the organ grinder not his monkey.
  
  There is a halfway - what about buying something a bit later eg 1930s onwards? You could renovate to bring much of it up to modern standards but still have character.

[nextphase]

Having lived in both (1910 terrace I bought, 2007 detached bought with DH), I love the room sizes and proportions, window sizes, storage, and the period features of the terrace.
I love the insulation of the new build.

Have you looked into how much insulation you have in the loft? Topping that up (from nothing ) made a massive difference to how quickly the house heated up, and how long it retained its heat.

I echo the comments up thread about floor length, lined curtains, and a door curtain.

Can you arrange the furniture to expose the radiators in the winter? we had a summer and winter arrangement of the sofas - summer, sensible conversation arrangement, hiding the radiator. Winter, less suitable for conversations / visitors, and difficult to draw the curtains, but one sofa cutting off the bay window. It was FREEZING behind there when I drew the curtains, but the radiator was exposed to the room!

Think my ideal would be a victorian, or maybe 1920/1930 detached which has been done up massively to put in the max insulation etc. Now, where is my lottery ticket

[Flossiechops]

We are bailing our Edwardian house as soon as the 5 yr mortgage tie in is over in Jan. Its all well and good loving period features etc but if you can't keep a house warm then for me it's not worth it. The money we have spent on gas/electricity makes me shudder and we've done most things we can to improve it. Sadly our lounge gets no sun until around 5pm and is freezing even on the hottest days. I simply cannot wait to get rid of it. I say this as somebody who has always bought period houses and had adored this current house from afar for ages. Do what's best for you!

[wonkylegs]

We had an Edwardian terrace which we made cosy and warm - insulation, double glazing, chimney balloons, long thick lined curtains, draught proofing, decent heating including tvrs etc
Our old house sold at £150k more than one opposite which hadn't done any of these things properly (it hadn't cost us that much to do the work)
We are in the middle of doing the same to our new Victorian semi.
Would never buy new build from one of the mainstream house builders. I work in construction and honestly think that it's shocking what they get away with in terms of quality, size and design (or lack of)

[MistyB]

Wood burner in every room!! Well, kitchen, lounge and the room below your bedroom. Scrump for wood and spend the money on merino base layers and fleece jumpers.

But then I have never made the best investment choices when it comes to houses!!!

[icklekid]

Just also to say have 2 friends currently trying to sell new builds, both have lost so much money and they really regret it!

[Sahmof3]

Thanks to all of you for some great tips and advice. I'm going to look into getting a wood burner, find out about wooden shutters and secondary glazing, invest in some heavy curtains and stuff some pillows up the chimney breasts and a hot water bottle up my jumper! I'll give it one more winter, but if it doesn't improve significantly, I'll look for the 'halfway house' suggested. Something with lower ceilings and cavity walls, but still a bit of character. Although a new build seems like a sensible choice in many respects, having read about the problems some of you have experienced and money lost by those trying to sell, I'd need to think very carefully about taking this route.

[bec0901]

We moved from a victorian terrace to a 1930s house last year and it is so much easier to keep warm!

The previous owners have put cavity wall insulation and loft insulation in. Our windows are only single glaze but are smaller than huge victorian sashes and fit very well.

I love victorian style decor and am struggling to work out how to make a 1930s house look good. But at least it feels warm!

[heritagewarrior]

Have you tried this website, which gives advice on energy saving in traditional buildings?

www.climatechangeandyourhome.org.uk/live/saving_energy.aspx