How old is your house, and how many problems have you had?

[juniperjane]

I ask because my best friend really wants to sell her modern new build house and get something older with character. However her DH won't touch anything 'old' with a barge pole.

So how old is your house, and how many problems have you had with it?

Thanks!

[TunipTheUnconquerable]

About 200-250 years. What counts as a problem? We have to maintain it, eg keeping on top of the paintwork. A gutter fell down but we rang a builder and got it fixed. We have one ongoing issue with a damp wall that we've so far failed to fix.

If you want an old house you need to be willing to learn a bit about maintenance and how old houses work, because the things builders or surveyors suggest aren't always right and can make things worse (eg inappropriate damp proof courses). The reason we have a damp wall is because it's been painted with impermeable masonry paint which stops the moisture escaping. If the previous owner and dh had known not to do that it would have been fine!

[NotJustACigar]

Our previous house was around 170 years old. We never had any problems except a few slates blew off the roof in a big storm and had to be replaced, but that's about it.

[BonaDea]

Ours is about 140 years old or so. I don't think we have a huge amount of maintenance compared to a modern house... Or at least not after we did all the work we had to do to modernise when we moved in (it had been badly neglected for years). At the moment we've sprung a leak on a flat roof, but that can happen anywhere, right.

The other way to look at it is that a house which has stood for 100+ years will probably stand for another 100 unlike some more flimsily built properties. If you get somewhere which has been well maintained I think the quality may be better than new.

[Liara]

About 500 years old, and we have had endless problems - but then it was pretty much a ruin that we have been renovating.

[Gooner123]

My cottage was built around the 1650s,yes there is always something that needs doing,it's mainly just basic maintanence though.
With a old house you can get a lot of quirks,sloping floors,low beams etc and you either love it or hate it,I wouldn't ever want to go back to a sq.concrete box.

[MissYamabuki]

90 years
Leaks in roof, flat roof, bathroom
Rising damp
Had to instal double-glazing, some of it has needed retouching
Whole of the outside needs rerendering, lots of drafts, solid walls are more expensive to insulate than cavity, not so many grants and.not many companies offering them
Drafts from suspended floorboards
Nooks And crannies in rooms are lovely but it can be difficult to fit furniture, big bay windows are a lot more expensive to dress than smaller modern windows

Still love it though... hth :)

[MrsBungle]

My old house was over 150 years old. We never had any problems.

My current house is 25 years old, no issues here either.

[ginmakesitallok]

About 13 yearsold , and apart from the usual redecorating, boiler problems and a blown down gate nothings needed done

[carlajean]

Built in 1780, we've constantly been spending money on it, one way or another, though most of the problems have been with the plumbing and electrics that have been added piecemeal over the last 50 years.
We've enjoyed living in it, despite all that, but can't wait to move into our next, which is 10 years old.

[MuttonCadet]

Current house 500 years old, nothing yet (but only been here a year).

Previous house 150 years old, nothing more than standard maintenance, mainly around electrics and roof tiles.

[wonkylegs]

140yrs - no problems as such
We bought it knowing its been lived in by the previous family for 25yrs and needed updating so we are renovating it completely but the only unexpected things that we didn't know about were that it had a lead main which wasn't a problem as such and perfectly liveable with but we wanted to improve the water pressure & thought that as we were doing so much work we'd just do it and get it over & done with. We also found the roof we thought needed replacing had actually been done so sympathetically that you couldn't tell it wasn't the original which was great as it saved us £20k. Bones of the house are very solid & problem free.

Our previous house was 100 yrs old and the only problems we had with it were from the developers work from just before we moved in - badly fitted bathroom & kitchen, cheap boiler etc. The house was actually very sound.

[TeacupDrama]

house built 1887 most of the stuff from 1887 is fine apart from maintenance. a small section of lead in one of the roof gulleys will need replacement, house is structurally sound
Has all the original wooden sash windows and glass, what has had to be redone is all the 1970's modernisation the attempts at rewiring were dangerous OK I know the early edwardian electrics needed replacing as now we want more than a single socket per room but they should not have stripped out heavy duty cable to replace with thinner so when we initially moved in the main fuse box tripped if you boiled a kettle while washing machine on

you need to avoid victorian houses that were improved in 1960's with wrong types of waterproof render/ mortar/cement/ attempts as damp courses or wall insulation ( ie sealed mositure in to make it more damp than before) rather than allowing the lime mortar to breathe also old roof spaces need care with insulation as you can again seal moisture in

[cafesociety]

This place is 60 years old, solid and well built. The previous owner built a kitchen extension.

The kitchen and bathroom have been replaced as outdated and the flat roofs on the kitchen extension and on the garage have been redone a couple of times. The outside render needs painting every 10 years or so. The windows have been replaced too. That's it.

It isn't all done at the same time so costs are staggered and done as and when needed. Even a new build would probably have the kitchen and bathroom renewed in time.

[IDismyname]

About 500 years old. Been here 10 years. Continual maintenance and costs, but nothing too scary so far. You need a tame builder

I view myself as being the custodian of the house for others to enjoy in the next few hundred years.

However, you do have to live with its quirks!

[NinjaKangaroo]

It's 20yrs old. No problems at all, very happy.

[AnnaBegins]

Ours is 200 years old, only been here a year but had no problems except a little damp, which we expected. We are fixing it as we go along

I could never live in a new house, ours has character.

[littlecrystal]

Ours is 110 years old victorian terrace. We have not done major work apart from redecoration as we have no money, but I feel that it needs thousands of investment - new chimneys, new plaster, rewirring, new plumbing, fixing penetrating damp (especially got worse in this rainy season), rising damp, some worrying cracks in odd places, proper insulation, leveling floors, new front paving etc. I am selling and leaving all this pleasure for the new owner.

[Forago]

10, none

[BackforGood]

About 120years old - the only problems we've encountered have been with rectifying some very dodgy work done by the bloke who owned it end of 80s into 1990s and converted it into flats, then back into a house. The original stuff doesn't give us any problems.

[Marcipex]

30, no problems till this week!

[Clargo55]

35 years, endless problems and lots of money spent trying to I'd them.

[Clargo55]

Fix* them.

[Oodlesofoodles]

Last house 120, nothing beyond updating and storm damage.
Current house 250, lot of updating was harder due to listing and conservation area but if you're buying an already done one that's not your problem. Wonky walls/floors are our main issue!

[TunipTheUnconquerable]

I'm in the process of buying a 300 year old house that's more problem than house.