To move house to busier road to keep DH happy?

[BeethovenNinth]

We live in a fine enough house; was always temporary as we are a big family. I’m ashamed to say my DH himself is too ashamed to bring people back (work colleagues etc) as our house is very modest. (Please no judgement here- this is the way it is).

thing is, I like our little house. We have nice neighbours and a sunny enough little garden. DH is desperate for more space - he has a hobby that needs more space.

we have been looking a very long time and can’t find a house we agree on. In short - I’m a picky nightmare. Every house I look at, I find fault with (eg aspect of house, sun, a not so good walk for the kids to school, too far from bus stop).

new house is fine. The garden is a little darker but it’s on a busier road it gives us much more space and a huge garage.. ( We currently live on a through road to an estate already and our back garden is already about 25 m from a busy town road). New house fronts to a previously rural road which leads to next town so a quieter road in some respects but still a lot of cars at peak times eg sometimes need to wait to cross at 0800. Very quiet road at night. (This is small town in rural ish Scotland so not massively busy)

DH desperate to move, we offer at 10am. I will be fine with it but worried about traffic noise annoying me. (Although I type this listening to a fair bit of traffic noise as it is - just further away).

also not sure how bad the extra pollution is in terms of the kids playing out.

sorry for length of post. This is the first house we both like and I’m nervous and can’t sleep!!!

I wouldn’t be put off by road noise as long as there is double glazing. I would be more worried about the kids playing out but you’ve now said it’s a cul de sac off a main road. I think go for it as you’ve been looking a long time and this is the only one you’ve agreed on.

It’s usually windy in Scotland so pollution should be wafted away. Also can you plant a big thick hedge between the house and the traffic?

If you have replacement windows these shut out virtually all the traffic noise although you’ll notice it when the windows are open. Before long most vehicles will be electric and the engine noise and pollution will be much less. You’ll still get road rumble though. I wouldn’t want a noisy garden, we fronted onto a main road but had a massive garden backing onto school playing fields, it was lovely and quiet most of the time.

From experience, getting in and out of your drive will be a pain at peak times (I always reversed in as it was safer to drive forwards onto the road.)

People do tend to be put off busy roads so it might be harder to sell in a slow market.

Do you love it though OP? If you think you could both be happy there that’s the main thing.

The main issue for me is the side garden where the kids would play is effectively - max 1 metre - from the pavement to the road. At the top end. It’s an l shaped garden that wraps around the house.
its a beautiful house - set up and at the end of the cul de sac but this means its next to the road. I think compared to most city roads it’s pretty quiet overall.

on the pollution point, its interesting as I thought particles from brakes and tyres are as bad?

i am not worried getting in to the main road. Off peak hours it’s very quiet. Maybe a few cars and then quiet for thirty seconds. Even in peak, it’s maybe five cars and a decent break.

But why is that an issue? I grew up with a house that was also on the main road and it didn’t bother us? My parents had a fence so it’s not like we could run into the road - I’m not sure what the problem is?

ps yes it’s very windy in Scotland and we live in a windy county but the prevailing wind I think will blow some into the house

You're just making issues where issues don't exist at this point, imo.

puddles I guess pollution/noise? Current garden has a low hum of traffic. This house will have cars past much closer.

at the back is lovely woodland and I know the next door neighbour who is nice.

rice I am. It’s the way I work. It’s what my (long suffering) husband says too.

every house I think “oh I like it” and then find faults and we stay. I wasn’t always like this - we got burned in the last recession a bit and it’s made me super cautious. And I’m already cautious.

i am a total PITA on stuff like this.

Yeah a wet road totally changes the sound. I used fo be able to tell the weather from the noise, before I opened my eyes in the morning.

My concern would be does this mean your children can't leave the house by a pavement to walk anywhere?

Hm, I think there's a difference between being a (self confessed!) PITA and actually sabotaging major things without a genuine reason.

I thought thus too but apparently car tyres are a significant source of both noise and air pollution. So moving to electric won’t fix that.

I get it op. I wouldn’t want to live in a house where frankly there was only a wooden fence, footpath and maybe a low metal barrier was the only thing stopping a car or lorry charging in the garden where my children where playing tbh 🤷🏻‍♀️ maybe I’m too picky too.

Noise wise I have a family member who lives 4 houses in from the train track and he doesn’t even hear them anymore his zoned them out and they are loud I certainly hear them when I visit.

You’re right, I’d forgotten about the tyre pollution.

I will say though that having travelled abroad recently to various cities where there were more electric vehicles, the difference was noticeable.

Mmm. I have overegged it. Now the road is no longer a rural country road (due to massive town extension) it’s pretty safe. 20mph (when cars stick to it!) there is still the odd lorry that doesn’t and a lot of farm vehicles. The road it’s on leads to fields and a small town five miles away. The local kids all walk along said road to get to school and it’s fine. (Well actually car did hit someone a decade ago but it was a freak accident).

so I have no worries about a car or lorry coming into the garden. Not least as there is a low wall. Low speed limit. It just feels like a thoroughfare coming into the town.

rice I’m neurotic about major changes. People tell me I’m very laid back and I am - about the small stuff. The large stuff - I’m a quivering wreck who over analyses. I’m actually quite nice and most people don’t know how neurotic I am about this stuff.

Moving house is massively stressful, and choosing a new one is a big decision. However it sounds like you’ve found a good one OP.

if it doesn’t end up suiting you, then you move. But it sounds fine to me.

You say you’re a big family. How many children have you got and how many bedrooms currently?

How many bedrooms does the new one have?

3 kids, three dogs. I can’t share a bedroom with DH as he is an insomniac (probably because he is married to me!)

new house gives us two extra bathrooms upstairs (currently have v small bathroom upstairs for all five, shower room downstairs). I currently sleep in a tiny study. I would have to sleep downstairs at new house but it has four decent double rooms upstairs. Even me using one room downstairs as a bedroom, we would have large kitchen/family area, sitting room plus additional room downstairs for DH/music room. Plus bigger garden. Plus huge garage for storage. Great area.easy to walk
to school. I love the local woodland. Feels very rural.

just stupid road at front!

I live on an A road which has a 30mph speed limit, I think we have 13,000 vehicle movements a day travelling along it.
I don't even notice the noise execpt if more than 2 sirens go past and thenmy only thought is that there might have been an accident.

I have normal windows and you can't really hear the traffic in the house.
The front of my house is 20ft from the road so quite close.

Happy to answer any questions you have.

every house I think “oh I like it” and then find faults and we stay.

But every house comes with compromises. You're not going to find the perfect house because it doesn't really exist. Your best bet when house-hunting is making a list of the Must Have things and the Ideal/Nice to have. Does this house fit the necessary criteria and plenty in the Ideal, or do the downsides outweigh the pros?

I think if this one ticks enough boxes you should put an offer in. You've outgrown your existing house and need to move on now. (We need more space for DH's hobby/work but we're hoping to extend rather than move, as our house is great in every other way) It's a huge thing to move house, few people seem to find it non-stressful...

Pollution would worry me more than the noise. My parents live off a main road, she ended up with copd (which she died from). They said it was attributed to pollution, as she never smoked. Personally I wouldn't want to.live on a main road especially with children, who's lungs are still developing.

Honestly, the new house sounds great and much better for everyone's

I think you need to look at why you keep sabotaging or trying to sabotage.

That's worth a lot. Depending on where you are (which would put it more into context) the new place sounds OK. The side garden could have extra fencing/ hedging to help noise.

If it's not dramatically further away from work/school go for it.

noodles I think if you can extend it is brilliant. Our little house was already hugely extended when we bought it (which is why the garden is small).

I think the pros do outweigh. I’m also assuming we will get it and I suspect there will be a few offers as it’s the Scottish system of blind bidding on one day