Do you/did you own a Victorian terraced house? If so, pro's and con's please....

[Lizzer]

We're soooo tempted to a very reasonable 5 bed in a lovely location with some stunning original features that needs work (every room). But dp in 'the trade' so we could do it up, at a push to our finances (and stress levels probably).....

Also, baby on way in dec and dd 7, are we mad??! please let me know your experiences as a way of adding to the mass of info we are trying to collect....

(Also, sorry in advance if I don't get back to this thread til tomorrow, have friends coming round now )

I have to add that my next house will be a modern box, this house is too much faff for me it just feels never ending, and i definately don't want a terrace - i really cannot empahsise how noisy it can gets.

Oh and it does feel very cramped sometimes outside, we have a big garden but its so overlooked and i don't feel like we have any real space.
But mine is an extended 2 up 2 down type house so probably much smaller than what you are looking at!

modern houses just are not built to last
nice when new but plasreboard dents etc - not like sturdy stone

having rented new twice recently i would never now

Agree with most comments on here. I have a 3 bed mid-terrace built in 1896. Pros are big rooms (much bigger than most modern houses), high ceilings, fairly large garden (again, much bigger than most modern houses get), thick walls meaning virtually no noise from neighbours.
Cons are the upkeep, in that there's always something that needs replacing or fixing. Having said that my parent's house was built less than 30 years ago and needs the same amount of upkeep, but they don't have the benefit of the space that we have.
I'd go for it if I was you.

We used to live in a three storey victorian terrace.

Three main drawbacks for us:
Thin walls
Smell of foods/smoke would waft from under neighbouring floorboards.
No side access to garden.

We loved our house though and did it up with three tiny children around our ankles!
Go for it, nothing like a challenge

We have done up put Victorian house. It looks fantastic now but it needed alot of work doing. I would say, whatever budget you have in mind....double it and then you will be nearer the truth lol

Wow wow wow!!! Thanks for all your responses!!!!! There's a lot of food for thought in here. we're so close to putting in an offer and I think the overall opinions are good on here. The bad are really good to think about too...
I do worry about the cost of heating a mamoth house (we're currently in a rented 2 bed cottage so a MASSIVE move) There are 2 open fires downstairs though and will have masses of free wood so that might help the gas bills a bit...

The noise isn't a problem as end of terrace and I know the woman next door who's lovely (small town syndrome.) Also I think the walls are fairly thick. The only noise would be from train line behind but not a freight line and trains stop at 11pm. No traffic as its cul-de-sac - bonus!

The rooms in these houses are just so amazingly massive aren't they, we looked at 2 new builds straight after viewing this and it didn't compare...

Dp is skilled joiner and has worked on restoration before so things like the windows can be lovingly restored (it even has an original dormer with an arched window in it - glorious!) Also, beautiful tiled hallway

Rosequartz, yeah we can move straight in, it just needs decorating inside - it hasn't been touched for 20 yrs, suprisingly clean though, new kitchen and bathroom but totally fine for now and as you say can move room to room as we do it up....

I just love the idea of it being a "solid family home" as PApaula says. And I imagine a building site with a new baby is ridiculous but then I'm never very good at doing things the easy way

Really bad thing is tiny forecourt garden out front and yard to rear, but room to sit out though which would be ok - we need to check the sun position in eve.

Yes I believe we will need to double budget but I guess this a long project and hopefully we can find the money rather than borrow...Good job we're into cheap camping holidays not carribean

I'm now dreaming about aga's...but that's for a different thread.....

Thanka again for your input

Oh yeah, and thanks for scaring the pants off me about ghosts

I lived in a lovely Victorian terrace for 10 years & miss it dreadfully.It was light,airy,massive rooms,big garden,utility ect.We never heard a thing from our neighbours,apart from when next door but one slammed doors it used to reverberate down the houses.The only downside was no parking.

Smurfgirl,don't ever buy a 1960's or 1970's house if you dislike noise.We did & I was horrified to find how thin the walls are.We can hear our neighbours TV,hear them sneezing,we can even hear them switching off the tv at the wall when they go to bed.Luckily we get on well & they aren't bothered by the noise the dd's must make.Still,I can't believe how badly soundproofed 'modern' houses are!

Lizzer-tiled hall floor-sob! I had one of those-why oh why did I move?

I love our victorian terrace, only grip is that I wish it was bigger

gorgeous sash windows ( have had them double glazed) - lots and lots of light though them
generous sized rooms - all bedrooms are double sized
lovely original floorboards sanded back
high ceilings
original fireplaces in bedrooms and downstairs

cons
narrow hallway
lack of storage (we did loft a few years ago)

hi cat64,
we found a company close by that refurbishes existing sash windows - for 2 of them they were able to do this and just replace the glass parts with doubleglazed ones. But our front windows both up and down needed replacing completely , and the builder that did our loft did this as well. Was quite pricy ( £500 to refurbish just one sash) but I suppose that depends on the condition. Worth the expense at the time, not sure we would be able to afford now.

company was called refurb-a-sash, based in Twickenham, so not really close to you at all!

Just sold our 3 bed Victorian terrace after some happy years here.

Pros

• lovely looking old building from outside (in estate agent talk its 'charming' 'full of character' etc etc )

• original Victorian wall still in garden and looks gorgeous compared to horrid garden fences.

• original fireplaces are gorgeous

• spacious, well designed upstairs

Cons -

• 'period' windows & front door - drafty (although I suppose we have been lazy and could have had it seen to)

• dusty dusty dusty. Victorian houses are often dusty - summat to do with the bricks I was told once?

• narrow passageway downstairs and can be a bit dark

If you love it, you'll want it, even with the cons. Can always move at a later date. Had 13 years in a Victorian 2 bed terrace - loved all my original features etc but hated the dark rooms on teh north side of teh house, was bloody freezing in winter and hated hearing my vile neighbours through teh walls.

Forgot to add a very important factor - our house (and other Victorians in area) have risen in value much more steeply and quickly than newer builds in the area.

Hello hello, well I'm returning back to my happy happy positive thread about gorgeous (if a bit cold, dusty and haunted) houses after being a harbinger of doom about real things like blardy mortgages etc...anyway all sorted now, Ihope

WE'RE GOING TO SEE IT AGAIN TOMORROW!!!!!!!

Can't wait, dp slyy drove up the back alley and checked where the sun was in the evening and its a very sunny yard (still miss the garden) Anyway my grandma says you can do lovely things with yards (ahh bless her)

I will be more thorough this time though and investigate things like how much light in the hallways etc. There's original glass in the sash windows on the front and dp is a collector of this (well someone has to be!) He has collected loads fom old houses he's worked on in the past, it has a lovely rippled look about it and so authentic. He'll be able to adjust and sort out any problems with the windows so we're lucky not to have to fork out on that.

Don't forget to be vermin aware when you go and look at it next. It difficult to make Victorian houses mouse proof because there are air bricks and all sorts of lovely gaps for them to get through, so check that the surrounding area doesn't have lots of things to encourage a mouse/rat population to thrive and grow.

our house ins't particularly dusty

GULP!!!! Er, thanks Bran... What do they like to live on/in?

Hana, all my houses are dusty -I don't think that's to do with the age somehow LOL

Go for it!
We own a Victorian semi, complete with narrow hallway, lack of parking but gorgeous 120ft rear garden, and would never ever consider living in a new property. I love this house!! It has character, it has a personality, it is not some box on a newbuilt estate which is identical to its neighbours.
Yes we suffer woodlice, and drafts, had sashes remade out of double glazed upvc (but in true original style so you cannot tell until you touch them) but front door is original and drafty. But solid and with etched glass and I love it.

To me victorian houses are the kind of houses you fall in love with. They are much more than 'just a house'. Ours is part of the family, and we cannot see us moving for the long term forseeable future. (and if we do, it will be another Victorian old lady!

we've had mice but a few traps sorted them out
and yes, our dust is that which accumulates from a lack of regular dusting

Well check whether the area near the house has any scrub-land or a river bank. Are the neighbours gardens relatively tidy or do they have detritus that could provide shelter for vermin. See whether your neighbours tend to pack their rubbish into proper bins/wheely bins or whether they leave bin bags where they can be torn open. Is there a restaurant/cafe/take away close to the house? If so, how do they dispose of their rubbish. Is there any food litter dropped anywhere (usually by people on their way home from the pub, so have a look on a Sunday morning).

If the whole area seems cared for then you are unlikely to have a problem, if there are several properties that are unloved and in a state of disrepair then keep an eye open for mouse/rat activity.

Now it all comes out eh, mice? woodlice?....Only joking, we had a mouse in this house too, it ate dd's new hat! Least we think it was a mouse, never saw it....

Ahh I love the idea of falling in love with a house, I really think we could do it with this. I have this lovely image of me in the kitchen with the new little one running round my ankles, dd in the music room practising some instrument (well its only the recorder so far but who knows...) Me baking on the aga.... (I do bake actually,erm sometimes) Maybe a dog in a basket being all dog like.... Oh god I'm losing the plot here, someone bring me back down to earth purleease!!

blimey. i've always lived in period properties. i've only just realized that not everyone prefers them, lol. i just love the features.

maybe someone could post about the benefits of a modern house...they're not immediately apparent to me, apart from all the boring practical stuff