Do you live in an old house?

[NaturalBaby]

Can you give me an idea of what it's like please?!

We live in a fairly modern town house built in the 70's and our previous house was new build. We've found a cottage built in 1850 ish and have fallen in love with it, but are trying to work out what it's going to cost to live there. It needs modernising - new kitchen and bathroom, has a mixture of windows from single glazed to secondary glazed, working fire places (the front room was toasty with the fire going) but other rooms feel cold. I would be happy to live in it as it is for a while before doing any work, but am worried about a constant list of jobs that will need doing.

Pay for the best survey you possibly can, to start.

Think of all the things you want/need to do to it. Have a meeting with the Council Conservation/listed zbuilding Officer (if it is listed or in a conservation area ). Then you'll know which of your wants/needs are allowed and which aren't. We spent an hour with an Officer who was tremendously helpful. As we're only Grade II the things we needed to do were fine, but there are a couple of things we'd like to do (should we ever be able to divert enough money to pay for them!) which could be a little trickier.

Then look at how much it'll cost to do the things you need to do and which you are allowed to do. double glazing original windows could be a problem, for instance. And if the previous owner has done things they shouldn't without Planning Permission, then you may have to rectify them. That's the problem with Listed Buildings and why it's very important to check.

It will be cold and/or cost a lot to heat.

You can retain original windows and fit secondary glazing which can be undetectable from outside. If you like net curtains it can be almost undetectable inside too.

Obviously, everything will cost more and take longer than you expect.

Queen we had the same with the previous owners and some before that too I'd guess!!

Queen, oh the joy of the bodging previous owners! We know it well too. Every single thing we do we have to work around or correct what the Bodging Previous Owners have done first!

Then, when we wanted to change the taps on the bath because these were so old and manked up I couldn't turn them, the first plumber said he couldn't do anything because the pipes were lead and we'd have to put new pipes in which is technically true. Luckily, it was the bathroom way upstairs (old servants' rooms) so we've left it.

We've just put a new bath in the 1st floor bathroom. Everythhing is a bodge. Our friend is doing it, and every stage of the job has taken him at least a full day due to previous bodging. He'd said he'd have it done in 2days. Started before Xmas and he has done 6 full days so far. Still not finished.

We laugh about BPO's now.... they pervade everything. And our kitchen ceiling is falling down

Stone cottage built in 1865 on four storeys including a cellar. Every maintenance job is harder because the walls aren't straight and some of them have the original lime plaster. The previous owners were bodgers so that has added to the difficulty but we managed to completely refit the kitchen (rewiring plastering ceiling, new units etc) for £6k so it can't be too bad. It is harder to heat but we have sealed unit double glazing so we can get it nice and warm.

On the plus side, it is a beautiful house and we love it.

ours is 1850s, 2 up/down terrace. its all double glazed, gch, even with all radiators on I am still cold all of the time.

Re survey, find a firm of surveyors which specializes in older properties. Don't just go with the firm your mortgage lender gives you. Our survey read like War & Peace but the surveyor actually rang us before sending it, to talk us through it and to tell us not to panic.

Aargh, just seen about BPOs - we had those too, the fuckers. Nothing very dangerous (though the lack of bannisters on the stairs often gives me palpitations with two young DCs to factor in), but lots that's badly thought through.

Old properties do cost.

Not just the heating/leaking but also, everything that needs replacing can't just be bought off the peg so to speak.

Not if you have no contingency, no.

However, you may be able to create a significant contingency just by having a really good survey done by a firm specialising in older properties. Our survey released a contingency of c. 10% of our original offer, because the list of 'invisible' things that needed doing (new wiring, new plumbing to replace the lead, new heating, new windows [they buckled in the wind]) was so extensive. We got every one of those jobs costed up by decent local trades recommended by the estate agents (who had the sense to realise that they were never going to shift the house otherwise) and knocked the whole lot off our offer.

Result, of course, was that we moved into the house having spent the contingency on the significant building works needed, but with acres of bare plaster and ripped up floorboards that we hadn't bargained for...

It also depends on your expectations. We expect houses to be cold (our heating thermostat is set at 17 degrees, and it is only on for an hour twice a day), draughty, damp but characterful. If you have always lived in newer houses which are warm and dry, you would regard our house as unliveable in. We just wear more clothes than average...

(If you need to replace your windows, btw, and you do have damp already, then get that properly looked into and take recommendations. Sealing in the damp through having modern double glazing and much less ventilation is an invitation to mould.)

I don't think the vendors have bodged jobs - they've lived there for 30 yrs and seem more concerned with books and music but seem to have looked after the house well.

I had to stay away from the amazing log burner and try to focus on the windows and flat roof. I quite like the wonky walls and floors!

DH is going for a chat with the vendor to get some history about the property.

We have dc's under 5yrs old so don't want major building work done - a small extension on the master bedroom at most.