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Original poster

Busy road v amazing house... Aargh!

48 replies

Mummynotmum · 15/08/2013 19:46

So DH has totally fallen in love with this amazingly massive and stunning house. It would need loads of work doing, cosmetic and a bit more serious... But the potential is fabulous. Unbelievably it's affordable. Just. But the only reason it's affordable is because its on one of the main roads in Manchester. We wouldn't double glaze because the windows are all beautiful and old and original. But we could put in secondary glazing. Do any of you have experience with that? Ad more importantly... Would you live on a main road? DCs are 5 and 3 but there's a bit gated driveway so I'm not too concerned about them running into the road...

OP posts:

Mandy21 · 16/08/2013 08:43

Sorry lazydog , do you still live nearby? Only that I think its probably much busier than it used to be! It takes me roughly 20 minutes to get from the motorway junction at TGI Fridays to Altrincham Town Centre at 5.30pm in the evening - its what, 2-3 miles??!

I suppose its like everywhere, you get used to it and its a question of what you're prepared to compromise on to get the house you want! And as I said, there are some beautiful houses on Washway Road !

sparklingstars · 16/08/2013 08:47

Absolutely never. The children wouldn't be able to play out on the road with other children, they are living with constant pollution from the road when playing out in the garden and the noise is horrible. I once viewed a house which had a motorway at the end of the garden. It was down a big embankment and had sound screen fencing (which was hideous) but it still drowned out conversation. The owner told me he was moving because their daughter had developed asthma in the three years that they had been living there. At least he was honest.

CaptainJamesTKirk · 16/08/2013 08:49

I wouldn't live on a major busy road for any house. It's a total deal breaker for me.

expatinscotland · 16/08/2013 08:52

NO way, no matter how amazing.

newpup · 16/08/2013 09:12

This was our compromise! Our house is beautiful, Spacious, gorgeous windows, vaulted ceilings, ticked every box and some! The house is set back from a fairly busy road. However, we have a large drive, and back onto the countryside. The living and bedrooms are at the back and the road is only busy in rush hour, weekdays. If the house was sat on the road ( no drive, not set back) or the road was busy 24/7 it would have been a no.

We have large trees at the front that block a lot of noise in Summertime. The downside would be that it is often hard to turn out the driveway onto the road in rush hour. Drivers won't let me out, often they are too busy nosing at my house! Also we have had people driving down our private drive to turn their cars!!!

On the whole, the compromise was small. If I could pick up my house and move it further back into the village it would be perfect but then we probably would not own it!

DwellsUndertheSink · 16/08/2013 09:27

we live on a main rd, fortunately with a weight restriction, so no lorries.

The noise: well, you get used to it. We spend summer days outside in the garden, and in winter, we have big thick curtains and double glazing. We used to live near a railway line, and got used to that too.

We had old windows, but they were so warped and ill fitting that they were not secure or recoverable, (also we had 4 different types of window!) so we had double glazing fitted throughout.

Parking: We have issues getting into the driveway at evening rushhour, but generally there are only one or two twats on the road, most people realise you are trying to park and give way.

The size and character of the house....This is far more important IMHO. We had a growing family, and our house has a lovely big garden and 4 double bedrooms. We could have got a new build with two doubles and 2 box rooms and a handkerchief garden for the same price. We have scope to extend.

We do worry about resale value, but we dont intend to move any time soon. That said, our house is ideal for division into starter homes or even maisonettes. SO a developer might be keen.

lazydog · 17/08/2013 05:42

Mandy21 - Nope...emigrated to Canada but do still know the area reasonably well, even if only from visiting once a year. Tbh that sounds like pretty good going for that journey in rush hour, LOL.

Mummynotmum - PM me where you're considering, if you don't mind? I have to say that if I had to move back to the UK for some reason, I'd certainly not have a problem living back on Washway Rd. My parents' house was detached and had a gorgeous garden. I never felt hard done by as a result of not being able to play in the road and when DH and I still lived in England, we had far more noise pollution from various neighbours (we lived in 2 semi-detached in succession...once was a cul-de-sac) than I'd ever noticed hearing from the A56 traffic!

mummaemma · 17/08/2013 09:26

can you put the link of the property on here.
I guess its on rightmove etc?

greenfolder · 17/08/2013 09:48

we have lived on 2 main rds and would not do it again. rd noise, much worse when wet. pollution and that constant busy feeling. also lived right where a bus stop was and constantly had people asking me about buses!

but then it depends on your options and your true ability to deal with the downside. if secondary glazing will solve noise in the house, what is it like in the garden? if you can deal with that then consider it.

morethanmama · 17/08/2013 18:36

How main is main. A dual carriageway road would be a no. From me but If the house is set back on a busy 30mph rd I don't see the issue. We used to live in a corner house between two normal residential roads and the noise from that combined with people parking to get to the nearby shops used to drive me nuts. We now live on a busy ish road but are well set back and I can honestly say I hardly notice it. But I spent hours sat outside at all hours assessing the traffic before we bought it. Before we moved in it was my only drawback to the house. No we are there I don't notice it at all. But my neighbours are another matter!!

puffylovett · 17/08/2013 21:18

I live on a main road, but a quietish one - we do get lorries and rush hour is busy but doable. It's not a city main road though.
I LOVE my house and I'm so glad we moved here. I viewed it 5 times at different times of the day, and spent time walking up and down the road to see if we could accept the compromise. I'm glad I did - we would never have got this house and garden for this money otherwise.

Yes the kids don't play out, but we fall out of bed in to a massive park and have plenty of play dates.

FannyFifer · 17/08/2013 21:25

I wouldn't see a main road as a major problem at all.

We used to live right beside a bus depot, didn't even hear the buses after a couple of weeks.

Live near a main train line now & again don't even notice.

If you have a big back garden, are well back from road etc i can't see the problem.

Doinmummy · 17/08/2013 21:40

We fell in love with an amazing house on a main road and convinced ourselves the noise wouldn't be a problem. It was a massive problem and we moved after about a year.

WhatWillSantaBring · 19/08/2013 16:48

I lived in a house right by a main road - in a town so 30mph (well, 40mph in reality) and with double glazing the noise was fine except in the summer, getting woken up at 6am by the start of rush hour. I also lived in uni halls literally right next to the motorway - in that we could see the drivers picking their noses in the traffic jams. Amazingly though, I only realised it was a motorway in my final term as I couldn't believe how little the noise bothered me.

So although I think living by a main road is fine, the thing that would put me off buying is the problems with resale. In a booming, sellers market, you can get away with it. But when its quiet, people seem not to be able to sell houses with any major blights on them, no matter what the price. It took our neighbours in the town 4 years to sell, and ended up selling for less than they bought when according to "average" prices they should have been 10-15% gains.

So if you're confident you'll never want to move or need to sell in a hurry, go for it. But I never would.

RunningBear78 · 19/08/2013 17:06

We bought a gorgeous Victorian house on a main road (just outside Manchester) which we otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford on quiet roads. Our front door is about 3m from the road, but we don't usually notice the road noise, apart from the odd speeding lorry, annoying teenager on a moped and ambulances. But they pass quickly.

I would definitely get secondary double glazing, we have had new windows put in and they do make a difference.

As for hot days/open windows in front rooms ...there tends not to be much traffic at night when you want to sleep, and how much time would you spend in a front bedroom during the day? Our front room is North facing and even when it is 30 degrees outside it is quite cool, so check your orientation.

...do kids still seriously play in the roads!? We wander around in the evenings a lot near us and have only ever seen one pair of kids in the road. I wouldn't let mine out playing in a road, sounds daft to me. Anyway, if you have a garden, surely that will be much nicer to okay in!

I would def try to visit during rush hour, not just on Saturday. We didn't do this and were caught out by the traffic.

Would also not worry too much about parking. We have double yellows outside our house. Walking to your car and patience getting into a traffic flow isn't that much of a trauma.

doradoo · 19/08/2013 17:21

We bought a house that backed onto the main road going through a village - A road. It was OK and we got used to it.

Then there was a major building project on the other side of the village and the traffic got much worse.......

We took a significant hit when we sold it - which took us an absolute age.

Never again would we buy on a busy road.

PareyMortas · 19/08/2013 21:01

Which bit of the Washway Rd? I've looked at houses there, so wouldn't rule it out. Is the garden at the back so the house creates a sound buffer when you're in the garden? Is it in Trafford, schools are good in Trafford so the resale value will hold.

Mandy21 · 19/08/2013 21:20

I don't think the OP said it was Washway Road, just a road goimg into Manchester, it was me that said if it was a road like washway road, that would be too busy for me! Sorry for the confusion

PareyMortas · 19/08/2013 21:32

Mandy, OP did say it - you made a good guess!

idiot55 · 19/08/2013 21:35

We live on a main road, you don't notice traffic noise after a while.

I have previously lived in modern cul de sacs but this main road has the best community spirit , friendliness etc.

ZolaBuddleia · 19/08/2013 21:36

I love character houses. If one of the things you really love are the windows, wouldn't it be a shame to obscure them with secondary glazing?

Mandy21 · 19/08/2013 23:21

Oops, missed that! I'm off to pick 6 numbers for this week's lottery given my guessing skills this week !

WafflyVersatile · 19/08/2013 23:26

You can get double glazed bay window old fashioned type windows i'm sure.

I live on a main road into central London. 6 buses every ten minutes stop outside. No double glazing. I'm from a small village where it was very quiet. I'm used to it now and generally seem to be quite tolerant of noise compared to others it seems.

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