Moneypit Owners Club - anyone want to join me?

[Daisypullsitoff]

So we recently moved into my dream house - original Victorian floor tiles, towering ceilings, original fireplaces etc etc. And I'm freaking out. I just keep seeing more cracks, missing tiles and the mountains of dust I'm going to have to spend hours every week vacuuming! I think it's a natural wobble now that the excitement of moving in has worn off (and we found out yesterday that the basement is not 'converted' as we thought and would better serve as a paddling pool). But I've seen lots of interesting threads on here with people dealing with similar issues and I wondered if there was a way of bringing some of us together to swap tips/nightmares etc.

So my first question if anyone is reading this:

Do you just learn to ignore the cracks? And the dust? Or do you spend your life constantly repainting and dusting??

No the reality is we don’t need the space and if we had moved into the house with the cellar in it’s original condition we wouldn’t have been looking at converting it. But thinking it was already done DH got carried away with his dreams of a basement movie and drinking den. The previous owners have removed walls, put in new stairs, radiators, spot lights etc so I just don’t understand why they didn’t tank it at the same time?! If we can’t fix it for a reasonable price we will just have to rip out the rotting carpets and use it as a store. The coal hole is still there and does indeed make a great wine store!

Another question - has anyone used Tile Doctor or similar? If so did you have them do the cleaning or just buy the products and do it yourself?

Be cautious about what chemicals are used to seal the tiles if you use Tile Doctor Daisy. Lots of the old original floors were laid on a lime bed to allow moisture to pass through the bed and the tiles. If it can't get out that way then it could travel to walls to escape - it has to get out somewhere. I've noticed that some of those companies that renovate them, then seal them which may prevent the moisture escaping through the tiles and could lead to problems elsewhere.

I can imagine you would be annoyed if you were misled into believing the cellar was tanked. I would be too.

Did they do it up quickly to sell maybe? Hoping that they'd sell it before the water came in?

Do any of you have original stone floors and if so what do you clean it with? We have one but no matter what I use it never looks clean.

I have just used Lithofin tile renovator on my Victorian tiles. I think you can do this job yourself with the right products.

It is a faff, so money no object I would pay someone.

It also took some of tge paint off tve kitchen cabinets. Totally my fault, I should have been more careful!

Thanks Agatha, good advice again! The local Tile Doctor person came round this morning and seemed nice enough - he mentioned he has recently done a local church so I might pop over there and have a look at his work. I just hate feeling on the back foot when dealing with tradespeople so will do a bit more research on sealants as well.

User I actually think the cellar was 'renovated' some time ago, the carpet is clearly old and it was being used as a den for the teenage children. My guess is the water table isn't very high here so they were told they might get away without lining it and went for the cheap option and kept their fingers crossed. They have a dehumidifier down there which probably should have made us ask more questions but we had an offer fall through on another house and not many old houses come up for sale in this town so we just jumped in. If we had known about the cellar we would have negotiated down on our offer but we would still have wanted the house so just have to suck it up now (not literally I hope ).

No stone floors here though - they sound lovely but frustrating if you can't get it clean. My only thought based on how stone is generally cleaned is some sort of indoor version of sandblasting?? Rub with a fine sandpaper perhaps then vacuum and scrub? Hopefully someone who actually knows what they're talking about can help...

Some info on stone flooring, a lot of this also applies to victorian tile floors - info.

We've been renovating old properties for years. There are an awful lot of cowboys out there who apply modern building/maintenance principles to old buildings and cause a lot of damage to the fabric of the buildings. Damp proofing contractors are prime examples. So much better to learn how to do things yourself, correctly for the age of the building. It saves so much money too.

Me!

We've literally just moved into a very late Georgian house. And it's very tired and run down. Needs a lot of work. We've been here a week and I'll confess, I'm scared! Totally overwhelmed by the scale of the project and what to start with/how to start. Just that really! Interested to hear other people's stories

Georgian houses are my favourite @Kdubs1981! Mine is Georgian.

User I use this on my stone floor

www.liberon.co.uk/product/stone-floor-cleaner/

I also use their stone floor shine

www.liberon.co.uk/product/stone-floor-shine/

My stone flooring is actually stone tiles originally in a Pig unit on site. They now form my kitchen floor. I don't like them but do like the gentle shine I get from the Liberon product.

Joining! Have a Victorian house on one of the steepest residential streets in the UK. Cracks are a regular occurrence. Just getting my bathroom done and, naturally, finding lots of hidden, expensive surprises in the process.

We ended up doing the things that went wrong first 😂 - sorry!

So shower leaking meant bathroom was first priority. Then we went for what we thought would make us happiest so new kitchen and converting the basement

£150k later...it's fab!

We're going to view a potential money pit tomorrow. Already wondering if I'm mad! That said, it's a bedroom more than we can afford normally and a 75ft garden, which seems heavenly compared to a 1 bed flat. We live in a new build which is cheap to heat and no real building issues so expect this will be a bit of a shock to move to if we like it

Thank you, @hasthemarketsplit, I'll try that. The dirt is so ingrained, I don't think they've been cleaned properly for many years . Thank you Agatha F for the link too.

Nichelette we moved from a tiny 70s semi to our Georgian house that is three times the size! A very steep learning curve but it is genuinely the best decision we've ever made. A year after moving in I still pinch myself as i just can't believe we actually live here, I am still expecting the real owners to walk in and demand their house back !

Daisy, re tanking a basement- that's not always recommended these days as tanking involves cement type stuff on the walls and assuming it'll hold back the water. Which it doesn't always. Ours was lined with something and then boarded over and then a pump put in that takes away the water. It cost £15k so definitely ignore the quote you had. I can't remember what it's called, the technique. Will look it up.

I'd also say live in it for a while before deciding what to do - we changed our minds several times as a result.

It's a membrane system

www.newtonwaterproofing.co.uk/121/waterproofing-help-advice/waterproofing-existing-basements

I'm in two minds! We live in a lovely village and would love to stay here. Potential house is a bit outside of my preferred area but I can see the potential and schools are good. I think it will be down to gut feeling tomorrow :).

Yup count me in, 400 year old listed building. Chocolate box pretty, three acre garden, fell in love with it,.., the neighbours made a comment on how much it would cost to renovate it. We were all"what no it's fine!"

50 grand and four years later, we are still at it. 🤣

So far, new kitchen, electrics up graded, beams sandblasted back to original oak, all the oak floor boards sanded and varnished, all outside beams on house and out buildings repainted, garden landscaping and front path and patio redone. Gates and pillars put in, wall built, fenced area for rhe dog put in, trees taken down, had to buy a new bloody ride on lawn mower.

MainBathroom will need doing, boiler will need replacing at some point, patio out the back is hundreds of years old and also needs replacing.

Now got to the stage of gardening too though, as opposed to hacking back as a pp stated. Moved in and it was a beautifully manicured garden and two years later we were all "how the fuck did that happen, why's it so over grown". Only now are we on top of it.

Is it worth it,,,oh yes indeed, 🤣

Oh and our cellar has always got a couple of inches of water in it. Structural survey said "not fit for human habitation"

It can stay that way 🤣

Does anyone else’have an oil fired Aga that needs servicing once a month (£100 please ) as the oil clogs up the tubes , and it goes out ?
Just me then 😀🍷
Thinking of just leaving it stand there all cold , and rely on the electric cooker , rather than go to the expense of having it taken out , a new cooker of some sort , and then probably having to get a whole new kitchen put in .
It’s quite a nice kitchen , but for some obscure reason ,the previous owners used paving slabs on the floor , so i wonder if that tile cleaner would work on them ? As they’re looking a bit shabby

Thank you all, this thread is just what I needed. Imagining you all rattling around your drafty, cobweb riddled but ultimately lovely houses and and feeling a warm glow of camaraderie.

Yes I may have had a few Friday night tipples from our drinks trolley (propped next to a box of Ethernet cables and in front of a large wine (?!) stain on the wall).

Doilooklike and Bluntness - hats off to you with your old school Agas and proper water feature cellars . That is hardcore historical housing.

Bluntness we are in the overgrown stage. I'm quite often found wielding a pair of secateurs muttering long term project

Doilooklikeatourist I have a gas aga. I've heard it said there are two types of aga people, those who install them, and those who move into houses with them already installed (sounds obvious when I write it down ). I am firmly in the second camp! You could look at replacing it with an electric or gas AGA? Reconditioned ones are a lot cheaper and it might work out cheaper over the long term. Alternatively you could just turn it off but I absolutely love my aga warmed kitchen on a cold winter day.

Doitlook there is absolutely no way that should be happening.

I have an Oil Aga (fitted before I bought the house and I will never have another). It gets serviced twice a year (£130) but operates fine otherwise.

Some people use Topanol (added to the tank when oil is delivered) to keep the oil running smoothly but I haven't bothered for the last couple of years. The problem is likely to be the oil not the Aga. I only ever buy from one local supplier and most of the time it is fine. I did have one bad batch (my Aga coked up in three months and again three months later) but once that oil had completely flowed through, the Aga started working fine again. When I was struggling with the poor quality Oil my AGA service company did a more thorough decoking for me on each service visit. They had seen the issue before and knew how to handle it.

The Liberon cleaner works well for me, but when I first started using it I had to do my pig tiles 1/2 dozen times to remove the ingrained dirt. Now I use the Stone Shine (7-8 coats but really easy to apply) and only need to use the cleaner twice a year as the Stone Shine wears off. The rest of the time I clean my kitchen floor normally.

Sorry Doilooklikeatourist not Doitlook

Power tools is the answer, hedge trimmers, chain saws and strimmers can get at much overgrown stuff.

To be honest though we had to bring the gardeners in to chop back all the borders. Took two men two full days. It was that bad. 😳