Old house/cellar/foundations

[usedtobeblonde]

Ok it sounds bad, but has anyone bought an old house with these problems? The house is part early 19thC and part 17thC. The cellar is airy and smells ok (not damp), brick floor, but floods a bit when the water table rises. I could live with that with a sump pump maybe? The other problem is the house doesn't have foundations the way modern houses do. Plenty of old houses were built like this, it's a good solid house, no damp, loads of similar properties around here with people living in them, and it's been there for centuries. I've renovated 19thC houses before but nothing this old. I'm in a bidding war for it. Any advice from anyone who's actually done this?

No but DH is a structural engineer. If you get it, you need a survey from a structural engineer! It will cost you but will give you a clear indication of any structural problems. Often these houses have been chopped about inside and roofs altered. I would get it all looked at. It might be fine but it could be very very expensive to renovate. You need your eyes wide open!

They would also look at solutions for the cellar and the foundations.

Lived in a 1774 house with cellar with brick floors abroad. Had a sump pump, but it never got used, as the river never flooded, and nor did the cellar.

It seemed a very solid house, as does my UK property built circa 1830s, with a cellar, that does get wet when it rains torrentially. This house is very solid as well.