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Original poster

Someone died in our new house.

104 replies

Elasticatedwaist · 22/03/2022 15:41

We had to have the floorboards up last week in our new house which uncovered a blackened and charred joist. Turns out,
From talking to a neighbour that there was a fire here, the wife and 2 kids made it out but the man didn’t. He was a drunk apparently and caused the fire. Terribly sad !
Not sure how I feel about living in a house where there was a tragedy like that.
Dh is quite freaked out.
Would it bother you ?

OP posts:
Georgeskitchen · 22/03/2022 16:55

I would be more bothered if the wife and children hadn't got out safely , otherwise I think I'd be fine x

FabFitFifties · 22/03/2022 16:56

I can sympathise with your DH, OP. Dying in a fire, and being burnt to a crisp, isn't a pleasant thought. Very different to dying relatives being lovingly cared for in their last days. Some PP, may not be so blasé, if they suddenly found that out.

CheekyMaw · 22/03/2022 17:06

@FatFitFifties
Yes I agree. Horrific circumstances and I would feel uneasy. My house was built after WW2 like many in England . The terraced houses stick out from the 1930's and Victoria terraces in the rest of the street. Our house replaced a row of house that a couple of families died in during the Blitz - direct hit . Makes me feel sad sometimes but this is different - the actual house that someone has died a terrible death.

FromOurHatsToOurFeet · 22/03/2022 17:13

Our house is Edwardian so probably had a few deaths - I know it's had at least 3 births as well to even things out.

30mph · 22/03/2022 17:16

I'd be more bothered about the charred joist. Is it structurally sound?

Goldenbunny · 22/03/2022 17:21

The block of flats I live in is 16 years old and 3 people have died in one flat 3 other from different flats. I expect that older properties would have had more deaths has they are hundreds of years old.

notacooldad · 22/03/2022 17:22

No.
Quite a few people have died in my house over the decades.

Arsewangry · 22/03/2022 17:23

My rational head says it wouldn't bother me. But I'm quite irrational and I would picture the fire and that man dying every time I was in that room so yes it would play on my mind and bother me - not in a woo way just not a very nice thing to happen and it would bother me.

incompetentcervix · 22/03/2022 17:24

I live in a converted Victoria hospital. It's beautiful but has a massive history. I both Love the history and try not to let it worry me

MuggleMadness · 22/03/2022 17:32

No, that wouldn't bother me. Nor would the deaths of cared for people dying there, I'd be a bit uncomfortable if it was where someone was murdered, but more sad than anything really.

I'd be very concerned about the fire/burnt joists' not being disclosed or discovered on searches etc. I'd find a specialist to check the structure out & if any problems get a solicitor to look into it.

bloodywhitecat · 22/03/2022 17:35

DH died in this very room three weeks ago. The house is around 400 years old though so he won't have been the first to die here, there have been no ghostly going on's here that I know of.

Roselilly36 · 22/03/2022 17:39

The owner of our bungalow died in it, never given it another thought, lovely for a elderly person to die at home. A tragic death I may feel differently, but death is part of life.

Hellocatshome · 22/03/2022 17:43

Dying in a fire, and being burnt to a crisp, isn't a pleasant thought.

Most people who die in house fires don't get burned, in fact some of them don't even wake up which may have been the case if he was a drunk. Either way everyone has to die somewhere and if its not in hospital or a hospice its going to be a house or a public place.

Did the survey not pick up the burnt joist? I'm assuming it must have been deemed structurally sound to be left there after the insurance had put the damage to the house right.

LowlandLucky · 22/03/2022 17:50

Exactly where i am sat now is where the old Gentleman that lived here died, he died in his armchair and wasn't found for 3 days. I say good morning and goodnight to every day.

godmum56 · 22/03/2022 17:55

yes I'd be more bothered about the house structure than the tragedy.

BalladOfBarryAndFreda · 22/03/2022 17:55

It would bother me in that it’s sad and I’d want to get the structural integrity double checked. However, I wouldn’t be freaked out , or spooked or whatever and I’d certainly try not to let it taint my feelings towards a home I previously loved.

Backtomyoldname · 22/03/2022 17:57

No. Good job really as our house is an ex-old peoples home.

Gingernaut · 22/03/2022 17:58

I've got people's death certificates incorporated into my title deeds.

So what?

FrecklesMalone · 22/03/2022 18:00

I lived in an ambulance for a bit. Definitely had a few people die in it!

CPL593H · 22/03/2022 18:01

It would be a rare old house that has not had deaths, but they will also have had births. A previous house of mine; an earlier owner had both been born and died in what became our bedroom, the events 90+ years apart. I found that rather comforting.

Clarabe1 · 22/03/2022 18:20

Wouldn’t bother me in the least. Tell DH to stop being a big girls blouse.

WingingItSince1973 · 22/03/2022 18:22

Wouldn't bother me. My parents neighbour died suddenly on her sofa a few years ago, my parents were in their lounge and just the other side of the wall she died sat waiting for her friends to bring her fish and chips. When her house went for sale I would have bought it no bother for myself or my middle dd. The owner was a lovely lady I saw most days with her dog so maybe knowing her helps but people die and many die at home so would be a long list of houses not to buy. X

TenoringBehind · 22/03/2022 18:28

My house is over 300 years old so I’d guess lots of people have died here at some point.

JoanThursday · 22/03/2022 18:29

No, it wouldn't bother me.

A close relative of mine lives in a very old cottage. They found an article in the local newspaper: a tenant of the cottage sadly died at the hands of her husband, who had returned home on leave during ww1. He then turned the weapon on himself. Really horrific - especially given that the very detailed news article describes exactly where they were found.

But ... the cottage is a very special place to all of us and, while its history is very sad, it doesn't haunt us.

Ohyesiam · 22/03/2022 18:29

I don’t think there can be a spot on earth where someone hasn’t died, there were a lot of humans in the past and none of them are here now.