What do you like and dislike about your period property? Any regrets?

[luckycat888]

Considering a period (Victorian) property

We added internal secondary insulation to our Georgian house - it was a massive job as needed to be sympathetic to the materials used and every surface had to be replastered with lime plaster - but it has meant out previously cold house is now lovely and warm in the winter. And still cool in the summer! I love that almost all of the windows are big and face south. Dislike the front door opening straight into the living room. Lots of spaces for spiders means lots of cobwebs. Layout is also a bit odd but still works (2 cottages knocked into one house). Also love the double outhouse at the end of the garden - its no longer usable but is a fun feature.

What did you use under the Lime plaster?

I don't know the name but it was made from compressed wood fibres, its about 10cm thick and all the external walls had to be covered internally. It works very well and has kept the walls breathable. Lost 10cm on the room size though!

I don't know the name but it was made from compressed wood fibres, its about 10cm thick and all the external walls had to be covered internally. It works very well and has kept the walls breathable. Lost 20cm on the room size though!8

1902 terraced.
Love: high ceilings, some original features (fireplaces, picture rails,wooden floors) massive loft space

Hate: drafts, how expensive to replace the massive windows (still have two original sash single glazed)
Small garden front and back, brick work on exterior always needs attention. Slugs in the kitchen and no idea how they get in despite hands and knees with a torch following their slimy trails.

My house is a couple of hundred of years old. It’s a stone built 3 storey terrace.
the previous owners had done a fair amount of work on it so didn’t need too much, just redecorating and we’ve put a new boiler in.
it’s lovely and cool in the summer…we’ve not noticed it being especially cold in winter.
the stone walls are good noise insulation but also mean poor radio signals even with a digital radio.
I love the character of it.
the main disadvantage is no off street parking .
I’d hate a modern house…not for me at all!

I live in a 1930's farm worker's cottage. It's a bit like a Tardis in that it looks a lot smaller from the outside than it is once you go in. I love that it has big windows, big gardens, a larder, a handy porch, and the few original internal cottage doors that it has. I don't mind that it doesn't have mains gas, or that we're on a septic tank, but it is mildly inconvenient that all phone calls have to be taken outside to obtain phone signal. It has a lot of potential, but I just wish that I had more time and money to spend on it!

I do not like that it has a mouse problem every year (but at least I haven't had rats), that the walls and floors are never flat or straight when it comes to DIY, or that there must be endless entryways for woodlice and slugs. I just wish that it had more original features! (It was modernised years before I moved in).

I've lived in a couple of new builds.
Tiny kitchens.
Poor building quality workmanship.
Out of proportion rooms - massive top floor master bedrooms in fairly normal sized house.
Conservatories.
Interior bathrooms.
Inexplicably three floors.

Plus, absolutely no character whatsoever.

I prefer our warm, damp-free, new build to our previous Victorian semi, which was so bloody cold in winter. I do miss features, but prefer being warm!

It’s not about better or worse. It’s simply pros and cons, what you consider
important, and what you can live with.

Jeez, you need it reframing?

Pro: period features
Con: bloody freezing in winter and damp.

Net result: I prefer our new build.

Exactly as I posted before, just in different words.

Oh, and I was actually answering the OP's question / statement about it being better than living in a new build. Maybe follow the thread next time, @Sherararara

Wow, someone needs to chill.

I love my little Victorian house which I bought and moved into last year following separation from DP. It is a bit unusual, over three floors, with kitchen/ breakfast room leading out into sunny small garden. Going down two flights of stairs to bathroom at night is slight PITA. Also parking. The house wouldn't have worked bringing up small kids but it's fine for me now. The floors are uneven so furniture wobbles - but i don't mind quirks and love the character of the house. The rooms are a good size and it is surprisingly cosy and warm in winter. It's my happy place.

Our three houses ago house was a Victorian semi. I liked the character but hated the upkeep - we aren't DIYers and it seemed that every time we needed to do anything - put a picture up for instance - we'd end up having to replaster the whole damn room.

Arts and crafts house - over 100 years old.

Love: the oak, the stained glass, the inglenooks, the interesting roof, the quirky features and the original pull door bell. And the boot room.

It does cost a lot to heat, but it's big and it's understandable.

We had to demolish and rebuild the one skinny garage.

The renovation costs were £370,000.

Agree. Everybody else likes our 100 year old ' cottage' ( 2 small houses knocked into one...not very well, by previous owner) but they don't have to put up with constantly fighting the mould , no straight walls, ceilings anywhere and as said by other posters , constant maintenance. This'll be the last ' old quaint' house we buy !!

I loved the few original features which survived decades of DIY and the ceiling height.
Hated the cold, draughts and damp. In retrospect we were all ill all winter in that house due to mould and damp. We rented so could move on, but the neighbours found the maintenance costs to be crippling. In the end we bought a new build with high ceilings, best of both.

I love mine. I grew up in a period property, lived in a horrible 70s house which I hated with first DH because it was already his and he wouldn't move. Got divorced and bought a Victorian farmhouse.

I love the space, the size of the rooms, the charm, the fact that I have no close neighbours. I love the original features, the open fires, the fact that it was designed for people to live in, so it's very practical. I love the fact that my bathroom, for example, is absolutely massive and has a claw footed cast iron bath and also a huge, huge walk in shower and yet there is still loads of floor space. I love the half acre of garden - new properties, even 'executive' ones with 4/5 bedrooms seem to have a bloody tiny garden with barely room for a trampoline. And are far too close to their neighbours even if they are detached.

It's brilliant. Yes, I have mice (and I suspect squirrels in the loft, currently). It has draughts, and it has a bit of damp in odd places. I can live with that.

I have no regrets.

When we moved from our Victorian terrace to a 30s house, I suddenly realised I didn't love Victorian terraces, I was just used to them, having lived in them all my life. They are pretty, with their cornicing and wooden shutters. But the alcoves don't fit your furniture, and with an unusable fireplace taking up one wall and a radiator taking up another, it's really difficult to lay things out the way you want to. Also, they are dark. When we moved to the suburbs with the bigger front gardens and wide verges, there was so much more light in the street. And being in a detached or semi means you don't have to bring rubbish or garden stuff through the house. I now love 1930s houses.

The next door neighbours! Rude brash common cheap bullies! Because theirs is listed 2*, for which they have no regard, bi-fold doors, massive air-con unit at the front and a 9ft fence all the way around their boundary with us, we are in the curtilage, everything costs a fortune to do, in terms of building etc, because we are treated as listed. We have been sympathetic to the building we are in but because of them we won’t stay here!

I had a Victorian townhouse in London. There was a mouse problem 😕 all the pipes were connected do they had free rein and run of the terrace. The heating was on 8 months of the year. I live in a newish house now (20 years old) and am soooo much happier!

Edwardian three story end terrace here. I love the space, the high ceilings, the views from the top floor and the staircases, landings and bannisters.
But.. it has solid walls so difficult to insulate and a distinct lack of sockets. If I’m chilly I put on an extra layer and light the stove.

Love the big rooms, high ceilings, big garden, quirky features, fireplaces and general cosy feeling I don't get in newer houses.

Don't love the maintenance costs, cracks appearing all over the place and constant battle with damp. Oh and the huge spiders that seem to love it here!

Love the character - the fireplaces, bay windows, wooden floors, layout, pretty street

Hate the real wood floors for being so holey - constantly on edge about mice coming in!
Also dislike lack of side access (victorian terrace)

On balance im happy I bought it but I sometimes fantasise about living in a new build flat 😂