How nice is your house

[Norton Canes]

This just sounds like the most grotesque, shallow woe is me shit I've ever written

Not at all, you've got to be happy in your gaff. There's all kinds of stuff that needs doing and sorting out in our place but we love it and look after it as much as we can. 

[DrGreggles]

My house is really nice.
I'll probably be dead before I own it though.

[im barry bethel]

We love our house.  It's a Victorian (built in either 1905 or 1908 depending on which document you believe) miner's cottage. 

Think that squeaks in as Edwardian not Vickyish

t's not without its foibles and problems, though - it's a solid stone construction so, whilst it's quick to heat it's a bugger to keep it warm in the winter, there's no damp proofing (and no way of damp proofing without spending a fortune) so the downstairs rooms suffer from rising damp if we don't keep on top of it,

Liquid membrane isn't that expensive-ish, Wickes have some you can treat yourself if you're comfortable drilling a thousand holes in the mortar

[sick as a pike]

condensation is a nightmare nearly all year round.

I've mentioned Very Interestingly on here before that we had a two bed cottage with bad condensation issues. We had a positive pressure ventilation system installed and it eliminated the problem overnight.
My analysis is that it's basically a fan that sits in the loft, gently blowing air down through the house and taking the condensation with it.
Costs around £1k to install. Electricity consumption is negligible at about £14 a year. A downside is that because the system is drawing in outside air, it is noticeably colder if you stand under the ceiling fan. Not horribly so, but it does make a small difference.  But you don't need to worry about keeping the heating to deal with condensation/mould because there shouldn't be any.
We got ours from Envirovent.
Hilarious BBC Radio 4 consumer programme person: "Do remember, other Positive Pressure Ventilation brands are also available."

Cheap Positive Pressure Ventilation Systems Chelmsford
Cheap Positive Pressure Ventilation Systems Folkestone

[Zetetic]

Four distinct rooms. Bath. Not hideous. Not impossible to keep cool or warm. Needs a bit of repainting and the like.

How bad an idea is it to ask your landlord if they'd sell to you? Particularly if they're possibly undercharging you by 30% or so?

(Alternative is probably a former miner's cottage in a zombie town, where inevitably someone will have fucked the insulation and ventilation as described previously in this thread.)

[Icehaven]

Motherland was criticised here for that (along with the general 'Oh No!! Not more Middle Class People's Problems!!').

It's one of those perenially annoying things. Back in the early 2000s we used to watch Eastenders and marvel at how working behind a bar, on a market stall or in a launderette could apparently pay for these huge homes in London. I haven't watched it for years but unless Dot and Peggy sold up to a bunch of bankers and oligarchs it's probably even more unrealistic now.

[Thomas]

Saw a headline in the paper earlier. CAB seeking tip-offs about people with lavish lifestyles. I didn't read the article, but I presume it's about this thread.

I like the house I live in. My partner and I are renting with two friends. Before they moved in, we had the option of shuffling across the landing to occupy the much larger bedroom of our former housemates. But we decided to stay put, because we get the sunshine all day in here and there's a nice bit of greenery outside, and the curtains don't stink of former-housemate-cigarettes and we're able to readily trace all mattress stains.

Out the back is a little patio (there used to be a rusted barbecue, too, but sadly it was crushed by a massive falling tree), and a large, well-kept enclosed space only accessible to occupants of the neighbouring houses and apartments, so I can walk my cat. 

The radiators don't work downstairs but we don't particularly like surviving the winter anyway.

[Ian Drunken Smurf]

I live in Mrs. IDS' pad with our three children. Size wise it is luxury, but the way the sq. m. are divided up is not. We'll have to downsize our bedroom in due course to give all the kids separate rooms, but otherwise it ought to be big enough. I own a place in the city centre which would be spacious for a couple without kids, otherwise a bit small for anything more.

[Buelligan]

People who have damp in old houses need to let their house breathe again.  Strip out anything non-permeable like carpets or manmade floor coverings, fuck the double glazing off, say no to vinyl wallpaper or non-breatheable paints.  Replace modern plaster with lime plaster.  Open up old fireplaces and use them. 

Damp in the soil under your home will always rise into dry material, if you allow it to wick up naturally and evaporate, your problems will be negligible.  Serious problems only arise when you try to stop this - you can't stop it - so what you get is a build up of moisture constantly pushing upwards and trying to find a way out. 

Think about running a mile in a cotton vest and then how it would be if you did the same thing in a bin bag.

[Zetetic]

My understanding with miners' cottages (in South Wales at least) is that replacing plasters and floors often isn't enough because the walls have been crudely filled in. (Perhaps forced ventilation is enough to overcome this if you sort everything else.)

Not giving up double glazing, however, without a great deal more convincing.

[mothman]

Three bedroom ex-council property (built 1946) which we own outright (we were very lucky with when we bought and when rich relatives died). It's a concrete house which brings its own problems of condensation etc. The first winter was COLD. Then we had cavity wall insulation added and it got a lot warmer (and quieter, buses used to go dirn the road at that time). Only later did we discover we have the wrong sort of cavities. We've done a lot to the place (although a lot of things seem to be about 90% done; in 12 years I've still not painted the window frame in the kitchen). Like the OP, I seem to be the only family member interested in keeping it tidy. Drives me mad. But, it's our home. For about three more years, then the plan is to move closer to my work.

[Shit Good Nose]

How do you keep on top of it?

Making sure the outer walls at ground level are clear of moss, weeds and general detritus (we live at the bottom of a declining cul-de-sac, so crap tends to collect by ours), painting the very bottom couple of inches of the outer walls with waterproofer every year (making sure not to go too high so most of the walls can still breathe), using moisture collectors in the worst affected areas and replacing them regularly (the el cheapo ones from eBay work just as well as the pricey ones from B&Q and Wickes and the like, so it's not a very expensive hobby), making sure no furniture is pushed right up against the internal skin of an external wall so there is maximum air movement, and some other little things Mrs Nose does that I can't remember off the top of my head now.

Think that squeaks in as Edwardian not Vickyish

Dunno - it's always been described as Victorian, and one of our neighbours a few doors over is selling and that's on as a Victorian house too, but would've been built the same time as ours.  Could it be because work on the "estate" started whilst Victoria was still alive and on the throne?

Liquid membrane isn't that expensive-ish, Wickes have some you can treat yourself if you're comfortable drilling a thousand holes in the mortar

Tried that.  It worked in places where it was injected, but all it ended up doing was diverting the damp to areas that hadn't been done and in higher concentration.  We didn't pursue that any further.

I've mentioned Very Interestingly on here before that we had a two bed cottage with bad condensation issues. We had a positive pressure ventilation system installed and it eliminated the problem overnight.
My analysis is that it's basically a fan that sits in the loft, gently blowing air down through the house and taking the condensation with it.
Costs around £1k to install. Electricity consumption is negligible at about £14 a year. A downside is that because the system is drawing in outside air, it is noticeably colder if you stand under the ceiling fan. Not horribly so, but it does make a small difference.  But you don't need to worry about keeping the heating to deal with condensation/mould because there shouldn't be any.
We got ours from Envirovent.

Funilly enough, one of my work colleagues at the time (a building surveyor) recommended one of those when I asked him about it, so we got a couple of guys around after we'd been in for about 3 years.  At the same time we were having the (original) single glazed windows replaced with double glazing, and both of them very honestly said that the trickle vents in the new windows would pretty much do the same job.  Given that condensation is still a bit of a problem (albeit nowhere near as bad as when we had single glazing), I'm not convinced the trickle vents ARE the full solution, but on the other hand my work colleague at the time noted how incredibly thick our walls are - well over a foot thick of solid stone with no cavity - and suggested that there probably wasn't a 100% surefire solution.

People who have damp in old houses need to let their house breathe again.  Strip out anything non-permeable like carpets or manmade floor coverings, fuck the double glazing off, say no to vinyl wallpaper or non-breatheable paints.  Replace modern plaster with lime plaster.  Open up old fireplaces and use them. 

Damp in the soil under your home will always rise into dry material, if you allow it to wick up naturally and evaporate, your problems will be negligible.  Serious problems only arise when you try to stop this - you can't stop it - so what you get is a build up of moisture constantly pushing upwards and trying to find a way out. 

Think about running a mile in a cotton vest and then how it would be if you did the same thing in a bin bag.

Yes to all of that (all three fireplaces open, only breathable matte paint and plain paper on the walls, still mostly have the original lime plaster and any that has been re-pointed has been like-for-like), except for we're not going to take out the carpets cos we both HATE uncarpeted floors (both our previous dwellings had them - we both said never again), and totally disagree about getting rid of the double glazing - the condensation was MUCH worse with the single glazing, to the point where we were leaving towels at the bottom of each window and they'd be wet through after two days.  Now we just need to wipe the windows every few days where it collects at the rubber seal. 

But talking to my mates who live in more modern houses and they've seemingly got the same number of issues with their houses, they're just different is all.  One lives in an 80s semi and he seems to be forever re-pointing, one is in an early 00s detached and has had numerous roof problems, and another lives in a 10s detached that was built in keeping with older houses locally and his windows leak whenever the rain is coming in a certain direction.  And I doubt those two former ones will still be standing in 100 years time with no major structural work done to them.  The most our house has had done in terms of structure since it was built is one side of the roof being re-tiled.  Built to last.


Again, these are all mild annoyances and I'm fully aware of that..

[Buelligan]

My understanding with miners' cottages (in South Wales at least) is that replacing plasters and floors often isn't enough because the walls have been crudely filled in. (Perhaps forced ventilation is enough to overcome this if you sort everything else.)

Not giving up double glazing, however, without a great deal more convincing.

All I can say is that I live in a partly below ground home that is made from the earth and rocks it's set in to, obviously no damp proof course.  As I've said before, when it really rains and it can really do that here, I have actual springs, loads of the fuckers making actual streams inside my dwelling but within a day or two of it stopping, the water subsides and it's all dry again.  Before living here, I renovated a regency house, built on a spring.  No damp proof again and it had appalling damp.  After stripping out everything and replacing it with breathable natural materials, no damp at all.  It works.

[Bereft Isabella]

Three bedroom ex-council property (built 1946) which we own outright (we were very lucky with when we bought and when rich relatives died). It's a concrete house which brings its own problems of condensation etc. The first winter was COLD. Then we had cavity wall insulation added and it got a lot warmer (and quieter, buses used to go dirn the road at that time). Only later did we discover we have the wrong sort of cavities. We've done a lot to the place (although a lot of things seem to be about 90% done; in 12 years I've still not painted the window frame in the kitchen). Like the OP, I seem to be the only family member interested in keeping it tidy. Drives me mad. But, it's our home. For about three more years, then the plan is to move closer to my work.

We're moving into an ex council on Friday - it's not concrete but is steel framed which is why we can afford it (it's our first house), people are generally spooked by non standard construction. I've been feeling nervous about that but the EPC is C so hopefully it'll be warm enough.

[Shit Good Nose]

people are generally spooked by non standard construction.

It's usually because of the insurance - it's either loaded to take into account non-standard and/or, particularly in the case of concrete constructions, so difficult to claim that you may as well not take insurance out.  The trouble is concrete cancer, and the trouble with concrete cancer is that there's absolutely no way of telling whether your house will get it unless it gets it, but at that point it's basically too late and you're usually looking at either major structural work or, in the absolute worst case scenarios, a total rebuild.  Reselling is also difficult because people are spooked.  It's a vicious circle.

But if yours is otherwise normal bricks and mortar, you should be okay, but I daresay there will still be some loading on the insurance compared with similar houses of fully standard construction.

[Bereft Isabella]

Yeah, I had read up about that. I don't think our house is concrete but we had to get a steel survey, which involved drilling a hole and using a boroscope. Is any of that helpful for concrete houses?

Our insurance is ridiculous, £42 a month.

[biggytitbo]

Speaking of house shit, has anyone got one of those nest or hive things? Are they worth it?

[Shit Good Nose]

Speaking of house shit, has anyone got one of those nest or hive things? Are they worth it?

Wasp hives/nests aren't as good as they're cracked up to be.  Would not recommend.

[Sebastian Cobb]

They seem utterly pointless. Especially if you live in a house with trv's.

[Shit Good Nose]

Yeah, I had read up about that. I don't think our house is concrete but we had to get a steel survey, which involved drilling a hole and using a boroscope. Is any of that helpful for concrete houses?

Our insurance is ridiculous, £42 a month.

Without being familiar with your case, obvs, the boroscope was probably to check the condition of the steel - the worry with steel frames being that they can rust and/or become brittle.  Less likely in the absence of concrete (steel reacting with concrete is one of the main causes of concrete cancer), but still more likely that something will go wrong when compared with stone or timber framed buildings.  But yeah - the £42 a month confirms the loading (whistles) - is that with contents, or purely for the structure?

[Shit Good Nose]

They seem utterly pointless. Especially if you live in a house with trv's.

And timer controls.

Mind you, there is the odd day when I sit there and think "the heating is almost certainly on now and really doesn't need to be", but it's rare that happens and more to do with our mega thick solid walls than anything else.

[biggytitbo]

They seem utterly pointless. Especially if you live in a house with trv's.

I don't think I do, but then  I have no idea what a trv is.

[Shit Good Nose]

I don't think I do, but then  I have no idea what a trv is.

Do you have twisty things with numbers on your radiators?  And/or do you have a wall-mounted control panel where you can adjust the time and temperature settings?  Or do you just get all your heating unregulated from all those corpses you burn in your walk-in American school style basement boiler?

[Bereft Isabella]

Without being familiar with your case, obvs, the boroscope was probably to check the condition of the steel - the worry with steel frames being that they can rust and/or become brittle.  Less likely in the absence of concrete (steel reacting with concrete is one of the main causes of concrete cancer), but still more likely that something will go wrong when compared with stone or timber framed buildings.  But yeah - the £42 a month confirms the loading (whistles) - is that with contents, or purely for the structure?

Contents too-can't remember how much for, just that our son has smashed 2 TVs since April so thought, fuck it.

[Shit Good Nose]

Contents too-can't remember how much for, just that our son has smashed 2 TVs since April so thought, fuck it.

That's not so bad, then, as I know that sort of figure (and more) can be just for the structure in some cases - my sister was looking at a concrete 3 bed semi recently (which I swiftly put her off), and the insurance the current owners were paying just for building costs was £590 a year. 

But then I guess that those of us who pay a lot less in home insurance are probably paying a lot more on the mortgage - the house above, in a nice area and occupying a sizeable corner plot, is on the market for just over half the price of similar standard construction houses in the same area.  So swings and roundabouts sometimes.