Owning your own home

Ballpark figure for those internal shutter Venetian blind things? For a Victorian bay window. Gotta be a few hundred quid

Ha great thread this.. I’ve just bought a two bed 1905 terrace house in East London, four original fireplaces, brick facade, patent slate roof tiles ( yep not original) all in good nick. Planing some changes though.

#famouslastwords

Couple of Questions:

Just bought my first home, an old red brick terrace in Manchester, I noticed that it has the road name on it but it’s missing some bits of the lettering is this something that I can get the council to spruce up? (Very unlikely I guess) if not I might just try and do it myself.

On the paper work from the sale it’s stated that it’s a 60’s house, but that doesn’t quite feel right, there’s evidence of fire places in the living room as well as one in the dining room, and main bedroom, and it’s also got floorboards throughout which I would assume a more modern house wouldn’t have downstairs? How do I go about verifying a build era/date?

Canal Street?

Post a few pics of the exterior...

Anyone had a smart gas/electric meter fitted? Any appreciable difference to the old one? Bulb have offered to fit them free (I'm guessing they all do this) and I'm just wondering if it's going to mean I end up paying more.

The biggest difference is you don't have to provide regular meter readings, so no more bumping your head in the cupboard under the stairs.

It also allows you to see what costs you the most in terms of usage. For example we were surprised to find out that the extra money we spent on our tumble dryer paid off because it costs less to run than our washing machine on a 40 degree cycle.

5-700 for composite shutters.

would #rep

You bought a house without being sure what era it was even from?

Ballsy.

https://www.oldmapsonline.org/en/Manchester ?

A 60s house could well have floorboards but they would look different to Victorian floorboards which are quite distinctive. One reason for this is that due to the Victorian building boom there was a pine shortage, so a lot of pine was shipped over from Canada. Working out what sort of pine you've got might therefore shed some light.

I also suspect some 60s houses were built with fireplaces. You'd be better off looking for distinctively Victorian building methods but it might just be easier to look at old maps and see when your place first existed.

Since electricity and gas are metered you'll always pay for what you use.

A lot of 60s houses were built with fireplaces as central heating was still a bit of a luxery. In 1970 only 30% of houses had central heating rising to 59% in 1980 and 79% in 1990.

That's a very interesting link, thanks.

Our survey suggested that our house is from the 1930s, but a house with the exact same footprint pops up between 1895 and 1908 and is unchanged on the 1930 map. How accurate is the science of dating houses from visual features alone?

On the paper work from the sale it’s stated that it’s a 60’s house, but that doesn’t quite feel right, there’s evidence of fire places in the living room as well as one in the dining room, and main bedroom, and it’s also got floorboards throughout which I would assume a more modern house wouldn’t have downstairs? How do I go about verifying a build era/date?

It's probably an 1860s house. :)

I was reading about Octopus trialling a tariff that charged on a ad-hoc basis, depending on supply/demand on the energy grid, it relies on a smart meter. Could work out well if you work nights or from home maybe, or can get away with cooking/cleaning at night somehow.

This should be on the land registry documents I believe which you would have got from your solicitor.

My house was built in 1959 and has fireplaces for reference.

A lot of 60s houses were built with fireplaces as central heating was still a bit of a luxery. In 1970 only 30% of houses had central heating rising to 59% in 1980 and 79% in 1990.

As the ever fascinating @mespilus mentioned somewhere on here recently mains (North Sea) gas only came along between the late 60s and mid 70s. Before that it was coal (town) gas which was stored in gasometers and piped around your house via those thick old steel gas pipes sometimes found when renovating older houses (I pulled a load out when we redid our flat).

I had no idea mains gas was such a modern thing until he posted that!

How accurate is the science of dating houses from visual features alone?

Due to the unfortunate British obsession with retrospection, revivalism, historicism and pastiche: not very.

First question is interesting, it's worth asking the council. My local council has a specific page on the website for reporting a Street Name Plate Problem. If the sign is actually fixed to the wall of your house then it might not be the council's responsibility - but it probably is.

On the second point, you might be able to work it out from the title register or pre-registration documents that your solicitor should have sent you. But depending on the age it might not be possible to know for sure.

We have a map of our town dated 1898 that doesn’t show our house but the house deeds suggest 1885-1895 🤷‍♂️

You are too kind!
Those that have met(/endured) me at Wests
will know that I straddle the line between mildly fascinating and obsessive,
and suffer from a retentive memory.

A History of Gas

The introduction of North Sea Gas was even accompanied by a tv advertising campaign,
as there was trauma over whether old cookers could be converted,
or,
whether the gullible would be preyed upon by avaricious Gas Board salespeople.

Solid fuel continued to be actively sold for at least a decade, (round here).
Alongside the Metropolitan Line, between Ruislip & Ruislip Manor was essentially a linear storage yard for coal/smokeless fuel.

As 6th form Friday night drinkers we knew to stay out of the back bar of the Coach & Horses,
as the coalmen would have been on an early doors bender,
until finally summoned home by irate wives/partners.

I remember a TV warning to households that an unusual type of much hotter burning coke (byproduct of the coal-gas production ) was being sold as normal coke, and melting fireplaces around Britain.

And so it begins. Probably picked the worst time to sell, 10 weeks out from BrexitFest '19 but so be it
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for­-sale/property-83950187.html

Almost tempted to stay now that I've tidied the place for the photos...

Turned out alright.
Listing to exchange in 7 1/2 weeks. Completing on 1st Nov.

Had loads of viewings really quickly. Almost all of them scared off by the busy road. Then 2 offers just as I was getting concerned. One was well under, one was around where we thought it should be. They improved a bit so accepted it. And exchanged today. 52 days all in.

Plan is to rent for a month or two and see what Brexity stuff happens, then go shopping without a chain.

If shutters are out as too expensive for a Victorian bay window, then what else works well?

We currently have curtains hung on rings on a fat rail, but they get stuck a lot on the angles and brackets.

Other curtain hanging options? Otherwise its 3 sets of blinds.

I just have this a normal curtain track like this (not this specific one). Works fine.

https://www.polesandblinds.com/speedy-fineline-hand-bendable-metal-curtain-track-set-wall-or-ceiling-fix-7200/?colour=Silver