1950s terraced house - what to look out for?

condra

Hey all.

My brother is days away from buying a 1950s terraced house, full pebbledash, slab over the door, you know the type.

Everything seems ok, but we don't know a lot about property/renovation.

Wondering if there is anything important to look out for?

It needs to be double glazed and touched up, but the electrics and plumming seem to be fine. There's no obvious damp patches or cracks. I think he is a bit unsettled by the fact that he hasn't been outbid in two weeks, and the price seems great.

Before closing the deal, is there anything that could have put off potential buyers that we might have missed?

Thanks in advance for any tips..

Tow

condra wrote: »

My brother is days away from buying a 1950s terraced house, full pebbledash, slab over the door, you know the type..

Ex Corpo? These were built to last and most are concrete. Workmen hate them as it's hard to drill holes in to the walls.

L1011

Electrics seeming fine would be the first thing I'd look for. 1950s wiring may be rubber coated, which will be well on the way to perishing by now. I don't know the exact era for introduction of various modern wiring standards, but if its not been rewired since, say, the 1980s its probably due a rewire.

It probably has very little to no insulation (attic, wall, etc) also. Does it have any form of non solid fuel central heating? These could put other buyers off; 2 weeks without another bid is pretty normal unless you're looking for a 3 or 4 bed semi in a desirable area of Dublin which seems to be the only area there is very strong demand for.

Tow wrote: »

Ex Corpo? These were built to last and most are concrete. Workmen hate them as it's hard to drill holes in to the walls.

Thanks for dragging up buried bad memories from when I installed satellite dishes

ted1

have you got a surveyor. is the house listed?
wiring should be done, I doubt plumbing is great. is there damp or mould. any cracks on wall or paths?

how is the roof?

gerarda

Its mid-terrace? Have you checked that the separating wall with next door goes all the way to the apex of the roof? This wasnt a fire regulation in the 50's but is now. I know a girl who bought a house similar to this and discovered she was sharing an attic space with 11 other houses!!!

condra

Thanks for the replies.

MYOB, I hope you don't mind if I don't give full disclosure, but it is a 3 bed in a popular middle class area, and the current price is about average for the area.

Gas fired central heating. The burner is in a concrete shed just outside the back door AFIR.

Maybe it does need to be rewired. There's no mention of it being recently rewired in the brochure.

Tow, I think it's probably X-Corpo, though I couldn't say for sure.

He was planning to knock the tight kitchen into the back room. Hope that wouldn't be a big deal.

He's comfortable with the idea of spending around 20k on double glazing, new kitchen, and some general refurb, but worried there might be a sting in the tail somewhere.

edanto

Presume there has been a full survey already that hasn't thrown up any surprises?

Any history of flooding in the area?

Has he called in to any of the neighbours? Might be worth a friendly chat with the ones directly on either side, and get a sense if they're normal or bonkers.

One odd thing that was an issue with one house we were bidding on was council drainage. When we got the drainage maps from the local council, it showed there was a grey water drain from the street passing underground beneath the garage and back garden to where it entered a small stream. There were no manholes on the property.

That meant that we would never have gotten permission to build over that drain, and couldn't convert the garage (since the council may need access to it at any time).

We backed out of bidding for the house. Rare, but since it's easy enough to get the drainage maps, it might be an idea.

condra

Thanks again everyone for the replies. Very much appreciated.

ted1 wrote: »

have you got a surveyor.

Yes. He won't be signing anything before the surveyor has a look.

is the house listed?

No

wiring should be done, I doubt plumbing is great. is there damp or mould. any cracks on wall or paths?

No cracks on wall or paths, though there are a couple of wallpapered areas.
I hope it wouldn't be a bigger job to rewire because of solid walls. He has rewiring down at about 3k approx.

how is the roof?

Looks perfect

Its mid-terrace

Yep

Have you checked that the separating wall with next door goes all the way to the apex of the roof? This wasnt a fire regulation in the 50's but is now. I know a girl who bought a house similar to this and discovered she was sharing an attic space with 11 other houses!!!

Whoa, will definitely look into that. Thanks.

condra

edanto wrote: »

Presume there has been a full survey already that hasn't thrown up any surprises?

Not yet. Survey is the next step. Just wanted to get some ideas here first.

Any history of flooding in the area?

None at all, it is slightly elevated.

Has he called in to any of the neighbours? Might be worth a friendly chat with the ones directly on either side, and get a sense if they're normal or bonkers.

We actually know a chap who lives there and he's smashing nice and loves the area. The area is a bit drab with the full pebbledash everywhere, but it's fairly "middle class" for want of a better term.

One odd thing that was an issue with one house we were bidding on was council drainage. When we got the drainage maps from the local council, it showed there was a grey water drain from the street passing underground beneath the garage and back garden to where it entered a small stream. There were no manholes on the property.

That meant that we would never have gotten permission to build over that drain, and couldn't convert the garage (since the council may need access to it at any time).

We backed out of bidding for the house. Rare, but since it's easy enough to get the drainage maps, it might be an idea.

Thanks for the suggestion. The house is plenty big already, but sounds like something to check out anyway.

wandatowell

I bought the exact same house myself in October last year. The old man and I gutted the house. Ripped out the plumbing, electrics, everything and done a total refurb over about 5 months.

As these are small houses, getting new electrics and the plumbing installed isn't really that big of a job. Fairly short runs for the pipes and what not. There wasn't even a radiator in the house, just a back boiler and a hotpress. I cant stress enough about getting new electrics put in.

Getting the house dry lined, attic and walls pumped really isn't expensive especially if the grant scheme is still going. Tbh it was pretty much free of charge.

One thing that stuck in my mind was that the water coming into the house was in a lead pipe, the council will change this for you free of charge as well as install a new shut off valve. They said they will replace any lead pipes as long as they didnt have to dig up the garden themselves. So out ya go with a shovel before they arrived.

Check to see if there is a man hole on the property for gaining access to the drains. (usually its two houses that share one) as I heard you might be responsible for incurring any charges if there is a issue with them even though your neighbours will share the use of it. Im not 100% sure on this and maybe somebody here will know more than I.

The surround of the windows in my place all have steel bars running through them. The fella doing the cut out for some double doors I was getting put in had his heart broken with them. So thats something to note also.

Check out for wood worm also, I had to get mine treated unexpectadly.

If you have any questions ask away


Also knocking through from the kitchen to the living room is a simple task. It gives you a lovely living space.

There's also the potential for building from the main bedroom out over the stairs to give yourself a very handy wardrobe.
Its just empty space and fantastic for storage

riclad

its likely you,ll have to put in a new water tank, tank is likely 50 years old ,metal,with no cover on it,
check under floorboards downstairs.
IT MAY just have earth ,ie no concrete under floors.
if you are taking out sash windows, put em up on on adverts.ie free.
you can get skip bags xl, 140 approx, handy as metal skips require a license to use.
when taking up floorboards ,handy to run ethernet, or
sky ,tv,tv coax ,
DO this before plastering ceilings.
GET breathable insulation , natural material,
eg hemp, sheepswool, or similar material,
in the long run it works out better .ie it doesnt retain water vapor as other insulation does.
theres usually someone on gumtree.ie or window company selling demo, returned windows ,mismeasured ,
for half normal price.AS new condition.
its likely you,ll need a new rewire.

its likely there,ll be at least 3 or 4 broken ,cracked
roof tiles,
fix em before a leak appears.
Dont forget to insulate all water pipes.
i,d say it s harder, to get a loan on a older house now that needs renovation as opposed to a standard semi d.

Idbatterim

hey op, just another suggestion, if you have gas, you can get a combi boiler, this provides instant, unlimited hot water on demand and no need for bloody hot water tank taking up entire closet. Also personally i wouldnt bother putting in storage tank in attic (although that might be against building regs) also probably worth considering zoning your heating system. Especially the way gas and indeed energy prices are going...

L1011

riclad wrote: »

i,d say it s harder, to get a loan on a older house now that needs renovation as opposed to a standard semi d.

Took BOI a few days to approve me on a 1990s end of terrace (including all the checks to see if I could afford it) and then two and a half weeks to re-approve me for the exact same amount (and hence no affording calculations) for a larger, early 1970s mid-terrace that needs a little work. So yes, it is. They will want to know how you're going to fund the work and its unlikely they'll lend you the money for that.

Going to assume the OP's brother has the funding already though.

the_syco

riclad wrote: »

you can get skip bags xl, 140 approx, handy as metal skips require a license to use.

Also keep an eye on the skips, as they have a habit of filling up by themselves with household waste, cupboards, etc.

riclad wrote: »

check under floorboards downstairs.
IT MAY just have earth ,ie no concrete under floors.

For more info on this, check this link, and goto the "Ground bearing concrete floors - 1950s" section.

condra

Thanks again for all the responses. Lots to think about now.

riclad

I think there s, less bids, buyers for older houses, that need renovation as people feel its tough enough to get a mortgage,on a standard semi d .
ITS worth checking state of water tank as water taps upstairs may feed off it,most old tanks are metal,no cover on top,
id put in a new tank if you can afford it.
taps down stairs should feed directly off mains supply,or make sure all taps are fed from main water pipe.
as posted some old house still have an old lead pipe for main water supply,
That will have to be replaced,you ,ll have to lift floorboard s downstairs to check this.
lead pipes are bad for your health if you drink
water from them.
even after the survey ,its still worth check roof tiles for breakages.
if there not 3 solid,brick, concrete walls at the rear,ask solicitor ,
to make sure the boundarys are clear at the rear
of the house.
i,ve heard of cases where an old hedge or,fence
did not coincide with the legal boundary of the house.

TwoShedsJackson

We bought a similar property in Crumlin in 2003. There was noise insulation issues with the house on the other side with which we shared a living room wall. And by issues I mean you could hear almost everything that went on in there, even if they weren't being particularly noisy.

There is obviously no real way for him to check this before he buys but I would be careful if he is at all sensitive to noise being made by others, or worried about others being disturbed by noise he makes.

riclad

IF you are buying an old house,it s best to assume there is almost no insulation, its not that difficult to put in sound insulation.
you may have to even remove some old insulation because its low quality.
50 years ago there wasn,t any detailed regs re insulation standards for
house builders.
if you visit the house 2 or 3 times, after 5pm, you,ll probably hear noise from next door,
if there,s a sound insulation issue.

Idbatterim

at least if there is a sound issue in a house, you can throw up another concrete wall, at ground level at least its very easy, without getting into much structural work upstairs, you can throw up stud partition or just slab the walls and hope that does the job...