North facing garden

Buyingcar2012

How off putting is it for you? Currently close to buying a house which ticks all the boxes except for the garden.

There are parks very close by though.

Outkast_IRE

Buyingcar2012 wrote: »

How off putting is it for you? Currently close to buying a house which ticks all the boxes except for the garden.

There are parks very close by though.

Depends on what your into.

If you want to be able to grow your own fruit and veg its a big downer.

Also if you plan on extending its more than likely going to be In the north facing direction so no real benefits in terms of solar gain or extra light etc to be had.

It depends on what the south facing side of the house is like really. If its directly onto the street then it wouldn't be for me. If it has a bit of space and room for improvement on the south side then maybe. Impossible to give a good opinion without knowing the layout of the house etc.

Buyingcar2012

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Depends on what your into.

If you want to be able to grow your own fruit and veg its a big downer.

Also if you plan on extending its more than likely going to be In the north facing direction so no real benefits in terms of solar gain or extra light etc to be had.

It depends on what the south facing side of the house is like really. If its directly onto the street then it wouldn't be for me. If it has a bit of space and room for improvement on the south side then maybe. Impossible to give a good opinion without knowing the layout of the house etc.

It's a smallish estate in a cul de sac with space in front for parking. There is a green area across from the house but obviously for general use.

moxin

Do you want it for sunbathing? A long north facing back garden is no problem there as you can just walk to the end of the garden, unfortunately the older stock seems to only have these "fields"

MouseTail

Definite no. Not just because the garden will be forever in shade, but the kitchen will never get sunlight, it will be cold and gloomy.

leecurlywurly

Most of the time we do not consider North facing garden as no sun & dampness.

South facing is a important factor for us, our current place is sf & we dont use heating much as we gain from natural heat therefore saving bills...

pwurple

You can plant to suit most conditions. Even if it is dry as a bone most if the time, and gets no light at all. Even then you can often do moss-covered boulders etc and it can look quite modern.

We had a north-facing small suburban garden for years and we did just fine with it. Just plant appropriately. The world is full of plants that grow in all sorts of conditions.

Buyingcar2012

pwurple wrote: »

You can plant to suit most conditions. Even if it is dry as a bone most if the time, and gets no light at all. Even then you can often do moss-covered boulders etc and it can look quite modern.

We had a north-facing small suburban garden for years and we did just fine with it. Just plant appropriately. The world is full of plants that grow in all sorts of conditions.

I don't really have any interest in gardening or plants. A lawn is fine for me. My main concern is that it will be difficult to sell on the house if needed.

jython98

it depends on what type houses really, semi or terraced are not very good with north facing garden, as your half garden is in shade if it's small enough. But if it's detached, or even better it's a bungalow, there is enough space between you and your neigbour, then north facing or south facing doesn't make any different, hope this helps.

D3PO

depends how important sun is for you tbh. Ive got a north facing back garden but my garden is 64 feet in length so its not a big deal as the back half of the garden gets the sun. It it were a small back garden though it would likely be in the shade most of the time.

miezekatze

You will get sun from the east in the morning and the west in the evening, especially during the summer. I do like gardening, but I don't think orientation is as big a deal as some people make it out to be. If you like the house, I'd still go for it. If there are big trees etc. in the neighbours gardens as well then that would put me off though as it would mean you'd never really get any sun.

minusthebear

I'm in the same position and have been researching this myself. I've confused about the subject to be honest. Our potential back garden is north facing, judging by the compass, and in a terraced row but when I was standing in it last week around 2pm the sun was shining in on the back, so I'm not sure how much of an issue this will be. Maybe the fact the house is on a bend/corner helps the orientation slightly. Even still, if the back is north, surely you get lovely light in the front of the house? Was thinking of knocking down the wall in the sitting room, and putting in glass double doors to let the light flow to the kitchen at the back.

moxin

Try http://www.suncalc.net/#/53.3662,-6.3158,11/2014.03.10/11:22 to see where the sun will be at various times

Penny Dreadful

MouseTail wrote: »

Definite no. Not just because the garden will be forever in shade, but the kitchen will never get sunlight, it will be cold and gloomy.

I agree. I looked at a house recently and it was brilliant is many many ways. It was in a new development and the only units left were those with a north facing back garden. It put me right off.
The estate agent kept telling me that it was no issue at all, sure wouldnt I get outside at the front watching the kids play on the road anyway and they'd get all of the sun so what was my problem.
I would like the kids to be playing with their friends in a safe secure back garden where I didn't have to stand outside watching them the whole time and would like that garden to have some sunshine.

o1s1n

We moved into a house with a south west facing garden a couple of weeks ago and I just cannot get over how much light the back rooms get.

Over the course of the day the conservatory heated up to 25 degrees C.

Heat aside, the general feel in the house is really lovely with all the light. My last place had a north west garden and the house felt like it was in perpetual darkness.

sopretty

Having lived in a house for 3 years with a NF back garden, I would never ever consider one again. It was horrible and miserable.

minusthebear

moxin wrote: »

Try http://www.suncalc.net/#/53.3662,-6.3158,11/2014.03.10/11:22 to see where the sun will be at various times

that helps a lot. Looking at the house I am interested in , the backgarden seems to be North West-ish with sun coming in during the evening in the summer from the west from 4pm onwards for the rest of the evening. Not as bad as first feared if my reading is correct.

padjo5

Buyingcar2012 wrote: »

How off putting is it for you? Currently close to buying a house which ticks all the boxes except for the garden.

There are parks very close by though.

Should you not change your user name to 'buyinghouse2014'?? :P

Seriously though, IMO it depends on how important the orientation is for you. For me a house would ideally tick my top 10 priorities. If it doenst hit a number of these but exceeds some others then id consider it. Orientation can be a big deal if you plan to spend a lof time outside, or if certain living spaces will be very dull as a result. Depends on the house in summary!

leelee77

I am going to be house hunting in the later part of 2014 and to be honest it would put me right off. I grew up in a north facing house though, and the garden used to be freezing. My parents moved a few years back and they really appreciate a south facing garden now. It's like a sun trap!

minusthebear

found this post over on a another forum :

I've posted on other threads on this forum regarding orientation. I suspect most people don't truly appreciate the fact that in summer in Ireland, the sun tracks through a huge c.270 degree swathe of the sky each day, rising in the north east, moving to high in the sky in the south then setting in the north west. There are several consequences of this which appear to run counter to most people's expectations:
- any face of a building will be in shadow for a significant part of the day, regardless of orientation. Conversely, any face of a building, if not shadowed by a neighbouring structure, will get some sun at some stage of a summer day;
- a south facing exterior wall of a house is going to be in shadow in early morning (before about 8:30) and evening (after about 6:30);
- in mid summer, the sun is so high in the middle of the day that it won't shine far into a average size window so a deep room, such as found in an open plan layout may have deeply shadowed areas. 'Streaming' sun requires the low angles of winter or summer evenings/mornings.

So what is the best orientation comes down to what time of day you are going to enjoy sitting on your patio or read a book in your living room under streaming sunlight. For me, I am out during the day generally so it is primarily evening times I would be interested in. In that regard, a west orientation trumps everything else. South-west is almost as good, north-west perfectly acceptable and I may actually prefer north over south depending on shadowing by my and neighbouring buildings. NE/E/SE would probably be deal breakers. A north-west facing room/patio/deck is going to have loads of evening sun in summer, especially if the houses backing on are a good distance away. I would definitely be putting in those double doors! If you are more likely to get use of the sun during the day (young kids, weekends emphasis, retired or whatever), then SE/S/SE facing may be better for you.

I emphasise that I am talking about summer above, primarily late April to early September at best. I think the short days and weather of the rest of the year here is such that orientation is far less important then though there is no doubt that a NW/N/NE facing room is going to have the lights on in daytime during our winter more often than a south facing room. If you are out working most days, though, what does it matter?

http://www.thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=60386

Muahahaha

o1s1n wrote: »

We moved into a house with a south west facing garden a couple of weeks ago and I just cannot get over how much light the back rooms get.

Over the course of the day the conservatory heated up to 25 degrees C.

Heat aside, the general feel in the house is really lovely with all the light. My last place had a north west garden and the house felt like it was in perpetual darkness.

The difference between north and South facing can be staggering- even to the point of affecting your mood. Years back I lived in a beds it for 6 months which had one north facing window looking out onto a north facing garden. The garden was more or less permanently in the shade an my room was always dark and cold. Then I moved to an apartment with all it's windows looking directly south. Within a few days I felt like I had a noose off my neck, getting out of bed in the morning was a joy rather than a struggle. I didn't turn out heaters half as much as they sun would warm it in the day which would be retained till late in the evening. It really made a noticeable difference and as a consequence I'd never considering buying anything that isn't south facing.