103 year old house - what kind of issues will I run into?

Discussion in 'Repairs & Maintenance' started by SoroSoro, 16th Mar, 2019.

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  1. SoroSoro

    SoroSoro Well-Known Member

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    Phew. Looked at a bunch of properties today and we like a two bed house in Yeronga, QLD but it's quite old - 103 years old.

    What kind of problems am I going to run into? I noticed cracking in the concrete by the supports under the house, but the supports look newer. The wife is worried about asbestos and leaded paint. I'm also worried that even though it's only a .2% flood chance, that rising ocean levels may change that chance in the not too distant future.

    My carpenter friend said just to pass on it - too many hidden issues, even with a fantastic inspector.
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: 16th Mar, 2019
  2. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    What specific issues have been raised?

    The pier/stump sits on at isolated pad by the looks of it. I'd be more concerned about toe fungus & thongs :rolleyes:

    The property appears reasonably well maintained.
     
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  3. datto

    datto Well-Known Member

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    Don't forget that house will probably need to cleansed of evil spirits. A lot of tenants may have a phobia about old houses.
     
  4. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    I'd say the biggest risk is to your eyeballs with that purple paint... :D:p

    Who said it is 103 years old? It looks more a 1920s style cottage to me. We have one exactly the same. Hubby says that style may have been around the first world war, and the style probably was still being built into the 1920s(?) so I am guessing someone has actually said when this was built.

    Asbestos could be in that white painted study walls and ceiling, but undisturbed it is safe.

    Bathroom likely has asbestos too.

    Also stove recess could be asbestos. Next time you decide to paint or renovate the bathroom, that is the time to think about getting it tested and removed if you want to (with a professional doing the work).

    The rest looks solid VJ and floorboards. Roof looks new and it looks "straight".

    If a building inspection says it is ok, I'd not be concerned and would happily buy it.
     
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  5. Marg4000

    Marg4000 Well-Known Member

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    The listing mentions being above the 2011 flood, but no mention of 1974. Investigate.

    Both floods behaved differently and inundation varied both better and worse when comparing the two events. Wivenhoe Dam was built in the time between floods.

    Hubby’s parents lived at Chelmer. Flood levels at their house were over one meter lower in 2011 than in 1974. Other areas flooded in 2011 but not in 1974.
    Marg
     
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  6. SoroSoro

    SoroSoro Well-Known Member

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    The REA said it was 103 - so figured that was exact. I liked the house, and feel that the office could be extended into the lounge to make a third bedroom, if desired down the road. I'd love to blow out the wall between the kitchen and the lounge, but that was the original external wall to the house (kitchen area is newer) and I assume it'd be load bearing. Deck is new and quite nice. And it potentially comes with four chickens!

    BTW - what does VJ stand for?
     
  7. SoroSoro

    SoroSoro Well-Known Member

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    You're on the money Marg. The 2011 flood didn't touch the property, but it looks like the 1974 flood just got it. I'm guessing that there will be a worse flood in the next 20-30 years. Should I be concerned given that the living space is ~2M above ground?
     
  8. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    VJ = vertical joint. Your house (like ours) has VJ walls and ceilings.

    Our house was closed in like this with one but with truly ugly aluminium sliders. One side was made into a small third bedroom and the other side was open to the front door as a little sun room.

    The front stairs were ugly and overall, it was the ugliest house in the street. We would have liked to open it up as it was built, but it meant losing a bedroom.

    We played around with the layout so we could keep a third bedroom. I'll dig my plans out and post in a minute.
     
  9. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    There'd be alot of evil spirits in that place. You'd want to get rid of any trace of Jack Daniels or Johnny Walker with a liberal sprinkling of the Ol' King Bundy.
     
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  10. SoroSoro

    SoroSoro Well-Known Member

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    How about electrical? If I want a bunch more power points or need to put in fans or A/C units. Or plumbing?
     
  11. SoroSoro

    SoroSoro Well-Known Member

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    I see you guys are also imbibing this evening :D
     
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  12. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    This is the before plan...

    Screen Shot 2019-03-16 at 7.04.34 pm.png

    This is what we changed it too. It meant adding a beam to the original front wall to allow the kitchen to flow to the living area. We put timber windows back in.

    The central hallway was removed long before we bought. It does make the living area bigger, but the downside is that two bedrooms open off the living area.

    I can't find the final plan, but this is close to it. We changed this plan to make laundry smaller and bathroom bigger with bath and separate shower.

    Kitchen doesn't push into the dining area. It is a small kitchen but for a house this small, it works well.

    We lifted the house and brought the laundry upstairs. Someone else will build under and change things around I guess. But we didn't want to spend too much.

    Putting the kitchen at the front was a compromise, and to open up the verandah both sides meant losing too much internal space.

    Screen Shot 2019-03-16 at 7.08.23 pm.png
     
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  13. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    It's up off the ground, so access will be good.

    You'll need to check the switchboard to confirm if there's capacity for additional GPOs or if you require new circuits.
     
  14. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    Adding power points should not be a problem. When we added aircon to our place, our sparkie said we might trip the power if too many things are used at once. That never happened.

    We didn't want to upgrade the power back then because we always knew we would renovate and raise and that was when we replumbed, rewired and we also reroofed.
     
  15. SatayKing

    SatayKing Well-Known Member

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    And the meth?
     
  16. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    I've heard Bacardi being referred to as paint stripper but not metho. :oops:
     
  17. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    In our place, we have a good big room now, kitchen, living and dining. You have a nice dining area off the kitchen. You don't have the connection to the main living room, but having the deck off the kitchen does the same thing... allows you to entertain and not be disconnected in the kitchen.

    I like that house. I think it looks good. I've no idea of values in the area. But the house is nice.
     
  18. SoroSoro

    SoroSoro Well-Known Member

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    Great reno Wylie! Is it costly to do that much moving around? I could see us doing something with that house in the future, but I don't have enough budget for a purchase and reno right now.
     
  19. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    Moving walls costs very little in a Queenslander. The beam we had to put in may have cost $1k. I'm not sure of figures because it came under the umbrella of a much bigger overall job.

    Big money was the new kitchen, new bathroom, lifting, driveway, slab etc.
     
  20. SoroSoro

    SoroSoro Well-Known Member

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    This was my second favourite today - same price, but a townhouse instead of a house. CG concerns me with this one, as well as the additional $2.4k each year for body corp.