Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair [Hardcover]

This is a fab book. It shows you how to maintain an old house and cope with any problems without damaging the patina that builds up over the ages, or being ripped off by one of the many building firms that sell unnecessary treatment products or services that can not only damage old houses, but cost thousands. That's not always because we're being exploited, but because most people don't understand the way old houses are made. Once you get a grasp of that (and this book is an excellent introduction) it's not too difficult, you're in a better position to understand what you really need. When I bought my old house it had a damp cellar. I got a chap in who said he could install a drain system & make the cellar dry for Ģ10,000. A conservation surveyor suggested ways to fix it - for Ģ2,000. 3 years after the cheaper option it's fine. Another builder said I should put a layer of gypsum plaster over my old bumpy lime plaster to make it even - for Ģ1,000. The conservation surveyor said keep with the bumpy lime, it adds to the character of an old building. The same with glass, old is better and easier on the eye because it is slightly irregular. The estate agent said so many old houses are ruined on the inside as people make them look like new builds.
People pay more for all original features and this book shows how to work with an old house and enhance it's originality. It's also beautiful to look at and easy to read, and I have no building experience,I'm just an owner who has never read a book on building before. It's an excellent book and totally recommended. Real eye candy for old house enthusiasts plus sensible advice too!

The Old House Handbook
A practical guide to Care and Repair
Roger Hunt and Marianne Suhr

When first I looked at this book I wondered. Is it really "a practical guide" or is it for the coffee table? The photographs are brilliant, ancient houses in various stages of wonder and decrepitude - so, good for the coffee table. Then I started to read.

Back in 1977 our house showed many signs of decrepitude. Old leaded lights replaced by modern casements, hardboard tacked over failing plaster, a nailed together replacement staircase, not to mention what we found on the back room floor. We searched for books. Some were very good - I know more about scarf joints than most. But nothing told us the essential problems of old houses. Building Societies demanded injected damp proof courses, and underpinning. This book suggests that these rarely help, and sometimes exacerbate, the problems.

It starts by being very practical to potential purchasers. Are you sure you're up to this? Then it talks about how to get the work done? Choosing builders who know about conservation, how to deal with listing agencies. Then in chapter 3 it goes into top gear. How to deal with that damp? How to make a building breathe? Thereafter there are details of the different uses of lime in preserving and repairing walls and floors (hydraulic, non-hydraulic, hydrated, lime putty, and lime mortars). Then, what to do about structural movement - less than you might think. Underpin only as a last resort. Just about everything is covered - roofs, timber frames, doors, floors, walls, windows, plaster renders, paints and finishes, guttering, drainpipes and drains. If only we'd had it in 1977!

Throughout, the message is, do the minimum to the structure of the house - repair don't restore. The book is sponsored by SPAB (the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings) and this has been its theme since William Morris founded it in 1877.

It is also very good at warning about dark interests, timber treatment and damp proofing companies working on commission, builders quoting cheaply for the minimum and then charging heavily for the extras. Every bit of advice it gives gets better and better. It is brilliant in its detail, and the photographs and diagrams add counterpoint to the words. It is definitely a "practical guide", and if you have a period home you should have it by your side and consult it frequently.

One final liberating thought - the daub applied to wattle doesn't require cow dung to be added - but plaster over soot stains does!

Derek Wagon

The previous reviewers say it all. I purchased this book after reading some of these reviews and am thankful I did. All other books speak of renovation - a terrifyingly expensive venture - which says everything must be ripped out and replaced and recommend materials which actually do more damage than good. This book preaches keep as much as you can of the old and repair and maintain.

Having bought a really old house in France and then being advised ( by our French builders) the roof leaked in at least 6 places, there had been woodworm and Capricorn in the beams and the wall in one bedroom would always be damp if the rain comes in a certain direction - "but none of this is a problem" I was almost suicidal. Reading this book confirmed and reasured me , yes you do have problems, but what do you expect, it is an old house... Now here is how to resolve them. The information is spot on and the materials and methods recommended are accurate and interesting. In fact our French builders have said every British person buying an old property in France should be given a copy on the ferry coming over!

We have saved tens of thousands of euros because of this book. Without it we would not have believed our builders advice that we repair the leaky bits of the roof and do not replace it (2,000 euros instead of 35,000), made our own tinted limewash to produce wonderful wall finishes ( you cannot imagine how far 25kg of lime @ 19 euros goes), made beeswax polish to restore beams and woodwork ( 12euros a kilo) instead of gallons of expensive paint and stain. The book has helped us create a beautiful and unique home without breaking the bank.