In article ,
The Natural Philosopher writes:
SS wrote:
My situation..selling house (downsizing) this is likely to be my last move
before I pop my clogs.
Income will be very low from pensions but will be mortgage free.
So what to look for when buying another property as I dont want to spend £ks
after a couple of years.
My bid would be dependent on the life of some of the things below, in other
words if a combi lasts on average 12 years and it is already 10 years old
then I need to take that into account.

What is average life of a combi type gas boiler?

25 yrs?

Only for a top spec one. Could be as low as 10 years for a
low build quality one, and installation workmanship can affect
this too.

You can ask on here about particular models where there's quite a bit
of experience. Also, look at the state of the boiler casing. If it's
got signs of corrosion, that's generally not good for longevity.

What is average life of a tiled roof?

60 years before some maintenance needed. about 100 for full replacement.

Yes. Leadwork will require replacement at 60-75 years, and will
likely need some maintenance 1 or 2 times during its lifetime,
such as redressing back into brickwork.

What is average life of double glazing units?

Abourt 15 years IME.

I'd say 25 years for uPVC (and for first generation aluminium, but most
of that has been replaced now). You might need to replace one sealed unit
glass during that time.

What is average life of radiators (rusting through)


15-25 years probably. they dont rust. The same water crculates and there
is no air.

Depends heavily on age. If the radiators are = 50 years old, they'll
last forever even without inhibitor. Over the intervening years, they
have been manufactured progressively thinner, and consequently with
steadily reducing lives. Nowadays they won't last any time at all unless
the system is kept properly dosed with inhibitor. Also look at the
radiator tails, where poorly made connections can seep very slowly and
corrode through.

Replacing one radiator is not a major expense, although if they're all
going, that's a different matter.

I am ok for general maintenance but dont want a big hit with lots of expense
if any of the above are on their last legs (average)
Anything else I should be looking at (assuming a survey will cover wood rot,
general building etc)

Almost any house over ten years old needs about 1% of its cost spent er
year on maintenance.

Yes.

In your position, I would also look at insulation levels for the
purpose of cost of heating the place. You want somewhere which either
is already, and can easily be, well insulated. Avoid a house which
cannot be easily insulated. In theory the EPC should give you this
information, but unfortunately they are useless because the assessors
are clueless.

--
Andrew Gabriel
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