On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 16:23:03 -0000, "IMM" wrote:


"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
I think its the wrong question to start with.


Houes come in a range of conditions and lifespans irrsepective of when
they are put up.

Ther are some truisms around to illusdtate


(i) Old houses that have stood for 300+ years are probably, lucky, well
maintained, or well built.

(ii) EVERY house needs a minor upgrade every 15 years,

A relative has a 20 year old large house. They have just replaced all the
windows to double glazed sealed windows,

Then they'll be wondering why there is mould growing on the walls....

and most of CH system needs
replacing as some rads are starting to rot. It was installed incorrectly
and was sucking in air for the first 5 years of its life. The boiler is a
very inefficient cast iron job, so a real re-do needed.

That's incompetent installation and lack of maintenance.

The gutters also
show signs of wear too.

Why?

The downstairs toilet was always slow in emptying.
It needs a HepVo in the basin to vent it.

That's simply bad design and installation. Toilets are hardly rocket
science......

The roof tiles have lots of moss
growing on them as well.


That's no real issue and can easily be removed. I quite like to see
a certain amount of lichens on roof tiles. It makes them look more
interesting.....




---

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl