Assumptions

[Sahara]

My husband and I have bought on a 200 year old cottage. We are both in our late twenties so I believe this has contributed to the assumptions our new neighbours have made about us and the future of our cottage. We love our cottage. We aim to do what we can to preserve it.

I find it interesting though that our new neighbours have made many assumptions as to what we will do to the house. Comments such as "Well of course you'll be installing double glazing won't you" (in a more 'telling us' rather than 'asking us' tone) have been dropped into conversation more than once, despite our protests that we love the old windows, that they are part of the wonderful appeal that our cottage has and we do not plan to do anything other than ensure they are well cared for.

I was wondering what gems you have met with regards to the ways to "improve" your houses from well meaning friends and neighbours?

 

[middi]

Just reassure your neighbour that you love the cottage and it's aesthetic looks and you want to keep it in that way, not destroy it.

If he/she keeps on and on, just tell them that your hectic, amorous and extremely noisy love life tends to disturb the neighbours therefore D/G is in their interest.
That will keep them quiet for a while

 

[JMartin]

Aha you and me both. We are also in our late twenties. We have been met with all sorts of advice that we have tended to ignore. The nearest neighbour tells us that they talk about us at their get togethers and frankly I don't care. We've learned that everybody will have an opinion about what you're doing whether you're restoring or making it entirely modern...there will be somebody who disgarees. Our neighbours are otherwise nice so we leave them to their speculation.

If you feel it's going to drive a wedge between you and your new neighbours perhaps reassuring them will help. If you don't think such speculation is affecting your relationship with your neighbours...do what we do and just ignore them. Either way they'll soon see that they're wrong.

Our neighbours finally stopped gossiping about us behind our backs and asked last week what our plans were (it's been a year). I think the temporary UPVC sewer pipe finally got the better of them...what are you supposed to do in a plumbing emergency when you live in a conservation area anyway? Supplies of cast iron pipes are few and far between on Sunday afternoons.

The best one we've had was whilst slogging to remove the concrete path that was a good two feet above the internal floor level the neighbour walked past shaking her head and muttering...'doing the wrong thing, it'll all fall down.' Well. that was six months ago and guess what...the wall's dry now

 

[skier-hughes]

We joined the Neighbourhood Watch etc and got to know our neighbours that way, as we only have one close, it gives them the chance to find out what we are really like.

 

[MdB]

Our neighbours are great. I'm so glad we've moved from an estate into a tiny village. We new all are immediate neighbours within a couple of days and now know most people in the village. You do need to draw up a complicated chart though to keep up to date with who has fallen out with who and for what reason.

 

[JMartin]

Haha we know them all and get on well with them all...it doesn't stop them speculating though. I think it's just a symptom of not having anything better to do...read as not going to the pub every night to get bladdered!

Personally I think it's harmless.

We moved from an estate in a commuter town and our old neighbours were the nastiest piece of work I've ever come across. It makes us really wary of people but I've found there's no need because our new neighbour is simply old and opinionated and once we got used to that she's actually turned out to be a great laugh.

 

[Juju]

When I first moved into my previous house, the neighbour was always telling me how hard the previous occupants had worked on the house, especially on installing the kitchen and bathroom. I never took her up on the recommendation of the builder who'd done them as I found lethal electrics and all sorts of dodgy stuff. She also used to talk over the fence whenever she could and although she was nice and was a bit lonely, it got to the point sometimes (if I was feeling antisocial) where I used to look out the window to see if she was in her garden - if she was, I used to postpone my gardening till she'd gone!

In my new house, I was determined not to be like that but luckily we have higher fences....

 

[Nigel Watts]

My efforts to restore the appearance of the old part of my 1840 stucco fronted townhouse have met with a number of comments from neighbours. "I wouldn't want to live in a museum" was one. Another (from an architect neighbour) was that it was verging on the antisocial to paint my window frames anything other that white and the stucco anything other then pale cream (I have used black and a dark sandstone colour)

Being known as someone who has an interest in old buildings does sometimes have its advantages. I was called in recently to look at the interior of the last remaining unrestored house in the street. It still had its orignal kitchen and larder furniture and fittings and much of the interior paintwork must have been early 20th Century, or perhaps even older - very rare for a townhouse in a now properous part of London.

 

[Juju]

My brother lives on a lovely Georgian square in London. Being very houseproud, he's frequently out washing the front steps, railings, etc and often has to give up because passers-by are always commenting and trying to engage him in conversation about what he's doing! Mind you, I think it's nice that in London, strangers are actually talking to each other and being friendly and he occasionally gets a bit of house history info from older residents.

 

[Penners]

Working on the exterior of your house always seems to elicit inane comments from passers-by.

If you're painting window frames, you'll get "Doing a bit of painting, then?"

If you're up a ladder it's "A bit high up there, eh?"

Fixing the roof: "Doing a bit of tiling?"

But that's infinitely preferable to the miserable s*ds who hurry past in silence, staring at their feet.

 

[Cloudscape]

"You'll be wanting to get the rest of it repointed." = (You ARE going to get the job done properly with sand/cement mortar by the bloke who did everyone else's house?)

"You could run a B&B up there or do holiday lets." = (The local gossip is that you might be developers and/or thinking of doing a B&B. Are you?)

(The answer is 'no'.)

I commented that a large willow tree in our garden was potentially worrying. The next day I got:

"I love to look at those trees. They are even more beautiful to look at than the view." :roll:

"My grandfather must have chosen the door knocker and letterbox on your house. It matches the ones on mine." = (You're not going to change them. ARE you?)

"This place used to look lovely." = (Why did you buy a run-down dump like this for so much money?)

And from a local surveyor:

"They asked me to survey it and I said it would take two days to list everything that's wrong with it." :?

In his list of remedial works, he suggested a chemical damp course would sort out the damp (that there isn't really any of, except for what the gypsum plaster is causing).

Don't get me wrong, these people have been really welcoming, give or take some bizarreness, and it's fun interpreting what they actually mean when they say things. :wink:

 

[Ian Bond]

:lol:

Only 2 days to make a list of everything wrong with it? I've been in my house 10 years and the list is still growing!!!!

 

[Cloudscape]

Actually... I hadn't looked at it that way.

I took it to mean he was saying that what I had just chosen to buy was complete cr*p. :lol:

But you're right, I don't think the house will ever be 'fixed' - I don't think it would be half so much fun if it was. I think I might go for low lighting levels and a policy of not looking to hard at the dodgy bits. :wink:

 

[Ian Bond]

That's the right idea!!!

 

[Penners]

I forgot the ultimate bl**dy silly question: "When will it be finished?"

Finished??

 

[JMartin]

Penners, you've reminded me...my mother-in-law and brother-in-law are both very keen to discover when we might be fitting a new bathroom...because, you know, that's the biggest worry we have...that the bathroom is pink. I think we might keep it that way forever just to spite them!

 

[Penners]

Pink? Well get to it - rip it out.

Never mind if the roof leaks, the walls are damp or the woodwork's rotten. Get rid of that pink bathroom, NOW.

 

[Flyfisher]

Pink? I'd much prefer pink to the brown suite in one of our bathrooms!

But sorry to disagree Penners but our roof does leak (although less than it used to!), some walls are damp and some woodwork is rotten, so I'm dealing with those first . . . . anyway, it's fine as long as I don't turn the bathroom light on.

 

[JMartin]

The best of it is that the paint is baby blue...and there's a bright orange shower tray in the corner complete with peep holes in the wall :?: . I can see why they don't like it but honestly it's growing on me the longer I live with it :lol:

I'm pleased to report though that the roof has been fixed, the walls are no longer damp since we removed a very dodgy patch of cement render and the rotten timber has all been replaced following a rather busy three weeks. I wish that was all that needed to be done but yes, you're right the bathroom must take priority over the fact that we have no render on the walls, no kitchen cupboards, no rainwater goods...I'll get to it straight away. :wink:

 

[Sahara]

This has been quite funny reading all the gems that everyone gets to here. Thanks for showing that its not just me that gets these comments