Living in an old house comes with its own set of challenges. That said I wouldn’t change it for the world. I absolutely love our 1920s detached period home and all the character that comes with it. The maintenance is another story, though! There always seems to be something that needs cleaning, repairing or painting. I’ve also learnt that the exterior of an older home needs just as much attention as the interior. It’s not just about how the house looks. Keeping on top of the outside can also help prevent bigger problems from developing inside. Things like looking after the paintwork and roof tiles, as well as keeping everything clean and well maintained, can make such a difference. It’s much easier to deal with small jobs as they come up rather than letting them build into bigger problems. It might not be the most exciting part of owning a period property, but regular maintenance really does pay off in the long run. It keeps the house looking cared for and helps everything run smoothly.
Here are a few things we’ve done recently.
Fixing the Paintwork
We noticed some of the paint starting to peel off a while ago, so it was time to tackle the issue. Paint helps protect the brickwork and it’s important not to let it chip and get damaged. If it is left untreated, then moisture can get into the brickwork and potentially cause damp problems. I have a whole new blogpost coming about this! Painting the whole house would be a huge job, so we decided to focus on the areas at the front and back that needed attention. As with most home improvement jobs, it was definitely more work than we first thought. Once you start sanding the paint away, you often find that more needs to be removed. Before you know it, you’re working on a much larger area than you originally planned. We also made sure to use a suitable primer before painting. The final step was to seal the areas with a weatherproof coating to help protect the finish from moisture and the elements. Now that it’s all done, I genuinely feel like the house looks so much better and I love coming back home and admiring it!
Sorting Out The Garage Door
We inherited a manual garage door that was such a pain to open and close. It was one of those jobs that we kept putting off, even though it was making life way more difficult than it needed to be. I didn’t realise how easy garage door repair could be and honestly wish we’d done it as soon as we moved in. Going electric with the door has made such a difference to our day-to-day life. Our garage is mainly used for storing all of our DIY bits and pieces, as well as tools and other things we need around the house. This means we’re in and out of it regularly. Being able to open the garage at the touch of a button has made such a difference. It’s a relatively simple change but it has made using the garage a breeze compared to what it used to be.
Repairing Visible Exterior Cracks
Living in an old house means living with movement and with movement come cracks. I mean some real visible cracks, peeling plaster and paint around our windows and French doors. Between seasonal humidity shifts and a building that has been settling for decades, it is bound to happen. You cannot really stop an old house from doing its thing, but you definitely have to tackle those straight away before they turn into a massive plastering project down the line. When our handyman was over last week, he spent so much time filling the cracks outside the windows. He prepped the area, filled the gaps, repainted and finished it all off with a weatherproof sealant. It is way more work than it looks, so bringing in a professional was definitely the right call.
Fixing Loose Patio Tiles
I made the mistake of having our patio cleaned with a power washer and unfortunately quite a few of those old slabs broke. I seriously would not recommend doing this unless you have brand new tiles and a very experienced cleaner. It is quite dangerous having loose tiles moving around, so getting them repaired was a top priority for me. It is a lot of work and takes real skill to cement them back in properly, but it is absolutely worth doing. If you keep fixing things as they break, you will be able to preserve what you have got. But if you wait too long, you might end up having to replace the whole thing. New patios are expensive, so we are definitely staying on top of this.
Clearing the Gutters
This is something we do every autumn once the leaves come down, although we should probably do it a bit more often. Clearing out the gutters ensures that rainwater flows away properly instead of pooling on the roof, soaking into the ceiling, or causing expensive damp and weather damage. It is also the perfect time to inspect the brickwork around the chimney and roofline while you are up there. That is usually when you will spot if any roof tiles are cracked or missing, so you can replace them right away and avoid nasty leaks down the road.
Painting the Shed and Metalwork
External buildings often get overlooked, but keeping on top of them makes a huge difference to how your garden looks overall. Our garden shed needs a quick touch-up every year, mostly because the nearby plants tend to rub up against the timber as they grow. I also like to give the handle and doorstep a fresh coat of paint or stain whenever they start looking worn down. You would be surprised by what a difference a little touch-up can make. If you’re interested in seeing more of our garden, you can also take a look at our woodland-style garden blogpost.
I know there’s still plenty more we could be doing but the inside has been keeping us very busy. It’s easy to focus on the interior because that’s what we see every day, but the exterior deserves just as much attention. Keeping on top of outdoor maintenance can help prevent small issues from turning into bigger, more expensive headaches later on. Plus, a little care outside can make a huge difference to how your home looks. So, don’t forget to look beyond the four walls!
