Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair

by Roger Hunt, Marianne Suhr

Here, for the first time, is a completely authoritative guide on how to look after your old house - whether it's a timber framed medieval cottage, an eighteenth century urban terrace or an example of Victorian or Edwardian speculative development. Taking it's lead from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (who have approved and authorised this volume), the book's approach is one of respect, restraint and repair rather than 'restoration' which can so easily and permanently destroy the rich historical legacy of any old building. Providing richly and deeply informed practical guidance on everything from breathability and damp to structural movement, roofs, windows and doors, this is the essential reading for anyone with an old house in need of any kind of repair or maintenance.

Genres: Nonfiction

204 pages, Hardcover

First published November 18, 2008

About the author

Roger Hunt studied stage management at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and then worked in film, television and photography. Loving history, and having been intrigued by building techniques and materials since childhood, he started writing about buildings. He is now an award winning writer and blogger specialising in sustainability, old houses, housebuilding and traditional and modern building materials and construction.

Roger is the co-author of New Design for Old Buildings from RIBA Publishing as well as the bestselling Old House Handbook and the companion volume Old House Eco Handbook, published in association with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). He is the author of Rural Britain: Then and Now, a celebration of the British countryside featuring photographs from The Francis Frith Collection; Villages of England; and Hidden Depths, an archaeological exploration of Surrey's past. He also contributed a chapter to the Reader's Digest book The Story of Where you Live and wrote Hamptons International's millennium book The House 1000-2000.

He is editor of the SPAB Briefings, a series which offers a summary of recent work by the Society with cutting-edge information to help both owners and building professionals. Titles include Energy Efficiency in Old Buildings, Windows & Doors, Lime and Disaster & Recovery.

His work has appeared in numerous publications including The Daily Telegraph, Period Living, House & Garden, Grand Designs, Homebuilding & Renovating, Real Homes and Listed Heritage. He is sustainability correspondent for Show House, a title aimed at the housebuilding industry, and is a judge of the What House? Awards for new housing.

Roger Tweets @huntwriter and blogs at huntwriter.com. He also lectures regularly on retrofitting and repairing old buildings.

He was named Sustainable Property Journalist of the Year at the LSL Property Press Awards in both 2013 and 2014 and B2B Property Journalist of the Year at the Headline Property Awards 2008. His huntwriter.com blog won Best Blog and Best Eco Home Blog at the PrimeLocation.com Blog Awards 2011.

Interests include landscaping gardens and renovating houses. Although based in the UK, his latest renovation project is a 1900 house on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, USA.

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

An old house in the US was one made in the 1960s, in the UK 1860s.

The purchasing and conservation of older homes in the UK, a bit scary since there are many more requirements and regulations than in the States. Much more emphasis is placed on repairing and maintaining existing materials than on replacement with new material. It takes its guidance from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, founded in the 1870s, William Morris was one of the founders. More at https://www.spab.org.uk/

I found it fascinating, but of not much use, in California the few masonry structures of this age that aren't already museums and timber framing was rarely used in wooden buildings. It's a lovely book though for a coffee table.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful information if you have a period property but don't expect it to answer all your questions!

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A completely impractical guide ("this expensive and special repair we require may be gotten from your local blacksmith") but fun and imagination-sparking enough to be worth it.

[Lullyweb]

Conservation