Many of Britain's four million Victorian and Edwardian houses were shoddily built and often require 'essential repairs'. Problems like rising damp, timber decay, bowed roofs and subsidence are well-known, but how can you tell if your house has major defects or is just typical for its age? Forget 'makeovers': this easy-to-use manual shows where to look for danger signs, what's 'normal' and what isn't, and how to fix common defects. Equipped with this book, you can talk the same language as builders and property professionals. This is the first book to cover logically all defects common to Victorian houses.

2006-10-27 Enjoyable to read and useful

As a victorian house owner I like to improve my understanding of property construction and history whenever possible. I found this book most informative and I enjoyed the relaxed style of writing. A lot of property books rely on diagrams to illustrate problems but this one has some excellent photos of real life defects balanced with the more conventional 'glamour' photos showing time-capsule Victorian house original features. Each chpater has suggested solutions to all common problems in a specific part of the house, and the book seems to stress the need to approach old buildings with respect and not to unnecessarily impose modern solutions. Well worth buying in my opinion.