Period Property Manual (New Ed): Care & repair of old houses

Am about to embark on the purchase of yet another old property in need of a lot of TLC. This book gives such a lot of sound advice. It is now so obvious that some of my past restorations, though carried out in good faith at the time, have worked against the fabric of the buildings instead of with them - particularly in regard to damp, ventilation and the different types of plaster and mortar. I wish I had had access to this knowledge years ago.

You pretty much, need to change your philosophy to woork with, maintain and live in an old house. There are plenty of warnings about 'modernisations' that ruin old houses by introducing damp despite the best intentions. Even if you don't work on the house maintanance yourself, read this before employing tradesmen to make sure they don't cause problems for the future.

This is a very informative and interesting read and provides and excellent overview on the correct way to maintain and enhance old buildings. It is beautifully illustrated and clearly written and therefore a joy to read. In particular I found the chapters on lime mortar, damp and timber decay very useful and it is clear that the extensive use of cement rich mortars and toxic chemical treatments for so called timber and damp problems are largely un-necessary and in many cases positively harmful. Every one who owns or works on old and traditional buildings should read this book and It should be compulsory reading for Surveyors, many of whom are trained almost exclusively on modern buildings, which work entirely differently from historic ones.

This book is packed with advice for owners of older properties. It is very reassuring and eye-opening in the way it conveys it's message "do not panic". Mr Rock's sensible view seems to be, old properties that have been around for many decades can last for many more with the right maintenance and renovation done in the same way as they were originally built and new methods may actually harm the fabric of the building.

Bought an old house, this guide is excellent with guide and great color photos to help. Every period home owner should have it on their shelf. It’s up to date with current best practices that every builder should know, but sadly doesn’t. Old homes are not the same as cement homes, they need to breath!

I found this an interesting read, with some useful tips: my property is 1920s so right at the end of the span covered in here and not quite fitting into the 1930s manual. I imagine for any period property owner there will be some points of interest in here and some not so relevant but if nothing else it will make you think carefully about how and what you do to maintain and improve your property.

This book is a little gem. It can be a minefield dredging through all the conflicting opinion online, regarding older properties, and their upkeep, but this book delivers excellent advice, in a way that is at once informative and sound. Well worth the price.

I bought this as we're just about to buy a grade 2 listed property. This book is really detailed and informative - just what i needed for a really excellent overview of issues you might find in an old property