How important is aspect?

climber59 · 14-02-2018 10:29pm #1

Just wondering what everyone thinks with regards to a house’s back garden. I’m adamant that I want it to face south, west or some variation of the two. My partner is happy to respect my wishes but if it were up to him it wouldn’t matter.

I grew up in a south facing bedroom (and kitchen/back garden). We currently live in a south facing apartment but due to other buildings we don’t get sun after 5pm in the height of summer. We always go out for walks or to sit in the park after work in the summer and it really bums me out we can’t just stay in our own place.

With the market the way it is I’m worried I’m being too picky but at the end of the day you can change most things except the direction of the house.

Just wondering what people’s thoughts are.

Eric Cartman · 14-02-2018 10:35pm

it depends on what you want,

I'm not a gardener or a morning person, a west / south west garden would suit perfectly for evening sun,

south east / easterly gardens suit for earlier sun, a south facing garden is a compromise for a bit of both.

North facing back garden would be out and can just be damp and bland though,

climber59 · 14-02-2018 10:39pm

Yep we both work 9-5 jobs and are quite outdoorsy so my ideal would be sun in the evening after work. At least at the weekend we can go for a hike/walk but Mon to Fri I’d like to have the option of just chilling in the garden.

Wesser · 14-02-2018 10:56pm

Only matters if your garden is small.
If your garden is very long then north facing is fine.

Essien · 14-02-2018 11:03pm

It can make a huge difference depending on your surroundings and the size of the garden.

A permanently dark back garden can be pretty bleak.

Thestones · 14-02-2018 11:06pm

Aspect is important, obviously north facing is the worst. My preference would have been south west when buying but any property with this you will pay a premium for. We ended up with a South East house and it's fine as the shape of it we actually can move down in the evening, get it til after 7 in the summer.

1983ish · 15-02-2018 12:11am

Very important for us.
We were renting for 5 years, the house had a north facing back garden that got the sun til 730pm in the summer. We rushed home from work to make the most of it.
We bought a wreck of a house 2 roads over in 2014 solely on the potential of the 55ft south facing back garden. We renovated and put in a 4m wide glass sliding door.
We recently put down a big patio and honestly it’s like having an extra room!
Personal preference I suppose but it was and in the future will be high on our list

climber59 · 15-02-2018 6:42am

Thanks for all the responses. I hadn’t thought about length of the garden - makes a lot of sense!

theteal · 15-02-2018 8:15am

It was one of the main factors in choosing our current house. Our last was easterly facing, grand for early sun but we’d be moving up and up the garden in the evening to avoid the shade, not a great way to enjoy a glass of wine.

We’re south westerly now and I’ve got big plans for garden, roll on the Spring!

Samuel T. Cogley · 15-02-2018 9:14am

I've a SE facing back garden and kitchen (and bedroom) and early in the morning...

lawred2 · 15-02-2018 9:19am

We're in Dublin with a totally north facing garden. It's bleak enough in the winter but reality dictates. Everyone wants South facing and many are prepared to pay a premium for it.

If out in the sticks, I would not even countenance north facing for a second.

lawred2 · 15-02-2018 9:21am

As it happens, all the South facing gardens in the estate are badly overlooked on almost all sides whereas we're not so swings and roundabouts.

PhoenixParker · 15-02-2018 9:36am

People always focus on aspect of the garden. Personally I think aspect of the house itself is far more important, especially in Ireland.

Is the house itself bright and sunny? Especially the kitchen where you're likely to spend most of your waking & daylight hours when you're home. It helps if some of the bedrooms get morning (preferable) or evening sun too.

Decent sun in the garden May to September and decent light in the house year round are what to look for. Most aspects will get decent sun somewhere in the garden in those months and a slightly northern aspect may even be better for evening sun.

Cienciano · 15-02-2018 9:40am

I had south and west facing gardens. I'd definitely go with west or south west ahead of south. For the evenings and even just to be able to see the sunset.

Franz Von Peppercorn · 15-02-2018 9:49am

Where’s the soul destroying shadow coming from? The two story house itself? Midsummer the sun sets in the north west anyway.

climber59 · 15-02-2018 9:53am

Really interesting perspectives. I suppose that's part of it too, you can get the best aspect in theory but it's not much use if something is blocking it.

We're looking at new builds (buying off plans) so the gardens tend to be relatively small and the houses close together so that's more why I was thinking it would make a big difference in this case. We still might not get a lot of sun in the garden/light in the house but with a better aspect we'd have a better chance.

Thanks for all the thoughts so far!

cowboyjoe · 15-02-2018 10:01am

We bought our north facing semi d in 2012. If I could change only one thing it would be the aspect. We have a small ish garden I like to mess about in, and sit out in during Spring/summer. But from Oct-march it gets little or no sunlight so does feel very cold. Also no light into out kitchen. You make do with what you have, so I have paved the west side of garden, now there's a nice sun trap on that side and bottom of the garden too. For me aspect is very important.

PhoenixParker · 15-02-2018 10:02am

Sketchup is a great tool and surprisingly easy to learn. You can draw up the house and surroundings and do a full sunpath analysis. Thoroughly recommend it, especially if youre buying a new build. There should be enough dimensions on the plans to model it.

climber59 · 15-02-2018 10:03am

That's a great tip thanks! I'd been using suncalc but it's hard to really envision it with nothing around. I'll have a look at sketchup.

lawred2 · 15-02-2018 10:06am

This is an amazing site too

https://www.suncalc.org

put the site address/coords in and away you go

Hurrache · 15-02-2018 10:08am

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

Where’s the soul destroying shadow coming from? The two story house itself? Midsummer the sun sets in the north west anyway.

I reckon if there's neighbours at an angle to your left. We moved from a south mainly west facing garden were we had the sun until very late evening to a mainly north facing garden, angled a few degrees to the east, and we're really only losing out on sun directly entering the back of the house. We gain getting it through the front of the house throughout the winter, when you won't be out in the garden anyway.

In the summer we pretty much have sun all day, from the morning to late evening, in the back garden.

little bess · 15-02-2018 10:31am

Hurrache wrote: »

I reckon if there's neighbours at an angle to your left. We moved from a south mainly west facing garden were we had the sun until very late evening to a mainly north facing garden, angled a few degrees to the east, and we're really only loosing out on sun directly entering the back of the house. We gain getting it through the front of the house throughout the winter, when you won't be out in the garden anyway.

In the summer we pretty much have sun all day, from the morning to late evening, in the back garden.

We’ve just bought a house at the same angle, the garden is facing north and few degrees east. At the moment we’re in south west facing, which is perfect, and I’m dreading the idea of no sun in our new garden.

But, like you, we have no overlooking neighbors to our left, so hopefully we’ll get some sun??

Franz Von Peppercorn · 15-02-2018 10:35am

I’ve alwars been confused by this. A south facing house has a north facing back garden, right?

And people would more likely sit outside in a back garden, right? And it’s generally bigger.

Why then isn’t a north facing house in demand.

Or is that what people mean by south facing - the back garden is south facing.

little bess · 15-02-2018 10:36am

Yeas, they mean the garden is south facing.

climber59 · 15-02-2018 10:37am

Yes people are usually talking about the back garden. It did confuse me at the start too!

GreeBo · 15-02-2018 10:39am

Its not just the garden, the back of your house, typically the Kitchen will be dark all year round in a North Facing house.

I grew up in one, its fine in summer as we had a big garden, but the back of the house is just always dark.

PhoenixParker · 15-02-2018 10:50am

climber59 wrote: »

That's a great tip thanks! I'd been using suncalc but it's hard to really envision it with nothing around. I'll have a look at sketchup.

It does take a bit of learning but quicker then you'd think when you start. Read the beginner guides and watch a few you tube videos. When you're comfortable add the shadows and sun stuff. It also has the advantage that you can use the warehouse feature to arrange your furniture and see how it fits.

Malari · 15-02-2018 11:10am

Aspect was one of the 5 essential features that we wouldn't budge on when looking for a house! We have a south-east facing back garden, and the kitchen, living room and garden get sun from morning till late evening. Garden wasn't even a big thing for me at the time of purchase, but I love the feeling of being in a warm , sun-lit room most of the time.

The other side of the house can be really dull and cold in comparison.

Also, we have very large windows so even it's it's freezing (literally) outside, but still sunny, the heating doesn't need to be on at all and it can get to 22-23 degrees during the day. We'd be spending a lot more on heating if the aspect was different.

....... · 15-02-2018 11:53am

This post has been deleted.

TRS30 · 15-02-2018 3:09pm

When we moved last year, I was adamant I wanted a south or west facing rear garden as were in an east facing garden previous so no sun after 5/6pm.
Our current house has a south facing garden so in the summer get the sun (when there is any!) from sun up to sun down. We would spend a majority of our time in the kitchen & playroom which are both at the back of the house so warm and bright.
The only downside is that the front of the house gets quite cold in the winter. Definitely going to look at getting a porch before next winter.

climber59 · 15-02-2018 3:34pm

Sounds exactly like my parent's house. The front of the house is freezing but I'd take that for a sunny rear. I'd definitely rather the sun in my kitchen rather than my living room anyway.

How important is aspect?

Comments