Swedish Forest House Tour | I Bought a House in the Middle of Sweden’s Wilderness

Hello Phillip! As a native Swede owning, and having restored, many similar houses in the countryside I think you made a good deal, depending on location of course. The upstairs bathroom represents a total lack of knowledge and responsibility on behalf of the previous owner, which unfortunately is quite common. And yes, Your feeling that the electrical installment in the bathroom is illegal is very much correct - Illegal and dangerous! However, it's actually not a very big deal for an electrician to move the entire circuit-box to a different room. It's not cheap, but I'm sure you can get a quote that is not as expensive as you may fear. These old houses were not designed to have bathrooms at all since they had outhouses. You can absolutely put a real bathroom in but it has to be done right. Local plumbers and carpenters in the countryside are normally used to working with these challenges and can build a new bathroom that will work well in your old house. Remember that you may get a better deal if you do the work off-season. A roof-layer for example will be most busy in the fall when people need the roof waterproof for the upcoming winter. So possibly it's easier negotiate the price for a new roof in the spring. As you mentioned, plumbing, electricity and chimney need to be handled by a licensed professional with the right paperwork. If not your insurance may not cover any damages that may occur. In worst case scenario, the house flooding or burning down. Also, make sure to upgrade your insurance to cover house-fungi (Äkta hussvamp). It's a relatively inexpensive option that will save you if your house becomes infested with this type of fungi that occurs in Sweden. If it happens there is basically nothing to do but demolishing the house and building a new one. It's not clear from your video, but if your house only has one air-heater (Luftvärmepump) I'm afraid that is not enough. That big of a house needs at least two of them. And don't get ripped off by the big sales organizations like Polarpumpen, Sverigepumpen or Zave that demand pre-payment.  Get one from a local firm where the person you talk to on the phone is the same person that actually comes out and installs the heater for you, and then sends you the invoice.  Another tip is to take out and clean the filter in your Air-heater (indoor unit). This will improve the efficiency of the heater.  Judging by the state of the electrocution-bathroom, the previous owner more than likely has not done this.  Another thing is that in the old days people had plenty of carpets in every room. Not only to keep their feet warm but to insulate the entire house from the cold ground. The thing with these old houses is that you can't just get advice and products from any modern home improvement store. If you insulate and seal your house with modern products and techniques you may end up with irreversible mold and fungi. If you paint with modern latex based paints over old linseed oil paint, the new paint may chip off after only a few months. The list goes on - and on. But remember, everything is possible and well worth the extra effort. You just have to teach yourself about old houses. Don't take advice from someone living in a modern house. Talk to owners of similar houses. Google everything about culture building renovations, and old craftsman methods. Ask the staff in the shops that specializes in renovation of old buildings. These shops products are usually quite expensive but you don't have to buy everything there. In many cases the knowledge itself is key. (links below) If you need all new bathroom furniture and fixtures there are some firms in Germany with really good prices including delivery to your doorstep. A good relation with neighboring farmers and foresters are key to success with your new property. They usually have left-overs from both suitable lumber and paint that they may sell for cheap, or sometimes even give away if they like you. Of course appreciating a bottle of Scotch in return :) Also, your underground pipes may break, your trees may fall, your road may collapse, or you may get snowed in. Then you are depending on help from the farmers trucks, tractors and excavators. To renovate our old houses takes a little longer, and a little more effort, than fixing up a modern house. But in the end it will guaranteed be worth it. To sum it up, congratulations to a beautiful house that, if cared for correctly, will bring you decades of joy and pride, as well as a long term good investment. ALL WELL! /Carl https://kulturhantverkarna.se/en/ https://www.sekelskifte.com/en https://www.nackabyggnadsvard.se https://www.gysinge.com http://www.overjarvabyggnadsvard.se/c/begagnat/beg-dorrar-overjarvabyggandsvard/ https://fonsterantiken.se/begagnat/dorrar

Please get those chimneys fixed, those temperatures in your house are insane!! 😂 That said, congratulations on getting your dream house, it looks fabulous. can’t wait to follow your journey

The windows are most likely from the late 50s or early to mid 60s, judging by the fittings. Definitely not as old as the house :) Still very nice windows though, made from core wood. Just change the inner glass to a 3 or 4 mm energy efficient glass, makes a huge difference, and you can still keep the old "lively" glass on the outside. Good luck from Sweden!

1. Make sure your pipes don't freeze. You will get water damage when they melt. 2. First things to check after that is that your underground drains are working and that the roofs don't leak. 3. Insulating doesn't do as much as you would think. It is expensive and largely not very effective. Also, you will introduce mould into an old house if you insulate it too much because old houses like that breathe through the walls by design. That is how they were intended to work. If you go against the original design expect all sorts of trouble. Therefore, instead, overdo the heating system. If electricity is cheap, that's good, you can use underfloor electric heating. If not, you need heat pumps. But on top of that you need to burn a ton of wood every year. The best system would be to have water pipes under floors and have a multi heater for the water which can warm the water with wood, electricity, even oil. But if that is not practical just add heat pumps and fire places and burn a ton of wood. Yes, I think that is what was most important to say. I've lived in an old house for a decade in Finland if you wonder whence cometh these opinions.

The totally unnecessary sun protection will make a huge difference when it gets above +27c. The best way to keep the house cool is to make sure that the sun does not reach the window. Tiles are the best looking option in a bathroom, but...tiles are cold to walk on in the winter even with working heating, so the only way tiles will be nice in a cold climate is to also install underfloor heating, which is also a big expense . Therefore, people also more often accept the uglier option.

The upstairs landing would make a beautiful library. Your home is so beautiful and offers so much potential!

I'm in bed in my well heated flat in Uppsala, yet I shiver while watching this video. Can't believe the temperatures you have to endure! But the house is so beautiful and will be great once fully restored. Welcome to Sweden!

I’m another muppet from England who bought a house in Sweden. I use it over Christmas and summer. We’ve had it in the family since 2007 and I bought out the family in 2019. It’s near Kramfors up north and next to a train line 🤣. Keeping it warm in the winter is an absolute pain. I’ve decided to rip out the old boiler and go for ground source heat pump. It’ll be expensive but worth it in the end.

Those long narrow rooms on the upper floor (walk in wardrobes, bathroom and weird guestroom) looks very similar to storage rooms we had in our house from the same period. They are colder than normal rooms so mice and bugs don't like them and thus fitting for storage of things and clothes/textiles. (Since you have no attic or basement meant for storage in these houses). They also act as extra insulation between the outdoors and the rooms you live in and want to warm up.

Welcome to Sweden! We are having one of the coldest winters in 25 years I think so I hope you stay warm! And hopefully there are no Russian attacks in the close future. Enjoy! Sweden is a lovely country

I think you got it for an excellent price. If this house was in northern Minnesota in the Grand Marais area, it would easily sell "as is" for $300,000. Grand Marais is commonly known as the "Norwegian Rivera" here in Minnesota. It has a similar climate too. I think it's very charming, and I would stick to fixing the major structural problems. As far as the upstairs bathroom, I would remove the bath tub and put just a toilet and a sink away from the electrical. Maybe some type of composting toilet and remove all plumbing from the upstairs. Since this is an old farmstead and doesn't have the insulation that most people are used to these days, I would make a smaller cozy living space on the bottom, and you could make some small co-working or summer sleeping areas on top. An outdoor sauna with an outdoor bathroom with a shower and cooking space would make it an excellent hostel place in the summer, and also pay for the extra heating and renovations to live there year round. Just my thoughts.

Man.. that is my dream home. The traditional swedish house, 2 floors, symmetric.

Your windows are mouth blown. It's a nice thing to have, and very expensive to buy new (mouth blown)...During the 19th century, craftsmen created windows and other glass products by manually spinning molten glass on a blow pipe, which produced glass with a wavy quality. What a beautiful cat, and your house is beautiful and full of potential. Enjoy the ride!

Your home is going to be beautiful. Fingers crossed you get the chimneys sorted soon so you can have more heat. Candles can raise a room's temperature by a degree or two, so if you'll be in one room for a while, it might be worth lighting some. It's the flames that help, so multiple smaller candles is better than one big one. It won't make you toasty, but when it's really cold, a degree or two is noticeable warmer. If you still need to use your hands, but want s bit of extra warmth, fingerless gloves actually do make a difference. If you can get some reusable hand warmers, you can pop them in boots a bit before you plan on leaving the house as they'll warm the inside of the boot for you as boots stored in a cold room get very cold and are not pleasant to put on. Hopefully you'll have proper warmth soon though. Our boiler broke the other winter and the kitchen was 5°C for a few months. That was in the UK. It was pretty miserable, so I can imagine with how cold some of your house is, it must be pretty tough. The days are gradually getting longer though, so hopefully it will start to be a little less cold for you soon.

Just stumbled on your channel. I’m watching from North Carolina USA and love watching European home renovations. Can’t wait to get caught up.

I came across this video via Facebook, and I'm glad it was shown to me! It's such a nice video highlighting the pros and cons. Your honesty and realism when you're showing around the house are very helpful for someone thinking of making a similar move. And ofcourse, props to the camera and edit work, looks really clean! Best of luck on your adventure, I'm sure it will turn out to be a beautiful, cosy and warm home. ❤

Roaring fire sounds very good

Lots of people over insulate their old houses in Sweden. Blocking the original air intakes and chimneys, that were the original ventilation. Resulting in overheating and mould. Maybe hold that thought until you have the chimney cleared and all the fireplaces lit all day. As well as 20-30 m³ DRY firewood, times two for next season. I've lived in a similar house for 15 years. And got the same advice myself. Which saved a LOT of money!

Thank you for showing us around. That was really interesting. I wish you good luck with all the renovations.

It is going to be a beautiful home bro. Ur on ur way up. Love the fact u call ur woodworking projects thing 1 thru 6. Funny as hell man. I hope to meet ur neighbors and town folk close by in future episodes. Thanks for content