Kimmage Road Lower

Hi,
We are thinking of purchasing a houe on Kimmage Road Lower, not far from the crossroads with Sundrive Road.
We live in Lucan and want to move in nearer the city for the obvious reasons ie commuting, better schools etc.
What is this area like to live in? We are originally from Ranelagh/Rathgar area and are not very familiar with Kimmage as a location to raise a young family.
Any advice would be appreciated.

If you use the search option you will find some previous discussion on Kimmage.

CCOVICH
Thanks. I did check but most of the posts are pretty dated and don't talk about this part of Kimmage.
Was hoping someone with experience of living in that area could help.

This post would put me off but it is only one person's experience and may not be near the area you are thinking of. Personally I would prefer something nearer to the Luas as it is the handiest option for commuting. I don't think the bus services would be great in terms of where you're thinking of.

As CCOVICH says if you run the search option in this forum only using the Sundrive Road, Kimmage and even Crumlin options you should get some useful info.

If you can avoid it, I wouldn't purchase directly on the road, it's very busy, and if you're near the chipper it might be noisy late at night & you may have a few kids hanging about, but I've never seen too many.
The area itself is fine. Re. commute into town : the traffic directly into Harolds X is chocker-block, you'd be quicker walking into town, about 40 to 50 mins. I'm told that taking the 83 bus into Rathmines isn't as bad.
But overall it's a good area to move into if you like the house.

lukegriffen said:

If you can avoid it, I wouldn't purchase directly on the road, it's very busy, and if you're near the chipper it might be noisy late at night & you may have a few kids hanging about, but I've never seen too many.
The area itself is fine. Re. commute into town : the traffic directly into Harolds X is chocker-block, you'd be quicker walking into town, about 40 to 50 mins. I'm told that taking the 83 bus into Rathmines isn't as bad.
But overall it's a good area to move into if you like the house.

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Agreed, my bro lived just after the terrace of shops across from the garage and crossing that road or trying to turn to park on the other side was always a nightmare, I would not want kids anywhere near that main road. Off it by the green area would be fine. Also it would be fairly noisy on the main road at night. Popular college student area.

sueellen said:

This post would put me off but it is only one person's experience and may not be near the area you are thinking of. Personally I would prefer something nearer to the Luas as it is the handiest option for commuting. I don't think the bus services would be great in terms of where you're thinking of.

As CCOVICH says if you run the search option in this forum only using the Sundrive Road, Kimmage and even Crumlin options you should get some useful info.

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It's a world of a difference, sueellen!

Lower Kimmage Road is busy - as I look out my window, there are a fair few cars passing by - but traffic is not usually at high speed, although crossing the road other than at a crossing can be nightmarish.

Commuting: It's a forty minute moderate walk to Stephen's Green. Buses going along LKR itself are 19A and 54A - 19A notionally every fifteen minutes, and no more unreliable than any other bus. 83 down Larkfield and on through Rathmines to town ditto.

Area to avoid: immediately opposite the Esso garage, where kids can congregate. Other than that, not too many concerns. I'm pretty sure I know which house you're talking about too - feel free to PM me if you want more info or have specific questions: I know the area pretty well.

monkeyboy said:

Agreed, my bro lived just after the terrace of shops across from the garage and crossing that road or trying to turn to park on the other side was always a nightmare, I would not want kids anywhere near that main road. Off it by the green area would be fine. Also it would be fairly noisy on the main road at night. Popular college student area.

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It never was very studenty, and most houses that were in flats no longer are.

What green area are you talking about??

I don't live in KM Lower but live in Blarney Park behind the SuperQuinn. We have been there 2 years now and no probs whatsoever. (We were burgled twice when we rented in Blackrock!). Being so close to town is brilliant. I would recommend the area.

Firefly.

I like the area in general. Very close to Terenure / H-Cross / Rathmines - all within walking distance. As others have said that particular cross road is very busy and a little run down looking but that may improve over the next few years. I also think I know the house you are refering to and if it has good back garden space then it is probably well worth considering as it is not too expensive for the area. LS.

Thanx for all your help guys. we think Kimmage is the one for us. might bump into some you soon floating around down there!!

Just a quickie - my grandparents lived on lwr kimmage road - if the house you're interested in is one of those redbricks - I would very strongly recommend that you get a proper survey done on it (ie one that costs a couple of hundred euro and you get readings about damp levels and the roof is checked)- can be endless problems with those houses - some of them were not very well built.

Good luck.

HI Cameo, thanx for that. Are you referring to the red bricks with steps up to the front door and bay window?

we are arranging a survey all right but would be grateful if you had any further info re instructions we should give surveyor- so far check the roof and damp readings?

What other problems are prevalent that you are aware of?

Again, thanx for this info Cameo.

SCooke said:

HI Cameo, thanx for that. Are you referring to the red bricks with steps up to the front door and bay window?

we are arranging a survey all right but would be grateful if you had any further info re instructions we should give surveyor- so far check the roof and damp readings?

What other problems are prevalent that you are aware of?

Again, thanx for this info Cameo.

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SCooke -

Shouldn't be too much an issue for the one you're thinking of. Period redbricks often do have problems - many were built in the days before damp-proof courses and the like - and some of those on the west side of Lower Kimmage Road, but further down, between Sundrive and Harold's Cross Park, are more vulnerable than most since the Poddle practically runs under them. [The Poddle is overground and probably about 100 m back from the house you're looking at].

I'd have the surveyor check the windows and the sealing around them - they're quite expensive to replace, so you'd need to cost it in if they will need early replacement.

Scooke

Not trying to worry you unduly and I am no expert on the issues. I just recall lots of problems with my grandparents house and their neighbours - the houses I am talking about are coming from town go through the crossroads in Kimmage towards the KCR on the right hand side after the shops. - they do not have steps up to them.

Neighbours needed to replace roof - my grandparents had lots of problems - no foundations for outbuildings, fungus growing under floor boards are the things I remember.

I think a full survey will automatically cover the things I am talking about. I have only ever had one proper survey done - they looked at the level of water absorption(?) in roof beams and evidence of rising damp.

As pointed out damp coursing was not done in houses of a certain age and I believe is easy to fix if required. But it would probably be worth having a good survey done so that you know what problems (if any) there might be and how much it might cost to rectify them.

Good luck again.

I have relatives who live in this area. Say public transport is a problem - there is no bus lane between KCR and Harolds Cross and the road is not wide enough for one to be added in the future. Traffic is very very slow most mornings.

csirl said:

I have relatives who live in this area. Say public transport is a problem - there is no bus lane between KCR and Harolds Cross and the road is not wide enough for one to be added in the future. Traffic is very very slow most mornings.

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True, 83 can be up to an hour into town from here before 9 during school term. It absolutely crawls until it gets to Rathmines. 19A 54A crawl until the get past Leonard's corner.
Leo