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Original poster

What did you discover about your house after moving in?

131 replies

Woodstocks · 17/06/2023 16:04

I recently moved into a new house and as it was still the height of the market, there wasn’t much time to decide and investigate. What crazy things have you discovered in your house after buying it that wasn’t obvious when you first viewed it?

OP posts:
2bazookas · 17/06/2023 18:51

The vendor marketed it himself, (for sale sign was scrawled on a a piece of cardboard in the window) wrote his own description, one side of A4, no room measurements, no floor plan, no photos.

On the day we viewed , the divorcing vendors were in the middle of a huge row. We didn't see the kitchen at all because his wife had locked herself in and was crashing about. having a temper tantrum. On moving in day we finally saw the kitchen ( really dire) and DH says "I wonder what this door is"....

All-time best surprise, my lifetime hearts desire, a large walk in pantry. Not mentioned in the house particular or by vendor. Lined with floor cupboards and shelves to the ceiling on three sides. Contained a large cold marble slab.

howdoesyourgardengrowinmay · 17/06/2023 18:55

bluegingerblue · 17/06/2023 16:24

Chains hanging from the ceiling in the master bedroom and big mirrors. The previous owner was a prison officer and god knows what he was getting up to with his wife

Weren't the chains there when you viewed?

user1471538283 · 17/06/2023 18:56

So much rubbish and very little working in my last house. 3 skips full of rubbish. Rotten floor joists, toilet not sealed to the floor, horrible noisy neighbors.

This house was dusty but without rubbish but everything needs doing. I so wanted to find hidden 60s things. But it's so light and spacious!

Wherestheheatwave · 17/06/2023 18:58

2bazookas · 17/06/2023 18:51

The vendor marketed it himself, (for sale sign was scrawled on a a piece of cardboard in the window) wrote his own description, one side of A4, no room measurements, no floor plan, no photos.

On the day we viewed , the divorcing vendors were in the middle of a huge row. We didn't see the kitchen at all because his wife had locked herself in and was crashing about. having a temper tantrum. On moving in day we finally saw the kitchen ( really dire) and DH says "I wonder what this door is"....

All-time best surprise, my lifetime hearts desire, a large walk in pantry. Not mentioned in the house particular or by vendor. Lined with floor cupboards and shelves to the ceiling on three sides. Contained a large cold marble slab.

Why on earth did you buy it?

EvenmoreDisorganised · 17/06/2023 19:00

That the somewhat "out there" decor in the living room had been done as part of a TV makeover programme.

Guineapigwoes · 17/06/2023 19:01

That we got the most spectacular sunsets in the garden

flashbac · 17/06/2023 19:05

exexpat · 17/06/2023 17:55

A large cellar, which had been blocked off during previous renovations.

@exexpat I dream of this in mine! How did you find it? Was it behind a brick wall or something like that?

Butteredtoast55 · 17/06/2023 19:08

Oh @2bazookas that sounds absolutely gorgeous!

Justontherightsideofnormal · 17/06/2023 19:13

Bought my current house in 2005. No other one of this size/location at the time and had three options risk loosing our buyer, move in with my parents or buy this one. I will also add it was presented very well!
-The day we got the keys I cried. Every single door upstairs was punched in, I don't think to check behind the doors when viewing. None of the upstairs doors shut.
-They had used tipex to cover mould/rotting windows.
-The ceiling in one room was patched up with that old fashioned plaster roll that they used to use for broken limbs.

  • three bin bags of dog shit were hidden under trees
-the kitchen cupboards had been painted , looked fine when we viewed ...... but they had painted them shut.
  • the kitchen floor had dogs pee between the layers.
  • the banisters were cut off and being used to hold up breakfast bar.
-the down stairs loo was backed up with all sorts. The house had to be fumigated before I would step foot in it. There were lots of other bits wrong too the person that owned it was a nurse. Here we still are 18 years later and it is unrecognisable, it's such a lovely family home, well worth the upset it originally caused.
StiggyZardust · 17/06/2023 19:14

Parquet flooring under all the nasty carpets. Now sanded and varnished and looking lovely.

Madlymumming · 17/06/2023 19:27

Flea infested carpets, cat hair stuck to the greasy kitchen walls ( cat use to sit on top of the old fashioned gas stove) and a large burnt patch in the lawn. Well most of the lawn actually. They'd offered to sell us some wardrobes which we didn't want ..... so they burned them.

JazzyBBG · 17/06/2023 19:32

That a former owner is locally notorious and in prison.

hopeishere · 17/06/2023 19:42

We bought off plan. Now realised we needed to shell out for more lights in the kitchen and bedroom! I'd also get them to do different shelving in the hot press. And Jack and Jill the top bathroom. And level the garden. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

exexpat · 17/06/2023 19:50

flashbac · 17/06/2023 19:05

@exexpat I dream of this in mine! How did you find it? Was it behind a brick wall or something like that?

Show quote history

@flashbac My builders found it several years after I moved in when I was getting the downstairs loo replaced - a previous owner had put in a toilet under the main stairs, blocking off the stairs down to the cellar.

I got the builders to make a new door from the side so now I have loads of space to store stuff I should probably just throw out... It's a bit damp and low-ceilinged to use for anything else at the moment, but a future owner might decide to dig it out and tank it so it makes an extra couple of rooms.

WaitingfortheTardis · 17/06/2023 19:54

There is an old covered up well in the garden that we hope to one day turn into a feature of some sort. Also an old bread oven behind the fireplace that had been covered up. Sadly we had to cover it up again to use the space, but for some reason I still like knowing it's there.

TragicMuse · 17/06/2023 19:57

Our was a sold following an insurance repair of a house fire. It was a house that had been split into flats but put back into a house as part of the repair work. And there were no tenants or anyone to snag it.

The boiler didn't work. When it was fixed it was never powerful enough to run the heating for the whole house because they'd replaced what was there which was for the ground floor flat, not a two-storey house
The washing machine flooded the utility room first time I used it.
Bathroom door didn't shut (no latch box on the door jamb
Loo door wouldn't lock - latch box was out of alignment
The loo door frame doesn't go to the wall and wasn't plastered properly.
One of the downstairs door handles is out by about 3mm so the door won't close. I can't hit it into place because it's a glass door.
No tv aerial - the roof had burned through and no one had thought to put an aerial back
Only 3 drawers in the kitchen
Shower didn't work

It was a total pain in the arse. 16 years later some of it is still a pain in the arse!

Nannyfannybanny · 17/06/2023 19:57

Underneath the brand new carpet, which our elderly 17 year old dog,then new puppy ruined,cream tiles!!! A window hidden behind a larder cupboard. It's so high up,I couldn't see it from outside.absolutely love it m forwent the wall cupboard that was going there, because it lets light into my north facing kitchen, and DH has put stained glass in it. An unusual, not fitted anymore, electric storage heater behind the big old rusty radiator.

BadNomad · 17/06/2023 20:01

Not one wall in my house is straight. I had to give up on having patterned wallpaper nearly 20 years ago because it just looks awful with these walls and ceilings.

Scrunchymum · 17/06/2023 20:03

We thought the cupboard under the stairs was just a standard cupboard.
It was actually the original Victorian larder with stone slab shelves and meat hooks. Completely untouched, including the door. Strange thinking that was someones larder way back when.
We’ve kept it as it and use it as a pantry, didn’t fancy hanging meat up in there!

Mumsgirls · 17/06/2023 20:05

Polystyrene ceiling tiles in every room, caused loads of work and expense to re- plaster. Asbestos garage, cost us a fortune to remove. Bedroom window needed replacing as did gas ch boilers. Rockeries in both gardens had to be removed.What can I say ? We were 18 and buying a semi r40 years ago. Live and learn

NeedToThinkOfOne · 17/06/2023 20:08

So many lucky people on here- walk in pantry, sunsets and a sea view!

Nannyfannybanny · 17/06/2023 20:12

Our last house,built in the 1930s had the old range fireplace in the kitchen. (I had a modern gas/electric one put there. )The original bread oven, which DH used for an extractor fan, lovely terracotta tiles round it under the lino, gorgeous floor boards everywhere else under the lino. Original art deco doors, under hardboard panels. Original stair spindles under hardboard. An opening window in the pantry/larder. Pictures of the only other owner, which was sad, according to neighbours,he fell out with his only child a daughter, because he didn't approve of who she married. He unfortunately had died. We found a lovely army trunk in the loft.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 17/06/2023 20:17

A massive cellar which flooded when it rained, hence the estate agent claiming it was just a cupboard and he couldn’t find the key.

Luckily it turned out to be easy to fix, it was just a broken drain.

Gloriousgardener11 · 17/06/2023 20:17

The large piece of land at the side of our house doesn't belong to the local authorities at all but is in fact ours !
The estate agent and then solicitor handling our sale misled us and even the mortgage survey didn't unearth this gem.
It wasn't until we had paid our mortgage off, got the house deeds and were reading through them that we discovered the previous owners had bought the land from the council.
It was even on the land registry and we had no idea !
Bit peed off that the legals didn't do their job properly

stayathomer · 17/06/2023 20:22

Everyone oohs and aahs over our bathroom which I have to admit impressed me when we went to see it (especially as the people who lived there before us had torn the rest of the house apart, buried the boiler in the backyard, ripped up the kitchen etc) but about a day after we moved in we realised that glossy black and white tiles attract every bit of dirt known to mankind!!! Always looks filthy!!! Also damp!