Can’t afford to decorate/maintain our house

[Polkadotskirts]

We are fortunate enough to own our own home, but unfortunately we cannot afford to decorate or maintain it to any sort of standard.
I keep thinking maybe we should go back to renting, at least then the landlord would maintain the property and keep it in a liveable condition.
We’ve got problems with:

Insulation
Plaster on the outer walls coming off and big indents starting to appear due to it being an old house (Victorian)
Mould and damp in every room
The actual decor of the house is terrible, carpets falling to bits, wallpaper coming off, painted walls with marks on and chips in the paintwork
A big damp stain on the ceiling of the kitchen where the bath leaked through at one time.
The back yard (we don’t have a proper garden) is overgrown, filthy and the paving slabs are all uneven (unsafe for our toddler to play out there).
The back of the house is unsightly with any previous paint on the brick peeling off and looking hideous.
The kitchen units all need replacing
Doors don’t shut properly so that further exacerbates the issue with keeping heat in rooms.
That’s not to mention all the skirting boards and doors need re-painting.

Looking back I don’t know why we bought the house in the first place, but some of these things like damp didn’t show up right away.

We literally can’t afford to do any of the repairs that are needed as we’re living hand to mouth every month.

Shall we just cut our losses and sell as a do me up job? Then start renting again instead?

I personally would start by having a good clean, use washing up liquid and bleach to tackle mould and start opening the windows. Then when miney allows pain one room at a time, if you go for white woodwork and a basic colour you can then use the paint on more than 1 room. If you have a spare room could you rent it out? In the garden just start by cutting down back what you can, ask the neighbours to borrow the equipment if you don't have any. Your be surprised at how much brighter it will look with a bit of a clean and tidy, until you can afford the paint. Look on free cycle for paints and rugs you might be lucky.

That sounds frustrating. If at all possible, could you (by doing some extra work, or talking to family maybe) raise enough money to buy some paint and a brush? You could get the brush/es second hand. You might be able to get the paint and brushes off freecycle. Then do all the painting and paint the kitchen units. You might be able to get some wallpaper off freecycle too? Cover the carpet with rugs, if you can find any cheap or free.
Damp - tricky. Ventilate a lot, which is free. That's not a complete solution, obviously.

Do you have any equity in the house that you could use as a deposit for another mortgage? Sell and move on? Or use a draw down to do the work? There seem to be grants about to improve energy efficiency, would that help maybe?

How bad is it? Can you put up and fix as you go along?

I say this as I found myself in a similar situation. I was stuck and sold it after 20yrs. I'm now in an even older house (200+ yrs instead of 100yrs) but I love it and the quirks can be managed.

When you say about cutting your losses, sell as a renovation project, can you not muddle through for now and still own a home? Fix what you can when you can. All the time you own a property you have security.

Just skimmed through before closing off and the garden jumped out at me.

That’s something you can probably sort at minimal cost.

Can you borrow a strimmer and mower for a weekend. Cut it all back so you can see what you have.
What’s under the slabs? Old slabs are usually pretty easy to lift once you’ve got the first one up. Take them up and advertise on free cycle, either as slabs or builders’ rubble depending on their condition. If you’ve transport, most tips have temporarily lifted the need for an inert waste licence for householders so you should be able to dispose of them at no cost if freecycle fails.

If you’re left with soil underneath, it’s not too late to lay seed. Choose hard wearing for play areas, use 50% more than recommended and water, water, water. You’ll have a playable surface within 3 weeks. Won’t be the most exciting garden in the world but it’s outside space and fresh air until you can gradually improve on it over time.

Mould and damp in every room - are you doing heat/air properly? Most mould is caused by bad ventilation and lack of heating.

The actual decor of the house is terrible, carpets falling to bits, wallpaper coming off, painted walls with marks on and chips in the paintwork - as pp said, you can get lots from freecycle etc to make it bit nicer
A big damp stain on the ceiling of the kitchen where the bath leaked through at one time. - is it dey now? As per previous, have alook if anyone is giving away some left over dump cover paint. You can also do "wanted" on freecycle
The back yard (we don’t have a proper garden) is overgrown, filthy and the paving slabs are all uneven (unsafe for our toddler to play out there). - that can be done by you for no money.
The back of the house is unsightly with any previous paint on the brick peeling off and looking hideous. - back to freecycle (gumtree and fb market and there are websites where people list leftover paint)
Doors don’t shut properly so that further exacerbates the issue with keeping heat in rooms. - you can do that. If you aren't 100% sure, youtube has amazing amount of videos from tradesmen on how to do these things.
That’s not to mention all the skirting boards and doors need re-painting. - as above with free paints

Clean the mould , and the make aure property is aired ,use local facebook to ask for any free paint / carpets etc

Dry, not dey

It's not uncommon (or at least it wasn't when I was younger) for a first house to be rough and ready for many years - doing it up took a long time due to finance challenges. You may just need to prioritise, mend and clean what you can and learn a few new skills. E.g. if the garden is overgrown, that is mainly elbow grease not money which is needed. You may be able to learn how to fix the patio from a youtube tutorial and the same for planing the doors so they shut properly. The ceiling issue with the bath leaking, you may be able to claim on house insurance. If it's just discolouration, you can paint it. We had a house with peeling paint and we took it all of ourselves before re-painting. It was a lot of work but worth it. Skirting boards and doors - repaint them yourself one at a time. In the long term this will be a better investment than renting and sadly, there are no guarantees that a landlord will maintain the property they let.

Is it even possible to rent for less/the same as you pay on the mortgage? It’s not in my area. Or are you willing to move our of the area? Do you think it’s likely you’ll be able to sell for what you need, within a reasonable timescale? Because you might end up having to short term let after sale which can be more expensive and deplete your cash.

You mention you have a toddler - are you both working? If not, will you be going back to work soon? That will help. We kind of felt the same when our kids were little - it did get better.

(Also - get some sweatshirts from a charity shop and stuff the sleeves to make draft excluders for the doors)

why not sell and buy something smaller in better condition - why is it own this house or rent?

In terms of DIY and sorting out the cosmetic bits - can you rope mates in to help? Also look on local free to collect Facebook groups - people give all sorts of stuff away including paint, carpets and wallpaper

Freecycle, any comunity interest charity local to you, a scrap store etc, will make most of that possible over time.

Pick a room, any room and make a list of what it needs
Trawl the internet for How Tos
Look locally for sources of free, cheap materials

Don't panic if it goes wrong, it's cosmetic, you can do it again.

As others have said, start with the doors. You'd be surprised what you can do with just a screw driver!

I understand , we are half way through a long , DIY renovation and for many months have not had the money to do much at all. It is really depressing at times.
What I have learnt though is that a lot of the time the stuff you see is actually not difficult or expensive to rectify. Paint , brushes etc can be got for cheap or off Freecycle.
It's the time that it takes that can be overwhelming .
With a toddler I appreciate it must be difficult. You will need a plan.
It might be cheaper to sell up in the short term but just think of all the costs in legal fees and rent being chucked away each month, if you can afford that then you can afford to maintain your home.

Have you got a mortgage? Could you check if you can reduce your rate or extend your term by remortgaging, or ask for a few months interest only to free up a little cash?

Even a few hundred pounds gives you scope to do some stuff.

1. get a damp specialist to come and advise. Often there are things people can do without a lot of cost. Old houses the walls need to breathe, moving furniture off walls, opening windows and not drying laundry indoors without a dehumifider can really help.
2. get a dehumidifier and try to get the house dried out
3. if doors are sticking its probably damp making wood swell. Dehumidifier can help
4. if you can get the house dried out, wash walls in bleach solution to clean, then you can paint yourselves without spending a huge amount.
5. you can buy rolls of loft insulation and lay it yourselves - makes a huge difference. 6)if you can, lift and chuck away (or sell if possible!) The old slabs in the yard, then rake it as flat as you can and put down a ton of grass seed.
6. can you repaint kitchen units? Or are they falling to bits? New handles are cheap, superglue can buy you a bit of time with things like drawer fronts falling off.

You sound overwhelmed. I’d try to sort some of the fundamental issues like the damp ( ventilation) and give it a really thorough clean. Then accept this is a long term process and tackle each area as you are able to afford to.

Local groups like Nextdoor can be great for asking for items like unused paint etc. Ask relatives for B&Q vouchers for Christmas.

Start with a list.

I’d take a second job or as much overtime as possible rather than give up security of an owned house given you have children.

I would start with cleaning out guttering in case water is coming in that way. Can be a common cause of damp in old houses rather than rising
Then I would go out into garden with a strong arm and some garden refuse sacks and clear everything.
There may be a buildup near the damp proof course, airbricks need freeing etc.

Then keep house ventilated. Don't dry clothes inside, use your newly cleared yard. Invest in dehumidifier (150?) from Screwfix or Argos

Then paint living room with cheap emulsion, no sheen so Walls can breathe .
Take up horrid carpet in living room. Find offcut in wool (most carpet shops have offcuts) even if not exact. Use to insulate floor (cold comes up from floors). Another wool rug on top.

Paving slabs can be taken up and ground levelled, hardcore put down (don't go above right level...re damp proof course airbricks) and then put back again properly bedded in so toddler doesn't trip.

It sounds overwhelming. Nothing will change until you decide to get up, though.

Tackle it room by room. Slow but sure. Don't worry about timescales at all, or what the other rooms look like whilst you're focusing on one. I used to sit looking at everything as a whole then moping that its all impossible to sort out. I had to stop that after I realised it had been going on for years.

Take a day to paint 1 room or do it over 2 days, whatever/you say the skirting boards and doors need painting - Why can't you and your H paint them? & why cant you strip the wallpaper you say is peeling?

If you cant fully replace kitchen units then replace the doors only. Cheaper. There are loads on ebay.

Other bits you can do but I'm sure someone else will be along here soon with good advice. You have to be innovative and patient sometimes when wanting your home to look good. It takes time.

Ive always said I 'cant' decorate, DIY' etc. I've discovered by following YouTube mainly, that I can actually paint pretty well. Its been a godsend.

Im in a Victorian 3 bed. Huge, with tall ceilings. I love it but it drives me nuts at times as something always needs to be done. But unless you have loads to spend on it then at some point you need to get up and do some things yourself, to save money and offset other costs. With 2 of you some things are manageable, surely?

PS I totally get the overwhelming feeling that everything would be fine if you could just get out of this bloody house! It is not likely to be as easy or stress-free as you think.

I wouldn't rent if you've managed to buy a home, its dead money and not all landlords maintain properties well. You can get rugs from charity shops to cover your carpet and maybe pictures or wall hangings to distract from shoddy paint and marks on the wall. Maybe some cheap cushions and plants to brighten things up too.

I always feel as long as my home is clean and tidy that makes me feel better. One little step at a time.

Try to watch those channel five programmes. Living on the breadline on benefits etc for inspiration. You can often pick up cheap paint at car boots too.

There are some (potentially) structural problems on your list, but also a lot of cosmetic issues.

A lot of the cosmetic issues should be possible to fix very cheaply - this could work as a cheap, quick easy fix for kitchen ceiling

The back yard - could you borrow a pressure washer for the paving slabs, tidy it up whilst all the plants have died back in winter?

What is wrong with the doors that stops them shutting? Is it that the hinges aren't aligned, or have they warped?

Look on fb marketplace for free rugs to cover carpets. Ask friends if they have any spare paint just sitting in their garage.

Can you potentially use your house to make some money? Renting out a driveway or spare room? Then use that money towards saving for bigger jobs like the outside, prioritising structural jobs over cosmetic ones (like the back of the house looking unsightly)

Think back to what made you fall in love with the house? Which rooms got you excited and happy. Focus on doing bits in those rooms first. Just so it feels like a home again.

There are loads of decorating and DIY videos on YouTube. Plus staff in DIY shops can be very helpful if you need advice. It seems like a daunting task but it is possible and you can do more yourself than you think.

And remember that although renting can seem a better option regarding upkeep it can also come with a lot of potential instability - what if the landlord increases the rent, what if the landlord decides to sell up, what if you have pets?

If things are financially very very tight could you talk to your mortgage company?

Does the alternative have to be renting? Could you sell up and buy a house that’s not a wreck?

I think it would be a shame to come off the property ladder and throw your money away on rent; you might be able to find a more suitable property for you.

Habitat for humanity have local stores here that sell for pennies paint, wallpaper etc

Can you change mortgage to interest only for a year to get money for a damp course?

Would your buildings insurance cover any of it?