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?

OP what are your thoughts?

I sympathise. We are currently a year into a renovation and extension and I am so pissed off with it all. It's so expensive and everything is such a mess

We moved from rented to owned, and any problems were SO MUCH more frustrating in rented. Knowing that you were paying the landlord lots of money and they were dragging their heels about repairs is a very difficult feeling to live with.

I agree!

I have serious problems with damp and apart from having dehumidifiers, heating in and ventilation etc something that I do think makes a difference is not drying wet clothes inside.
I don’t have a tumble dryer so If it’s dry outside I put the clothes on a clothes rack outside or if it’s wet I take them to a launderette to dry them - it’s expensive but it’s worth it for less damp in your home. Obviously if you can afford/have the room for a tumble dryer then even better!

@ThreeLittleDots

Are you sure it's had a proper damp-proof course? If not this would explain most of your problems.

It really doesnt

Op we've never been able to do big stuff on our house but we did manage basic renovation to make it look nice by buying reduced paint, homebase eg damaged tins, end of line are heavily reduced same with paint brushes.

The garden you can clear it? What money do you need for that, pulling out foliage with your arms if you don't have clippers and put it in the bin.
Join local free cycle sites I've decorated most of my house with free furniture and really lovley stuff too!

I know it can see impossible, I've been held paralysed by broken kitchen kick boards for years!

However once you start and use imagination, positive attitude and creativity it's an incredible feeling of achievement.

Eg on the property board a lady wanted to update her kixthen for the lowest cost and she was advised to learn how to tile, she got a cheap tile cutter and re tiled herself, changed look of a working tops, painted the existing cabinet it was astonishing!!

Where there is a will there is away. I'd strongly suggest you give it a shot before coming off the ladder I think that would be an absolutely disaster move to take out the control of your roof and life out of your hands and onto a landlord

We lifted our carpets and painted the floor I wouldn't go back to carpet now

I used to work with a woman who, deapite having a full-time full-on job, she worked a few hours on a Sunday at b&q for the discount to do up her house.

It really doesnt

Lumps of plaster falling off exterior walls, damp in every room, wallpaper coming off...

Sounds like the house I grew up in, sans damp-proof course.

I thought most Victorian houses had proper damp proofing and they got fucked up by people stuffing up air bricks, closing up fireplaces, rendering, paving too high outside, and generally messing around. Then snake oil salesmen claim it can be rectified with chemical injections instead of unclogging the air bricks, putting in a gravel french drain, and letting the place breathe.

Freecycle is your friend

And you can get rid of mould but you need to find the source as well .

Lots of good hints here .

Could you ask family to help ?

I bought a dehumidifier a week ago.. so far I have poured 20 litres of water from the tank down the sink.. currently 9° outside here and I have 1 storage heater in the hall set at its lowest and all the internal doors are open.. no other heating on in the house..3 bed semi.. and I am here in jeans and a short sleeved tee shirt and quite cosy.
I would never have believed the moisture in my house.. 30 years old...new double glazing and external doors 3 years ago...

I would honestly recommend a dehumidifier.. mine was £150... at this rate I will save that on heating over the coming winter.
As for the rest...you have had loads of good advice.. dont beat yourself ip about it...just slow and steady... good luck.

@AngelDelight28

Could you sell it as a doer upper and then use the money to put down a deposit on a newer house? Maybe a smaller new build? It does sound like your house has a lot of issues and damp especially can be expensive to fix if there's an underlying issue such as roof/chimney/leak problems. But not all houses have these issues. In my experience 70s houses need minimal maintenance and are pretty sturdy. Or a new build, but they do come with snags.

My thoughts exactly. I think I would look for one built in the sixties, seventies or eighties as they have had time to settle in and don’t generally have the problems of older houses or brand new ones. Thirties semi-detached or terraced houses are solidly built too and don’t tend to have the problems that Victorian houses do. We started married life in a thirties semi and it was a lovely house.

Some really good advice on here.

Make sure that the airbricks outside aren't blocked or clogged up with soil as that can exacerbate damp. Get rid of the mould with bleach and water, air the house, get a dehumidifier, and try to maintain an even temperature in the house. Just go outside and tackle the backyard! We only have a yard, but I slabbed it and have loads of pot plants, and it looks a million times better, makes me feel good too.
it's a little, often that works, but if you have friends/family to help then offer them a few beers and some sausage baps. Most people will help if you ask.

Sorry I haven’t replied yet.

I’ve just read through all the comments. Lots of interesting points for me to think through.

I’m 32 and our son is 3. So we’re at the stage where he’s drawing on the walls etc which doesn’t help.
We had a structural survey done and no issues were found.
We paid two years ago to have new guttering put in, but the house is Victorian. Built in 1900, five or take a couple of years. I do like the character of it and the fact it has history.
The other reason I like it here is that it’s in a low crime area and we have hills at the back and front of the house, sheep and cows at the back and we often see deer out the front. We are close to a nature reserve (5 mins walk away) and lots of nice walks.
I just worry it’ll end up being a money pit. But I’m definitely going to take it step by step and see what we can improve each year, what our budget will allow that is.

Honestly I would stick it out and time your circumstances will improve and you can tackle some of the bigger more expensive jobs.

Owning your own home gives you far greater security than being in rented where you can't be certain how long it will be before the landlord needs or wants the property back. And of course there are good and bad landlords. In the meantime paint and paintbrushes don't cost a great deal to brighten the place up and tidying the back yard will make you feel so much happier there. We have been in same position until very recently, 22 years in our home with no money to spend on it. Thankfully due to a modest inheritance we are now in the position to start fixing it up and make it as retirement proof as we can. In the meantime it has trebled in value which is quite nice too. I think you'd regret it in the future if you gave it up. If you lost it (eg repossession) then that's a shame, but I'm not even sure you'd get the security of a council tenancy these days as they're so hard to come by pretty much everywhere

Polkadotskirts - A 3 year old can only draw on walls if he has easy access to crayons etc. If colouring, drawing etc is supervised and crayons put away out of reach, then that's one less thing to worry about.

be careful before going back into rented. My mortgage payment is only about 60% of the cheapest rent for the same sized house in the same postcode. I've never lived in a rental where things were perfectly maintained, and I've lived in some that sound worse than you describe.

I'd prioritise the damp issue when you can, and then just do a cosmetic job on one or two other rooms to make them more pleasant to live with. We've been in our house 10 years, and it was a do-er upper. Our kitchen was only done 4 years ago, dining room hasn't been touched other than by a paintbrush. this is quite normal amongst friends, plenty of whom have the odd room still with some dodgy 70s wallpaper or a stained, worn carpet somewhere.

when your DC is bigger you'll have smaller childcare bills and more earning potential, so you can do a bit more if you hang on for a couple of years.

But I’m definitely going to take it step by step and see what we can improve each year, what our budget will allow that is.

Yeah that's the best. Most of us do it this way. Start with the moisture.
I would hazard a gess it's a condensation. But if not it needs to be found

It's so hard, you are in the same position as lots of pensioners. Home owners that dont have the income to do tha basic maintenance.
If at all possible dont get rid, the insecurity of renting is worst than owning.
If you have no choice then the deal is done

Get the 10 litre tubs of trade emulsion they only come in white or magnolia but it’s great paint.
A scrubbing brush will clean up the patio slabs and biological washing powder is good at removing algae. If the paint is peeling off just brush it off with a wire brush. It will take time so just do half an hour a day.
I would get someone to replace the render that has come off as that will let moisture in.
Appeal for paint and decorating stuff on freegle and freecycle.
You can mix paint if there’s not enough of one colour but remember your colour mixing rules from school.

Go to the paint recycling place, freecycle etc, borrow tools and see if you can get family and friends to help to tackle a project every month or so, or to look after your toddler so you can tackle a job properly. The cosmetic things can be done on the cheap, you can learn to patch render and plaster, you can paint a floor with paint mixed up from odds and ends and beg a free rug if the carpets are torn. Your kitchen cupboard doors may just need adjusting.

Check whether you are eligible for any help with insulation and repairs, there may be grants and loans for energy efficiency/essential repairs if you are on a low income.
Find the cause of the damp, could be a leaking gutter or downpipe which won't cost the earth to fix, or you could have slipped roof slates letting water in. Did you get a survey when you bought the house? What did it identify? Who do you know who can advise you on where to start?
Make a jobs list and tackle one thing at a time, starting with the cause of the damp.

Don't go backwards into renting and paying someone's else's mortgage op,not all owners look after their tenants homes very well.
And look forward,in time you could be earning more and able to begin work on your home.
As pp have said,take on the smaller jobs and get rid of the mould,tidy yard,advertise what you are looking for on freecycle.try not to get down about it,see it,as much as you can,as a long term challenge .this is your home,your future,and your child's future,don't give up,you will get there.🌈

Well I hate to say it but if will be a money pit. We bought a large Victorian semi 18 yrs ago and are still working our way through it. We still have our bedroom left to go and each room has had to be gutted as we could afford it. We started by making sure the roof was watertight and then tackled one room at a time. The decor was shocking and we lived with it for ages before we could afford to tackle it but now we have a solidly built house with lots of character . I would never do it again but we do love the house .
Dont try to deal with it all in one go just break.it down to manageable chunks. Good luck x

There's YouTube tutorials for just about any DIY job you wish to tackle. It doesn't need to cost much at all, just time, energy and a belief that you can do it !