To really not know where to start?

[Wheredolstart]

I am lucky that I live in a reasonably large house (5 bed). My Ex left it in a terrible state some years ago and gradually I have got to a position where the house is generally habitable. However in every room there are jobs that are part finished, unfinished or I need to do, and I have zero plan as to how or when to finish them or what to do next. I'm going to be selling at some point probably not for 3-5 years but I need to get on and get things finally done.

I know people say make a list, but I've tried making lists before and it gets overwhelming, I could cry. I could honestly take about 6sides of A4 and there's still more to do.

I'm not sure what order to do things in. I need new carpets in some rooms but I also need to decorate those rooms first because otherwise I'll end up with paint on the carpets as I have now. But then I'm worried I'll scuff the walls or paintwork when I move all the furniture out to have carpet fitted. And where does the furniture go when carpets being fitted?

2 rooms don't have any heating but we're kind of used to that now. There's no door on one of the other rooms. My front door is battered (we had an attempted break in a few years ago, and the door took a beating. It still functions but looks a mess and I need to replace it at some point. All the windows pretty much are blown, but they all still open and close so part of me thinks that's more a cosmetic issue than a priority. I won't even start on the garden issues as that's a massive job it itself.

I'm currently thinking I need to repaint all the hallway, stairs and landing. I did this last year but I only had time to do the walls and the upstairs doors. But the walls look grubby and I think they need another coat or two. Plus all the doors downstairs (6) need doing, and all the stair bannisters and spindles which I made a hash of a few years ago so that all needs stripping right back. Then there's filling, caulking, etc etc. I will start one thing, see something else and go onto that and the next and before I know it a whole day is passed and I've achieved nothing.

I know advice will be get someone in, but I can't afford to for stuff like decorating as there are other jobs like the windows and doors that I have to pay for. The going rate for hall/stairs and doors is about 2k, and that's if its ready to go other than some light prep which mine certainly isn't, all the sanding, filling etc would be extra.

So where do I start? And any tips on how I can concentrate on one task at a time would also be helpful.

Lifes too short to rattle around in a 5 bed house you cant afford to sort out, just sell now and go into rented until you move.

Go into one room and move the furniture so you can remove the carpet. You can cut it up.

Put the carpet over the weeds in the garden.

While the furniture is off the walls, give the walls a quick clean with sugar soap, then put on a coat of white trade emulsion.
Wilko is good for paint etc.

Do the ceilings too.

If the bare floor is ok, paint it or varnish.

Ask on freebie sites for rugs.

I think you've answered your own question, in that you need to finish things before starting something else. For example when you painted the hall last year, how many coats did you do? Did you think it was finished or were you planning to do more coats and not get round to it?

A shorter list might be helpful, just for the task that you are about to tackle, eg. Hall: move furniture, dust/clean walls, woodwork (2 coats), walls (2 coats)... Then check you are happy with the finish and quality before you move on to the next thing.

@Wheredolstart

Borrowing money isn't really an option, I do have some savings but I want to try and make that go as far as possible, hence trying to work out what I need to do, and when.

I can't sell right now as I need to stay in the area, and it would mean paying 2 lots of stamp duty etc. I'm here for the next few years at least.

Sorry, not sure what you mean by this? Are you saying you’d have to move somewhere else in the area, then you’d move to another area a few years later? You only pay stamp duty when you buy a house, not when you sell. So you could even just sell up and rent for a while and then the maintenance wouldn’t be your responsibility

I would get an Excel sheet and break it down room by room and input the prices and quotes so you know when you have enough saved you can tackle it.

I would start with the front door and then the hall. Tick off the tasks on your excel as you do them so you can see progress.

Then take a break and review what needs doing next. Don't make assumptions about prices, get proper quotes e.g. fixing the misted panes.

The front door and hall are the first things you see as you enter a house and will inspire you to make changes throughout.

@ThisIsBanana5

I think you've answered your own question, in that you need to finish things before starting something else. For example when you painted the hall last year, how many coats did you do? Did you think it was finished or were you planning to do more coats and not get round to it?

A shorter list might be helpful, just for the task that you are about to tackle, eg. Hall: move furniture, dust/clean walls, woodwork (2 coats), walls (2 coats)... Then check you are happy with the finish and quality before you move on to the next thing.

I did 2 coats in the hall, which I thought was enough, painting white over a very pale cream, but I don't know if it was poor quality paint but it just doesn't look great. I did plan to go back round and do the woodwork and doors but as I needed to sand and fill all the woodwork which was going to take ages I started other jobs in other rooms (I redecorated the room I WFH in, which is almost completed - there's a tiny bit of caulking to do and the radiator needs painting but that one is pretty much done at least), and trying to tackle the garden and never got back to it.

@Wheredolstart, did you paint in daylight?

Finish the wfh room first.

I'd sort the front door & the windows at the front for kerb appeal & less replacement window costs for buyers. Storage heaters in the extension. Unless the gardens a jungle full of crap it'll be fine. Don't bother with carpets unless they're minging & beyond a professional carpet cleaners saving . I did property viewings p/t for years . A one coat of paint tart up in the hall & main downstairs rooms just presale is an idea.

I did paint in daylight, but there are no windows in the hall/ stairs/ landing, there's not even one in the front door, so the light isn't brilliant even if I open all the internal doors. I tried putting the lights on when I was painting but that seemed to make it worse. I've resigned myself to the fact it needs another coat, and I'm going to spend a bit more on the paint this time, even though it's just white, so I get better coverage.

Get 'trade white' and go for a decent brand. If you shop around you'll get some at a decent price. If you are really on a budget, look at wilko, I've used their paint. Use the same paint throughout

Start at the door, and work inwards.

I've painted white over off-white and it does need another coat although it looks ok, it's not quite white enough. I used a roller, which probably means that the coverage wasn't 100%. That was Crown paint which I picked up in Aldi on a special offer

I suggested putting old carpet over the lawn, as it should kill most of the weeds. You could use something else - weed proof membrane, thick cardboard.

With the caulking and radiator, just do it, then cross it off your list

It doesn't have to be perfect.

If you do a spreadsheet, have a tab for each 'job'

I honestly wouldn't bother. Just leave it and sell it when you want to as it is. Someone will snap it up as a slight doer upper.

Life is too short to stress about this stuff.

When you start writing a list of all the jobs it's always going to be overwhelming and will give you this mountain of jobs that you feel is impossible.
What I would do ( and have done!) Is just do one room at a time.
Concentrate on the work that needs doing in that certain room and give that all your effort and time. When that room is finished, if you have the energy move on to your next project.
I think things like carpet should always be the last job especially if you have painting to do. It almost completes all your work.
Start with the least work that you feels needs doing so that you don't burn your self out on your first project.

Honestly, I don't want to leave it, if I was moving in 3 months maybe but I could be here for a few more years. And it's not just me, my children live here too and I think I should get the house done so they have a nice, 'finished' place to live. It's more for our immediate benefit than the sale potential.

I did use trade white, not sure why the finish is so bad, on checking I still have half a large tub left so may as well use that up on doing a further coat. Hopefully that will cover the patchy bits.

Why don't you speak to a local glazier to see if you could replace just some of the blown panes in some of the windows? Might be a lot cheaper than you think rather than replacing entire windows.

I’d work out cost of selling vs fixing
But windows doors and heating all needing doing would put me off a house. I’d decorate and change the carpets anyway probably.

If you want it to just look nicer for you I’d get a cheap white paint that you can wipe down and touch up if you scuff it
But every room will look brighter and fresher straight away.

Can you tackle room by room, but ignore windows and floors? Then it’s just one list for your room for example. Once that’s done do a list for the next room.

You usually need two coats, @Wheredolstart.
Look at How tos if you want to check technique

Even if you were selling, you'd want it to look as nice as possible, but its your home.

I am trying to sort out my place and like you feel totally overwhelmed - the only way I can cope is to focus on one thing. I've also had advice like 'just sell it' and that doesn't help.

Prioritise!

1. Front door and interior doors 1st. This is a security issue.

1. Windows: You can get just the glass units replaced - we did this at our old house and it wasnt that expensive. Ask on fb for local companies that do this.

1. Re: carpets - you need to do a room at a time. Move all the furniture from one room into another (you have spare rooms by the sound of it) most carpet fitters will work around a bed frame if you ask nicely

1. Garden - next spring start filling your garden bin every 2 weeks with weeds, branches etc

I got someone out to give me a quote for the windows a couple of years ago, replacing the panes, when there were only about 6 panes to do, and that was about £100ish per pane - which is where I've got my estimate of the cost from. However I then had something else to fix in the house (tiles off the roof, or broken guttering or boiler repair - one of those essential jobs) so I left the windows and now most of the panes need replacing.

I think the repainting is probably more of an immediate priority as a misted view of the outside doesn't affect us that much, whereas replacing carpet would have a bigger impact I think. Just need to get all the bloody painting done first.

Second and third the Excel suggestion. I know you say a list is overwhelming and of course it will be if it’s just “big long list”. It becomes much more manageable once you input that into excel and break it down into:

Get a man in/save up tasks, eg windows, carpets
Painting tasks
Prep, eg sanding, stripping, filling
Garden
Final faffy bits eg caulk

I live in a similar wreck and I mark up everything on my excel with the kind of job it is: can I do it in a single WFH lunch break (prime a door), is it a task for several evenings (prime the stairs), or a day off (noisy things). Some weeks I do nothing, other weeks I smash through loads - leave completed tasks on the list struckthrough or greyed out so you can see how far you’ve come.

Windows,front door,heating,interior door once those main jobs are done have a look at the money situation do one room at a time starting upstairs.Hall stairs and landing should be the last job

If you can't face an excel spreadsheet you can use post-it notes on a board or wall.

I'll be honest I don't think I can cope with an excel s/s, I spend all day at work using them. Post it notes might work better for me.

I'm trying to set myself achievable goals too. Like normally I'd be telling myself I have to get about 50 things done by Christmas, but I'm going to try and be more realistic so I don't just get overwhelmed by it all.

I've got a couple of minor plumbing jobs which I think I should get someone in for before Christmas and I might get some quotes for the door, least then I'll know how much its going to cost. Finish the room I wfh in as thats hopefully only a days work at most, and then do all the woodwork prep for the stairs.

I like the idea of putting carpet over the weeds to kill them, worth a try. We have a load of bramble bushes and wild roses (which never bloom sadly) and they seem indestructible.