To be upset regarding new home.

[2023NewStart1]

We’re in the process of moving into new home and I am shocked at the state of the walls. Not sure if we’ve been lucky before (3rd home move in 20 years) or if this is normal so posting here. The house looked beautiful and we thought it was ready to move in as it was exceptionally immaculate but now that the owners furniture and belongings have gone we realised how much it’s going to cost to paint. Every single room including the bathrooms has hundreds of nails dug into the walls! Even the decorator was shocked and said they seemed to have loved their pictures, we hung up a few pictures over the years and never nailed them in but used command picture strips. Only thing that was nailed in was a heavy mirror.

my mum was really shocked too, every single room needs to be painted and it’s going to cost a lot as we don’t know the names of paints used and trying to match up is going to be a nightmare. Mum very helpfully told me I should complain to the estate agent! I’m obviously not going to as the sale has happened and EA won’t really care.

any advice on what we can do or just anyone to sympathise? I haven’t told anyone in RL as it seems like a non problem but it’s really upsetting me as me we can’t move furniture in till decorating has been done. Every single room needs decorating now. It’s going to delay our move as all decorators are busy during this time

For the room/rooms with hundreds of holes, you could get a plasterer to skim them maybe? Then you have a blank canvas ready to paint.

we moved 12 times in 10 years (army family) so used to polyfilling 😂

We had this to some extent with our house. No idea why they used little picture nails in the walls as they're plasterboard and disappear straight through! Makes them easy to remove though - just pull them out!

It's easy to not see these things when you look at a house. Our house looked pristine when we viewed it. When we moved in we realised that some pictures and rugs were hiding some DIY issues. We also soon discovered you should not try and sit on the edge of the rolltop bath in the bathroom as it wasn't fixed to the floor! Nor was the overflow pipe actually connected to the waste pipe! Style over substance it was. We've now, after 10 years, almost finished the redecorating of the rooms.

As disappointing as it is, it is unfortunately part and parcel of buying a "pre-loved" home.

If the walls are a neutral enough colour, can you fill the holes and touch them up in the meantime or is it just too tricky? We had some pin holes in a few white/magnolia walls so didn't even use filler - just a small globule of paint was enough to fill them and make them less noticeable until we could properly redecorate.

I've never heard of anyone using command strips to put up all their pictures! Using nails is normal.

I read Mumsnet today, oh boy
Four thousand holes in a poster’s new home,
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill 2023NewStart’s wall

You sound like a total princess, most people just live with shabby decor and decorate as and when.

Even if you knew the names of the colours the previous owners had painted, there's nothing to say the walls might not be stained or have faded in the sunlight over time, leaving you with a totally different shade.

To be honest, if this is the worst thing you find when you move in, you should count yourself lucky.

Yes, it will cost some money to buy paint/get a decorator…..standard thing when you move house and there are aLeay’s additional costs. At least this isn’t stuff you need to do instantly if you don’t want to and in the wider scheme if things, is very cheap.

TBH I’m surprised this a comment from a seasoned mover and not a first time buyer. It really is a non-event. It really was on you on notice these things (they haven’t banged hundreds of nails in since you made the offer) and if you had, it’s such a little issue that it really wouldn’t have been relevant. I wonder from your post if you’re angling for a suggestion that you’re owed some money….sounds like your mum thinks you are, or is also pretty clueless that you buy what is there (and often stuff that’s hidden too!)

Just accept moving is horribly expensive, there are always extra costs after you move in and jobs to do that you hadn’t planned for. It’s all part of it. There’s no point feeling annoyed about such a small thing. Remmeber how lovely it’s all going to look when you’ve done it and that getting it as you want it isn’t a quick fix project but can take many years.

OP Homebase paint is honestly amazing - one coat needed and costs £15. We moved in over Summer and have almost finished painting the whole house at less than £150 (4 bed)

I have lived in my house nearly six years and there are still walls I haven’t painted. There has also been a hole in the ceiling in one room for a year.

I know that moving is stressful and it feels like a lot right now, but wanting things to be perfect from the get go isn’t realistic.

Just move in and decorate as you go, the “hundreds” of nails will look better if you maybe make use of some of them and also get your furniture in!

Poly filla and paint. I’m the laziest person on earth but managed to paint most rooms in my small house. And in previous places.

And agreed caveat emptor.

Is that the worst thing you've found hidden so far? If so, you are very, very lucky 😁

There's absolutely no point complaining to anyone, at no point on any form is there a box that says 'have all holes in the walls been filled?', so nobody has lied to you, and I'm guessing that's not a question you asked? And if I was renting I would use command strips, but no chance in my own property- cost a fortune, and they're my walls to hang things on!

When you looked around weren’t you aware of “hundreds” of frames attacked to the walls?

Attached

I think you're letting the stress of a house move so close to Christmas get to you. Of course you can move your furniture in when there are holes from picture hooks in the walls. Your decorator is "shocked" because he can see the pound signs floating around and wants to make sure you don't realise you don't actually need to pay someone to paint a few walls. Move in, enjoy Christmas, then sit down on Boxing Day and make a list of priorities.

This is really good www.toolstation.com/toupret-interior-filler/p63284?store=ST&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=googleshoppingfeed&mkwid=_dt&pcrid=&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIg43FuI6I_AIVwcvtCh1vEgWqEAQYAyABEgIATvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds. You can buy ready mixed too. It’s really easy to sand down.

Nails in plaster aren’t too bad. I have a newish house with crap walls, so need to use a plug every time I want to put a nail in, so at least you won’t has to remove those!

Have you asked the seller for the paint colours btw

Painting costs very little. Just work round 1 room at a time. It won't look so bad when your own furniture etc is in.

YABU, I'd always use nails for pictures. You must have seen they had a lot of pics up? Can you just move in then move furniture away from walls slightly and redecorate yourselves as and when starting with the worst rooms? Or a decorator should be used to moving and covering furniture to decorate.

This is really normal.
Not sure why it’s relevant that your mum was shocked?
They may have used more nails that most people, but walls not in perfect conditions is normal.
And whether it’s a quick filler job or re-skimming that wall, a lot of holes doesn’t take take much more time than a “normal” amount.

”every single room needs to be painted and it’s going to cost a lot as we don’t know the names of paints used and trying to match up is going to be a nightmare.”

You can’t match paint even with the name!

1. it’ll be a different batch number
2. more importantly, there’ll be so much light fade that it wouldn’t be the same colour even if they’d left you a pot from when they did it!

We've just moved in to our new house and I've spent weeks cleaning dog shit from almost every room. I'd take your wall of nail holes anyday!

I'm another baffled as to why a photo of a wall with nails in it could be 'outing'.

This.

I don’t understand why you can’t move in due to nails? Just move in and decorate the rooms while you live in them.

You can’t complain to an estate agent that there are nails in the walls. I thought you were going to say black mould that was hidden by furniture or something.

Don’t just paint! You need to polyfilla those bitches.

I sympathise OP, our house was terrible for it when we moved in and even now 18 months later I still find the odd one that we missed.

Drove me up the wall and I can’t see the need for so many pictures. A few choice ones sure but I hate it when there are thousands of family photos and random pictures/framed tickets whatever on the walls. My brother and I call it “wall clutter”.

Yeah, this is normal. Everything looks tattier once all the furniture and belongings are gone.

This.

Because it’s a wall… with nails in! Totally unique thing. I’ve never seen a wall with nails in, have you? Exactly. If we were shown a picture we’d just instantly know who the OP is.

“It’s going to delay our move”

Out of interest, are you moving your diamond shoes with you, or passing on to charity any that are too tight? 😉