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

I get the annoyance if there really is hundreds of holes, although I don’t understand that as there would need to be hundreds of pics and you’d see that on viewing, so you’d know likely wall damage. Even command strips often take the paint off.

what I’m agog at though is the op is talking about not moving in and hiring a decorator to do the whole place before she does. Whilst at the same time whinging about the cost of paint as she can’t match it. The cost of paint is a drop in the ocean compared to paying for secondary accommodation and a decorator. Tens if thousands for a whole house and rental.

I can’t even imagine anyone doing that.

“Hundreds”will be a massive exaggeration

a) the op would have noticed the walls crammed with frames
b)the op describes the property as “immaculate”. What property would you describe as immaculate that every wall in every room is covered in frames

Don’t ever get your house re wired OP. Omg the mess!

Also wallpaper in old houses seems to mostly mean having the room replastered if you try to remove it. Nightmare.

Nails in walls and decorating is standard for moving house in most people’s opinion

Our house looked superficially neat and modern. Fortunately not our taste (especially the hot chocolate coloured lounge that made every visitor do a double take for the 6 months until we got chance to gut it and start again)
Most of it was bodged, right down to construction. TBH, if your walls are perpendicular, and floors don't have a valley in the middle, then you're winning at life.

It was a bummer when we proudly installed sliding wardobe doors and they rolled off down to the lowest point of the room and we realised we had to start the frame again and build it up 2cm into the dip.

Pot holes in the walls under the tounge and groove were nothing on that.

Did your conveyancer not get council building works sign off during the purchase process?

Paint it yourself ! Most people change the decoration anyway ! Paint us £20 a pot!

I'm always amazed how lazy some people are ( disabilities aside ) when it comes to decorating!

Even if you do have to repaint how long would it take? I think we repainted ours in about a couple of days. It easier with no furniture, and drying time doesn’t matter because you just start on another room.

Now the horror carpet pad +diabolical leveling clay under the carpets was an entirely different story. Why yes I can honestly say I scrubbed the floors in my house by hand in 1 inch squares multiple times

I know this is disappointing but hopefully in a few years you will be able to look back and laugh. It could be a lot worse. My Aunt and Uncle bought a premises years ago and found weeks worth of rubbish including food waste in the attic. The smell is was unreal.

OP did the vendors look like these two?

Get it all plastered. X

You are very lucky that it is only painting the walls which is required. I have had much worse unexpectedly and unforseen every time I have moved. If I was in your shoes I would be absolutely delighted that all I need to do is paint.

I don't get why you can't move in just cos the rooms need painting? Also why do you need to match the colours? Just paint the rooms the colours you want to. You could get the walls skimmed if they are that bad. It's not down to the estate agent its your responsibility to check the house.

I've heard (can't remember where) that most people fully redecorate within 6 months of moving to a new house. It's probably taken me more than a year but I've always redecorated and expected holes and dints. I partially fill holes with cotton buds - snip off so the stick end sits just below the opening; use multiple buds if the holes are big. It takes a lot less polyfilla and is much easier doing it this way.

it's quite normal to hang up frames, I would find it odd if there was no holes!

Polyfiller & paint are usually essential when you move.

we bit the bullet and paid a pair of decorators to do our house after we moved in. It wasn't just a repaint job but full on cover up of dodgy DIY and deep dark colours, hot glue on the walls etc

Yes we could have done it all ourselves but it would have taken us months to do and probably wouldn't have been the best job. We both work full time and I'm due a baby very soon. 2 guys came in and did the whole house in 5 daysand the house felt so much more livable. It's not cheap but that's the price you pay for speed and convenience

Our new house was a total mess when the previous owners furniture had gone. Hundreds of screws and nails, a broken window which we hadn’t noticed, shower broken and the patio doors fell out when we opened them to get the sofa in. We moved in as we had to, just replastered, painted etc around us, a room at a time. That was three years ago and we are still finding problems that have been poorly repaired in the past. Worth it though.

Move in and take your time to decorate OP.

When you move, don’t you redecorate as a matter of course?

When my mum moved out of her council property to move into a care home the council insisted we had to fill all holes. Any they found that weren't filled would be subject to a charge of £30-£50 each (no idea where the range comes from - size?). We also had to remove every floor covering & any grippers etc. It was a long job.

This. It’s hardly structural damage is it. Painting is one of the most basic tasks.

You're being very dramatic. Of course you can move in your furniture before decorating.

Ha ha! The "pristine" flat we bought had skirting boards missing in one bedroom, yellow wax all down one wall in the living room, a slow leak under the bathroom sink, the hall carpet was glued straight on to the cincrete floor and the piece de resistance the awful stylised pictire of a winding road was in fact stencilled straight on to the wall in black paint. It took so many coats of paint to cover. 😫

Agree with this, I have always done my own decorating, walls are the easiest, sanding woodwork not so much, but painting walls? easy just prepare as others have said

We have some 80 plus pictures hanging in our home. All screws....not nails...holes will still need filling when we move. Its absolutely normal....most people use screws....and some walls need extra hefty screws. We have always asked prior to moving in if we wanted to match up paint...most of the time we didnt...and just expected to fill holes and paint every room.

But thats a rental....and you would expect to have to do that...though the cost is laughable. If you rent.....you are expected to leave the home as you found it.