People not showing pride in their homes

[Auburngal]

Talking about those who leave the front of their homes (owned) in a state.

For example there’s a house down my parents road who has an old fridge freezer on their driveway for 5 years! Don’t understand why people spend several hundred quid on white goods don’t buy them from a retailer who takes the old one for free or for £10. I paid the retailer £10 to take my old washer away and to recycle it accordingly.

Then there’s a house opposite me who had their bathroom replaced and left the old loo and other bits outside the home for several months. A decent bathroom fitter would take the old stuff away as part of the package.

Then another family down my parents road have old children’s toys in their garden- play house, sand pit etc. The kids are too old for these toys now.

Then are properties with hedges on the road and used as a ‘bin’. Unless the owners have mobility issues - then there’s no excuse to remove the rubbish from the hedge.

People spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on their homes but I hate it when they show no care.

People need to show pride.

I am a member of a community litter picking group.

Fuck me this is a nasty thread.

Better to be a bit of a messy bastard than a judgemental wanker.

They're hillbillies.

Ain't that the truth...

There's a move toward bee and butterfly friendly gardens that requires leaving your lawn to become more of a meadow than a neatly trimmed scene from Enid Blyton.

Some councils charge £50 to collect 3 large items

Perhaps they do not have the spare money ?

“Then are properties with hedges on the road and used as a ‘bin’. Unless the owners have mobility issues - then there’s no excuse to remove the rubbish from the hedge.”

Surely that one should be aimed at the scruffs throwing the rubbish

Op is talking about gardens full of rusting scrap iron, not verdant meadows.

Agree with @DrNo007

I live in an ordinary suburban area in the US (not an HOA or gated community).

People simply don't live surrounded by their own junk here, because it is very easy not to.

If you want any metal items disposed of, you put them out at the curb or leave them in the alley, and the scrap metal man will pick them up (with one hand, in the case of the guy who trawls the alleys here) and take them away at no cost to you. He sells metal by weight to scrap merchants.

Furniture in any kind of decent shape disappears too. If you leave something out and it doesn't get snapped up by people looking for items in good shape, you can buy a waste sticker for $5 and the regular weekly bin collection will pick it up. They take mattresses, old couches, anything that's broken down enough for two men to throw into the garbage truck.

And generally, removal of old fittings, fixtures, and appliances is done as a matter of course by any company delivering and installing your new kitchen or bathroom.

Yes, and I agree that that sort of property is an eyesore and very likely an 'attractive nuisance' too - children can become trapped in old fridges or freezers, and they can become nice nesting spots for rats.

But the typical neatly trimmed lawn has its drawbacks.

I think YABU to demand that people to show 'pride' in their homes. That comes across as a little too much like an old-fashioned headteacher righteously demanding that pupils show 'pride' in their school.

YANBU to obect to littering and turning the area into an eyesore. However, more people do have mobility issues than one might think; some are more obvious than others. And some have other personal and family issues that can make their lives a struggle, and mean that they don't always have time or mental or physical energy to deal optimally with their property. If they have the money to pay for help, or have an able-bodied young relative prepared to assist, then it becomes easier; but not everyone has either.

👏🏻

We also have one neighbour who puts their bin out on a Tuesday night and it's still there 3 days later, they only bring it in when they need to put a bin bag out and realise they need to go and get it first, despite driving past it morning and night.

Mine stay out the front permanently (on my own property) - I have to drag them uphill on gravel, so it's a lot easier to just take the rubbish to them.

I don't see the issue. I have rubbish, I have bins, they're functional not beautiful - why do I have to hide them (don't get me started on those weird little bin cupboards so I'd have to go through 2 layers of lids just to put my dustbin sack in!

Some neighbours do the same, can't say that I give a damn.

At least the bins are useful, people with plants I consider ugly, or who have painted their houses colours I find personally unpleasant don't even have that as an excuse for offending my eyes.

So what tasks should be done on a weekly, monthly, annual basis to ensure one is showing ‘pride’ in the outside of their home?

I’m genuinely asking. I’m autistic, live alone and do struggle with what constitutes ‘home maintenance’ and the executive functioning to start/carry out/regularly do things. I do pay someone to deal with lawn mowing but everything else…. 🤷‍♀️. My parents have to remind me about things like getting the boiler serviced and getting the gutters cleared.

Those who are very prideful about their house…..what is your to do list and how often do you do them?

@CleftChin Why are plants ugly?

@PostItInABook I just make sure I've not got any sofas, white goods & rubbish on my front garden.

Well done on the litter picking.

As for the other stuff, maybe they delivered and installed the white goods and bathroom themselves, so there wouldn’t have been someone to take it away. It’s an eyesore but none of your business

Well yes. I get that. But other people have mentioned other things like windows and hedges and paths and stuff 🤷‍♀️

My garden is a bit of a mess. It just isn't isn't a priority! I have 4 snall children, basically i only do gardening during the summer holidays. Of course I could prioritise it. But then I'd have a messy house inside, or spend less time with my children or do my job less well. When the DC are teenagers that want nothing to do with me I'll probably have a tidier garden. But really, it's none of your business how I prioritise my time!

We tried taking part in no-mow May a year ago, but my neighbour took it on themselves to scalp my front lawn as "a favour" because they thought it looked unkempt. No shit Sherlock.

Wish the judgy bastards had just kept their bloody mower to themselves, or even had just spoken to us! They cut it way shorter than we would have and it took months to recover.

This is what I think too.
Live and let live and all that

That movement has been going for a little while now in the UK. It is sorely needed.
I think you need to read more Enid Blyton to understand that she had a love of nature. I hate the way Enid Blyton is used to refer to anything like 'neatly trimmed' lawns.

I can't for the life of me understand why it matters if the home is rented or owned.

Does it bother you less if a rented home is a mess?

@4610J

Not all plants are ugly - many are beautiful, but for example, I do not enjoy looking at Forsythia.

I think that people who have Forsythia bushes are therefore lazy, for not having nicer plants, and lack pride in their house because they look awful.

Ditto vertical blinds.

And floral, swag-laden curtains AND riddle me this, why is it the done thing to face the nice side of a fence at your neighbours, but the whole world gets to see the curtain lining? Shouldn't you put the good looking side of the curtains facing the street and the ugly/boring liner facing into your house - you know, to show pride in it.

We have a brand new car. It's a Motability car. Just because we have a nice car doesn't mean we can afford gardeners and clearance people 👍

@CleftChinShouldn't you put the good looking side of the curtains facing the street and the ugly/boring liner facing into your house - you know, to show pride in it.

To be fair I think this is going a step too far. You could maybe buy two sets of curtains and sew them together so everybody gets the best side. If you were that batshit.