What work does your house NEED?

[Trycod]

Am I the only one living in a hovel?

Kitchen is 25 yo, poor condition. Doors falling off and bowing due to water damage.
All the cream carpet is stained (embarrassingly carpet is only 5 years old bought super lux before having kids/dogs)
Outside crazy paving is actually dangerous - needs replacing entirely.

Getting me down. Have had to delete instagram.

The garden needs a bit of work and the whole house needs redecorating except the kitchen and bathroom. We done the kitchen at Christmas. The units were good condition but the end panels and plinths and pelmets had de laminated so we replaced those. We couldn’t match so went for a contrasting colour. It seemed a shame to replace a whole kitchen and it looks really good and a fraction of the cost of replacing.

The roof needs looking at, quite a few slipped slates
The house needs painting externally (we have someone on that this week!)
Two windows need replacing as they’re just fucked (timber frames that are very old!)
Bathroom is dated and could do with replacing
Our bedroom hasn’t been redecorated in about ten years
The patio needs repaving, it’s just ridiculous
New carpet in the sitting room wouldn’t go amiss

It’s an old farmhouse, the jobs are literally neverending 😂

In sympathy perhaps I should add some of my achievements to balance out
new gas boiler and some radiators
Fibreglass new roof to extension
new patio doors
new guttering
new fence posts and plastic panels
ongoing keeping it all liveable!

We have a giant hole in our bedroom ceiling that needs patching up, then skimming, then we can fill the giant holes in the walls as well. There was a cupboard there that for some reason had the most enormous nails and screws holding it up in ancient plaster that crumbled to pieces.

Kitchen is ok, we actually replaced it for £500 with a second hand one from Gumtree! That included a built in fridge!

Slowly slowly getting there, front room has been decorated, youngest son's just had new carpet and (almost finished) decorated, just need everything else. Unfortunately I'm the only one who can do DIY without turning into a complete cunt about it so I'm pretty much doing it solo.

If it makes you feel any better I can share that my house is literally uninhabitable and we're currently living in mouldy temporary accommodation. 😬

We've been here for nearly 30 years now. Had 2 new kitchens, 2 bathrooms, 2 boilers, garage converted to living space, whole house replastered. Lots of decorating over the years and small upgrades, loft boarded and lighting put in. We are getting on a bit now and can't do much ourselves, tend to prioritise the garden which is quite nice. Just had some fairly major repairs to our chimneys, I thing the roofers term was 'death trap' We need a coat of emulsion on about half the house right now, new flooring in the bathroom and I really need to replace my bedroom curtains, I think they are best part of 40 years old and looking a bit sad. In a sensible world I would also be planning a stairlift. Can't find the enthusiasm right now so I've booked us a little holiday or two instead. I'm going to plant my leeks and beans next week and just not look at those curtains

Shower leaks into kitchen, not worth fixing without redoing whole bathroom. Kids more chose to shower. Could do with new windows on front of house, will save for sash windows, will be several years yet. Laminate floor we had put in when we did kitchen is truly awful, regret not tiling every day!

The boiler needs servicing.
Bathroom radiator needs replacing.
There is a ridge tile that needs sorting.
Toilet doesn't work properly.
Some windows are blown.

I don't have the money to sort it all.

I feel your pain!

Bought our place 23 years ago and did a massive amount of work on it - mostly ourselves. Including an extension to the kitchen and extra bedroom above.

The oldest part of the house (dining room, half the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom above) is hundreds of years old. It's single skin brick and very damp and permanently struggles with mould and mildew. The painting and decorating in those rooms (especially - but the sitting room and the new bit of kitchen too) all needs re-doing now - but I'm 20 years older with 2 kids and can't face it.

The dining room was only ever a bit of a bodge. The ceiling is covered in paper that has been painted so often it's crispy - and since a leaky shower when it all fell down, is now held up with tape. The wallpaper has mostly fallen off or shrunk due to the damp. We desperately need to rip it all off and start again - but are too scared because the plaster on the walls and ceiling is probably no good. The thought of all that mess is just too much - plus the work needed to make it all good going forwards.

The windows in the old bit are single glazed metal and don't fit. There are stone mullions downstairs so we can't replace with PVC or the glass would only be about 6 inches wide. Bespoke metal ones cost an arm and a leg. Every winter I have to wipe the condensation off them all every morning or it pools on the windowsills and damages the paintwork/varnish. They are leaded, and grow lines of black mould along every strip of lead, which can only be cleaned with a toothbrush and my fingernails, taking about an hour per window, several times a year.

The old parts (and some of the new) are always full of spiders and cobwebs. Woodlice live and die under the dining room furniture and slugs creep across the kitchen floor at night.

I could go on. People (used to) admire our lovely period cottage - but I'd happily swap for something clean and modern.......

I'm not even too fussy. Our kitchen is 20 years old and we did it ourselves. I still like the worktop and units, although a couple of doors have warped slightly. It's probably outdated but still functional, and while the floor and wall tiles probably wouldn't be my choice now, overall it's fine. But the things mentioned above are the really awful issues!

Good luck OP - I hope you get your problems fixed eventually!

stuff that NEEDS done in the "for the want of a nail" type way
3 rooms have broken plaster from previous roof leaks
double glazing at the front of the house all needs replaced - several are filled with condensation & 2 leak
back step is crumbling & a broken ankle is getting closer for one of us
downstairs bathroom cold tap is switched off because otherwise it leaks
Downstairs bathroom has paint & plaster falling off from the damp (we think the plaster wasn't sealed properly when it was done 15 yrs ago)
whole end wall of house needs repointing
garden wall needs repointing/ rebuilding/ something Victorian & shared & bottom of wall was excavated by an idiot so no idea how stable they really are
banister/balustrade needs properly attaching to the wall - it moves too much when leaned on
radiators need replaced - system is gummed up & 3 don't work at all, central heating chaps told us it wasn't worth draining/cleaning as too old....8 years ago

things that should be done -
replace the carpets which are we think more than 25 yrs old, the stairs are threadbare
hall needs wallpapered & painted but v long drop so requires scaffolding & professionals
repaint all the rooms
get someone to fix the floorboards that move too much
all the woodwork needs repainted
ironwork on outside of house needs rust removed & painted

we have no money to do any of these things BUT we had the roof & leaking chimneys fixed a month ago (part of the reason there is no money) so hopefully no more plaster falling off

That bathroom damp could be down to lack of ventilation too, just a thought

Thanks but it has an extra powerful fan & the house rule is the door is open unless it's being used plus DH cousin is trade adjacent & thinks the plaster was never cured properly

I currently have no working boiler, gaps at edge of roof, a dire need to paint outside, bare floorboards upstairs, 2 bedrooms with plaster crumbled off the walls from damp, no heating, a bathroom that needs replacing coz of damp damage.
Oh and garden fences about to fall down and the steps going into garden already collapsed(whilst I was standing on them!).

On the bright side the mortgage is paid so I own my own little hovel and in the last year I've managed to do some roofing, replace floor joists, plaster a room and replace the windows.
After all the 'perfect' homes in the decoration section this thread is really cheering me up! 😂

I'm so grateful for this thread, because, like other posters, I thought it was just my house that needs a lot of work. I bought my house 2 years ago and sometimes despair at how much needs doing to it.

On the urgent list:

• new consumer unit (mine looks like it's out of the 1950s)
• therefore probably a whole house rewire
• a new bath tub (mine is rusting)
• replastering and tiling of the bathroom - there is currently zero protection on the walls so I expect mould in the plaster
• solar panel bird proofing (booked)
• something is making noise in my pipes and I don't know what

On the not urgent yet but will be soon list:

• new boiler
• cladding replacing the exterior side wall tiles that are frankly dangerous
• fixing the botch job that the previous owner did on the exterior wall
• replacing the floor boards that have inexplicable holes in them and that the previous owner nailed down
• recarpeting the threadbare staircase and landing which frequently have bare threads hanging from it which pose a trip hazard

On the non-urgent wish list

• a whole bathroom refurb
• covers for the visible piping in the bathroom and toilet
• replacing the gappy and low-quality flooring in 3 rooms
• replacing the light switches to something more modern
• a garage refurb inside and out
• clearing the final part of the garden to allow room for the bins/ a bin shelter
• flattening the textured ceilings in every room
• additional sockets and new light fittings

Already done:

• roof repair where tiles were missing and birds were nesting (professional)
• replaced missing exterior wall tiles (professional)
• replacing a missing back gate (professional)
• carpeting 2 rooms (DIY)
• replaced door handles throughout (DIY)
• replaced toilet seat (DIY)
• fixed a broken tap (professional)
• fixed the broken stop tap (professional)
• got smart meter and water meter installed (professional)
• boiler repair (professional)
• painted and/ or wallpapered most rooms (DIY)
• cleared most of the garden teeming with weeds and brambles (DIY)

So relieved that there are some other people that aren’t living between the pages of Homes and Gardens magazine.

render dropping off in patches
one ancient wall wearing thin to the point I feel like I could put my finger through it if I wanted
repointing needed
floor of upstairs cupboard (with a lot of stuff in) about to collapse into the downstairs cupboard (also a lot of stuff in)
Rain water seeps in under the front door despite sealant.

Front of house repointing
New bathroom
decorating throughout
new flooring/carpet
windows painting
To be getting on with

My house isn't as bad as some written about in this thread but we have...
A broken shower
A leaky bath
A dripping outdoor pipe (no clue even what is is)
Drainage at the front of the house needs doing as it has a lot of sitting water.
Replace broken fencing
Replace broken back door

Other stuff are more minor and are things like
A few damaged bathroom tiles
A couple of broken plug sockets
Broken thermostats on most radiators
Broken door handle
Wobbly toilet

DH is 'in the process of' taking up the kitchen floor. He's been taking up a tile a week since the start of the year, because it's 'hard work'. By this point it's starting to get irritating as dust and bits of tile are constantly all over the house.

We've had no shower screen for several months now as he somehow managed to break that off. No idea how as our bath is big enough to get in and out without needing to even move the screen. The bathroom floor is permanently drenched.

I'm so glad to have found this thread. My house needs so much doing to it,I am embarrassed to have people round. So in no particular order, it needs:-
New roof, its holding water.
An unknown slow leak from the upstairs bathroom needs investigating.
The porch needs completely replastered and the flooring replaced as its all falling apart.
New oven.
New garden fence as it has mostly fallen down
Garden wall needs rendering as alot has crumbled off.
Main bedroom has mould that needs to be treated.
Several rooms need painting.
Some spotlights need replaced, but by an electrician.
New back door as the one we have leaks when we have heavy rain.
Front of house needs painting.
Its so overwhelming as we don't have the funds for all of this work, so are having to do bits and bobs ourselves while we save up.

Nothing…..been here 8 years…everything now done….but we downsized so had money to renovate

New kitchen
New bathroom
New boiler
Back garden finishing
Damp in the bedroom and living room
'Lean to' needs replacing as it's falling down
Chimney in the loft needs repointing
Decorating

We've done loads to it since moving in 3 years ago, it was built in 1810 so will constantly need work doing to it, sounds a lot worse than it actually is .

Conservatory/ lean to leaks nearly all the way round and door doesn't fit.
Front room has blown plaster up to halfway on one side ( think this was owing to flashing being faulty and moved tile on main roof ( now fixed but have to dry it out)
Back of house has manky rendering and or needs crumbling pointing redone.
Bedroom stripped about 10 years ago but nobody has had time/ inclination or money to sort out.
Wiring needs putting in the walls in places....
Kitchen had very slow leak in corner cupboard which was only discovered when it caved in, now removed but all of it needs replacing.
Oven door broken, so mw/ aF/ sc and hob used, small top oven works but takes forever so rarely use...
Hope this makes you feel less alone. ... I keep garden as nice as I can and keep clean and tidy or I'd roll over and give up x

This thread is making me feel less overwhelmed and embarrassed by the state of my house.
We need to replace windows. They are horrible aluminium framed units stuck into the original timber frames. Timber front door desperately needs replacing. Need new fence at side of house. New new bay window roof.
Things I'd like to do include redecorating, which includes replastering. The inside needs gutting really and starting again! Previous owners include two consecutive builders who made internal changes, and did bodge jobs.
Front garden and drive need landscaping. Don't get me started on the back garden!

Ours needs

A new kitchen. I think it's only around 10 years old but looks like the previous occupants went for cheap as it is in poor condition! Cupboards are peeling, floor is broken in places.

Doors need replacing. They are old and one is damaged. Door handles are rusting in the bathroom.

Gloss paint has been layered onto old layers throughout the house. Drip marks everywhere. Someone was clearly rushing to decorate😒

Mine needs new internal doors - they're very shabby now. I also need the bath taking out, having a walk-in shower instead. And decorating, it really needs the whole house doing.