AIBU to leave small decorating and repair issues when moving?

[Newhouse20938]

We're moving house soon after spending 10+ years in our first home, and it's got me wondering what everyone else does when it comes to all the little things you've hidden over the years....

We've decorated and changed colours in most rooms, but because there was heavy furniture in the way, we've often just painted around it rather than moving it. For example, the wall behind my daughter's bed is still pink, even though the rest of her room is now sage green.

Now I'm thinking ahead to moving day and what it's all going to look like once the furniture is gone. I don't have any of the green paint left, so I'm worried it's going to look a bit of a mess. One wall is literally going to be green and pink!

Another example is in our bedroom, the carpet is ripped underneath the bed after I tried to move it once and caught it on the metal support bar. The bathroom window doesn't lock, and I've lost the key for the back room window, so it can't be opened at all.

I'm probably overthinking it, but is this the sort of thing most people just leave when they move, or do people tend to fix and touch up everything before handing the house over?

I suppose deep down I don't really want to paint a wall or replace carpet when I will be busy anyway moving.

I probably wouldn't do anything as most people will change things when they move in...but you seriously painted round furniture rather than move it?!?!

Fitted furniture I get...but a bed?

Did you point these things out to the buyer? If not, do so, and ask if they would like you paint the wall ( they may not care if they are planning on redecorating). As for the key, you should replace that. I wouldn’t replace the carpet though.

No I didn't, I didn't do the viewing.

I can't replace the key as I've already tried. I've bought several different replacement window keys over the years, but none of them fit. I also contacted the person who originally fitted the window and offered to pay for a replacement key, but unfortunately I never received a response.

Yes, Its a ottoman that is crammed with stuff and to be honest I couldn't be assed to get it all out , move the bed, put it all back.

You cant tell by just being in the room.

Who I bought from did this and I hated her guts for it. Solid wood floors she painted round even tiny tiny objects under a foot wide. Had to sand the whole floor and revarnish. Painted round every photo frame, made a massive rip with a huge chunk of carpet missing

But theres no legal comeback on you, my solicitor said it would cost more in disputing than would ever get back, so you're 'safe' from that perspective but you'll likely significantly upset your buyer

I didn't paint around picture frames, Just a bed and a wardrobe.

Ah it’s fine, I’m sure they’ll want to repaint it all anyway. Green or pink, it’s not a neutral colour so I wouldn’t worry about changing it as I’m sure they will change it themselves and it’s so much easier to do before you unpack all your stuff. You won’t have time in between moving your stuff out and them moving their stuff in, so don’t worry about it. If you feel really bad you could maybe leave behind a tin of white paint and a roller/tray?!

I know technically you’re supposed to fix any holes you leave by taking things down etc too, but tbh I’d rather do that myself as I know I’ll do a decent job, whereas someone else doing some shit filling and half-arsed sanding, before painting over it in a colour I don’t like, is just causing themselves more work and not really saving me any time as I’d just redo it!

When we sold our last house we had a damaged carpet. We mentioned it in the Fixtures and Fittings form we had to fill in for the buyers. I'd mention the window problem as well, just so your buyers are fully aware of the problem. I wouldn't bother with painting though.

Oh god, this reminds me of moving in to our house. All stuff that had looked fine when viewing, but once it was empty - terrible decorating, walls and floors where furniture had been decorated around so rooms had to be almost immediately redecorated when we had thought they could be left for a while, carpets that were absolutely trashed under strategically placed rugs and furniture, so had to be ripped up on moving-in day leaving ugly bare floors and an unexpected bill... sigh.

Realistically, you're not actually going to fix everything between now and moving out, are you - but of course it's going to be an unpleasant disappointment and a lot of unexpected work and money for your buyers.

I'd be most annoyed about the window that can't be opened. They'll potentially have to replace the whole window. This should have been mentioned at viewings.

Even if rooms have been painted properly, unless it's very recently there will be faded or dirty sections once furniture is removed. Houses always look terrible once the furniture has gone.

I've painted round wardrobes too. I tarted up DS's pit bedroom after he moved out, to make it presentable as a guest room for when he and GF visit. There's no way I could have moved the wardrobes on my own. It doesn't seem like the worst crime to me.

This is why I only buy new builds. There’s not much you can do at this point, but they are doing to call you for this, you might need some ice packs for your burning ears.

I know you said you have tried to replace the window key - just to check have you tried the websites where you just take a photo of the window handle and they send you a key which fits for a few quid - is really easy, for example this one Window key (I haven’t tried this exact website but have had to do this… when I moved into a house where they’d lost the keys!)

As pp the carpet and keys mention in the fittings form.
I think it’s pointless redecorating because they will do it when they move in.
I will say that I was pissed off when I moved into my current house as when we viewed it looked immaculate so I thought I’d be able to move straight in an not be in a rush to change things.
Turned out they’d painted around and up to furniture rather than move it so I had to do a lot of decorating.
And the bedroom light switch didn’t work, had to stand on the bed and pull the cord on the fan on the light fitting to turn lights on/off.
And they left loads of crap in the shed that they couldn’t be arsed to take to the tip.

If they’d told me in advance it would have been fine, it’s not stuff that was going to cause me to back out of sale or justify reducing the price. I just told everyone what cheeky lazy people we’d bought the house from!

To add I understand not moving a massive wardrobe, but in the house I bought it was things like an armchair which is just bloody lazy!

The people who we bought our house from had painted around furniture. It was a bit annoying, and I do judge their laziness a bit, but it's not a massive deal. Houses always look surprisingly crap when empty (except new builds, but for them being empty of their staging furniture suddenly makes everyone realise the rooms are tiny!)

I’ve always bought old houses and never expect pristine paintwork or plaster. Generally I’m just pleased if it’s relatively clean.

My current house was very old and tired but we were amazed to move in and find it had all been recently painted (it wasn’t when we viewed) and clearly they’d had deep cleaners in. It was completely empty apart from some partly fitted bedroom furniture and all the light fittings and curtains (which the owners asked if we wanted). It was very useful as we didn’t have to deal with putting up light shades and curtains on our move in day. They’d even left a fresh roll of toilet paper in each toilet. However, several windows didn’t open, some cupboards in the kitchen needed mended, guttering needed to be unblocked to make sure the drains didn’t flood and there was a lot of small tasks to deal with in the first few days to ensure the house was safe and secure. It’s just normal for old houses where the previous owners were old and/or had lived there a long time.

We’re about to start a major refurbishment so I’m not worried about the decor style - a functional house to live in for now until the builders start is fine. Even if we weren’t doing major work we’d be redecorating and changing small things.

Leave it. I don't know a single person who purchased a property and didnt decorate or renovate even if the property was seemingly immaculate.

I can't believe people are so lazy that they don't move furniture for painting! I would be absolutely raging if I moved into a house with two tone walls that I had to sort immediately.

I'm trying to think of anything else that I've just got used to over time, but might come as a surprise to someone new!

The F&F form has already been completed.

The front door lock can be a little temperamental. I'm used to it now, so I know how it works, but there's definitely a bit of a knack to the handle. It still works fine, but if you're too heavy-handed with it, the whole barrel can come out!

A couple of the kitchen cupboard doors could do with some attention, although the kitchen is probably due for replacing anyway.

The toilet flush can sometimes stick.

Well you could always put a bed in front of it 😂

These are relatively tiny things and no big deal, when I move i expect things to be a shit tip tbh. I bought recently and in no particular order

1. The hob doesnt fully work
2. The fridge and freezer didnt actually cool anything and were run off the same extension lead (!), multiple window hinges broken,
3. massive damp stain behind a mirror
4. Very dead beech tree (viewed in winter and didnt look up close at the back tree)

I did know it was a bit of a project but I always expect hidden surprises!

My daughter moved into her first flat and found the previous owner had painted round a unit. Oh we did laugh 😂

Seriously, you can probably unscrew the window handle and buy a new handle with a key, they're fairly interchangeable. If you're concerned about the green/pink, make that a feature wall and paint that one wall in magnolia or something else neutral.

Don't worry about the carpet but the other items are cheap to fix and will save you being spoken about in terms of "Oh you'll never guess what the previous owners did 😂 ....."

I would leave the things you mentioned. There were similar issues when I moved into a new house which were a bit irritating but just felt like part and parcel of moving.

I am expecting lots of issues like this when I move into the next house too!

Hopefully not as many! ha ha

But if a bit of paint is all then I would be well chuffed.