How do you prioritise all the house jobs?!

[Littlemiss74]

Posted in property also.Every day it feels like I see something else that needs doing in the house or garden & it’s overwhelming me knowing what to do first. I’ll look at one thing & think that needs doing but then there’ll be a load of other things linked to it. Our front door needs replacing so I was looking at the outside of the house & noticed the state of the gutters & moss is falling from the roof so that all needs looking at. Several rooms urgently need decorating, the utility room lino floor is ripped & tatty, the garage doors to the garden have rusty bolt and hinges making it hard for me to open, some windows need replacing & the stairs/landing carpet has seen better days! I could go on.. and I also want to do the garden as we’ve had new patio but have no plants or furniture. Obviously some things are more important than others but money is also a factor as we don’t have funds for big things like windows. Can anyone relate or tell me how you go about it? I just don’t know where to begin & also fitting it in around work/family.

No advice I'm afraid but I feel your pain.

We've been doing things a bit haphazardly in the order we've discovered issues rather than what would have been the ideal order.

First thing we did within a week of moving in was replacing all the downstairs carpet with laminate. We had planned to do it fairly quickly but the discovery of fresh dog pee in the hall triggered a somewhat frenzied ripping up of carpets and the resulting concrete floors weren't a good look.

We've since had to prioritise fixing the flat roof as water was visibly leaking down the utility walls, had 2 different issues with the boiler, had some light fittings changed as they were truly hideous and hung head bangingly low and just had the downstairs loo completely redone as there had been a leak before we moved in so it had falling tiles, bare plaster and the sink was hanging off.

At some point we need to replace the garage door as it doesn't lock and barely closes, replace front door and side window as the whole things sways and you can see daylight between the floor and window/wall. We also need to replace the French windows as they don't actually fit the gap and do the wind blows through, currently taped shut and looking rather snazzy.

All of those cost a lot though, a couple of thousand each so we'll just live with them until after the summer and then pick whatever seems most urgent.

Plus we need to decorate as it's all a bit shabby and there are so many dodgy looking spot lights I think getting them checked might have to be next on the list.

I'd like to do something with the garden but might just settle for cutting back some big bushes and then seeing what else is in there.

I guess it's best to try and prioritise but sometimes you have to do the thing that have the most impact on your enjoyment of the house!

Start with the things that affect the integrity of the house
door,guttering etc. things that could damage your property if not fixed.
next look at things that are functional but need upgrades
lastly look at decoration/ pretty things etc

you can print of planners from online that let you plan out things listing your priorities and budgets etc

First priority- fix things that impact structure, or cause physical issues with house.
Then - quality of life issues. So things that make the house nice to live in, rather than prettifying. Loft insulation, a working shower, that kind of thing.

Then I’d prioritise planting the garden, simply because it’ll take a while for plants to establish, small plants are cheaper, and you can grow from seed or cuttings.

I find it more manageable to list jobs we need to pay someone to do (replacing slipped roofing skates etc), and things we can diy (cleaning out gutters, etc).