What's the broken thing in your house that everyone just puts up with?

[Yebbie]

I'll start. We have a three legged Henry Hoover, and any time anyone hoovers you hear lots of banging and "fuck offs" as it falls over every 3 seconds. It's been like it for five years and rather than replacing it we all have just grown to accept our disabled Henry.

What's that broken thing in your house that everyone just accepts and lives with, despite how annoying it may be? I feel every family must have one

Ice cream maker, used as a door stop

God this thread has made me feel good , always something in our house - dodgy toilet seat , missing drain pipe , both toilets have a crap flush on them ( plumber couldn't find anything wrong 😫) , tumble, drier door has to be balanced on .

Me!!!

@MargaretThursday

Lots! We do have someone hopefully coming to fix the leaky window. It's been leaking about 3 years and has had a couple of repairs, but we've now decided it needs a new one in.

Our boiler has an intermittent fault where it doesn't turn off. So the house heats up to sauna temperatures unless we manually switch the boiler off. After we've done that it works normally for between a couple of days and a few weeks. It's done this since we moved in 12 years ago, but I do think it's getting worse.
The problem is that we did have someone come to look at it. Apparently it can be one of several parts but they can't tell unless it's actually wrong at the time. We've never managed to get an engineer here when it's wrong.

Sounds like the diverter valve. That's another thing we have issues with. Only started causing problems with the heating, this year. First when the thermostatic controller that dh repaired when we moved in (needed a new capacitor - said he was handy!) finally completely died and running the taps turned the heating on on a very hot evening, with nothing to override it. And then, since the start of winter, it's not sending hot water to the radiators, until you fiddle with the taps a bit. The boiler is about 16 years old so due for replacement (while we can) anyway.

Oh, and a couple of misted up windowpanes and a coupe that, if you open them, it takes brute force to shut them again.

I love this thread. I live under this illusion that everyone else's house is in perfect working order and it's just mine that's janky, so I'm quite happy (sorry) that so many people have the same problems 😂

There’s a corner of wall in our bay window that continually has rusty marks no matter how often or what I paint it over with.
A corner of skirting board behind the veg rack that never been painted - the kitchen is 13 years old!
A double light switch in the hall, right beside the front door that we have never figured out what it controls - and neither have multiple electricians!
One of the hinges is hanging loose on my wardrobe door - the other 2 do a great job so I’ve just left it as I don’t understand all the screws on hinges

A potato masher that is supposed to fold flat and then swivel and lock into place when you use it. Except the swivel/lock thing is broken and it flops around helplessly. I use it about once a fortnight, curse it's crapness and then wash it and put it away for next time. Never occurs to me outside of those moments to buy another!

Dishwasher outlet pipe 4 years and counting.had recently moved from a place without one but occasionally remember it's there and resent 5he cupboard space it's stealing

FWIW, our henry has all his wheels and still falls over every time I try to coax him to move. I swear at him every time I try to vacuum.

All the numbers have rubbed off on the temperature knob on our oven so we only ever use it at one temperature - it’s been like it for years

The pull cord for the light in the downstairs loo - we have to pull it about a million times to get it to click on

The towel rail in the main bathroom falls down when you try to hang anything on it. You have to hold one end while hanging stuff on it. It needs screwing back on properly but we’ve never got round to it and just persevere with the awkward towel hanging technique instead

All the upstairs main light switches are upside down. No idea why. They were like it when we moved on. We’re all used to it but it confuses visitors

My bedroom door has to be 'shoved' open, it needs a good trim😂

Not somthing my family lives with but the previous tennants must have... when we viewed the flat we live in (rented) we were told that the previous tennants lived there for 11 years bringing up their child in the flat.... appon moving in we noticed the toilet is not screwed to the floor and moved every time we sat on it with a few times almost falling off, the estate agents had a right giggle when i rang to tell them that the toilet is not screwed down and the last tennants must have good ballancing skills to not fall off

The dimmer switch in the study, it doesn’t turn on so you have to punch it hundreds of times then when you see the light you have to quickly twiddle

Oh yes the letterbox is too small and tight so only thin letters can get through free newspapers and anything thicker is chucked outside by the front door postie loves us!

The kitchen extractor fan. It worked wonderfully until about a year ago and I don't know if there's just a fan belt or something that's gone in it but it makes the loudest roaring grinding noise when it's turned on now. If someone tries to talk to you in the kitchen they have to shout at the top of their voice to be heard. It's probably an easy fix too but if I can get away without using it I do.

We also always seem to have a stopped clock somewhere. I finally replaced the battery in the kitchen clock in November only for the living room clock to stop a couple of weeks after. It hasn't stopped me checking the time on it constantly and it's a quarter to 11 every time.

fire hearth
It should have marble or something over the stone base. DH and I could never agree on which one, and I quite liked the stone anyway, so we never bought one! People occasionally comment, but everyone has got used to it like it is.

None sleeping toddler

Kitchen corner cupboard and work top.. slow leak under there for who knows how long. Ripped out by I husband to find leak. Fixed leak and walked away. I have improvised my lack of work top by balancing a piece of marine ply on top of ancient dishwasher and use this to prep food. Had to block off the exposed corner with more ply as cats decided it was a good pooing place, no idea when this will be remedied, husband not well.,,

Oh yes blender with long lost lid so when you blend you have to put a plate or bowl on top and hold it on otherwise it won't work but it's about 20 years old and working fine otherwise, broken path that is a tripping hazard with missing slabs been like it for 25 years.. Shower randomly turns freezing if something gets near the sensor when you're having a shower, oven isn't quite right, handle falls off the masher, I am sure there is more

This thread has really cheered me up. I've been depressed about my shit house and now I feel better.

The lock on our downstairs loo is very stiff and often completely refuses to move so you get stuck in there. We oil it and it gets better for a bit but generally reverts to being stiff.

We all know not to lock the door at all just in case. However, if we have visitors they automatically lock it and it’s hit and miss whether they will be locked in and have to frantically call for help. After a while it usually budges and the guest escapes unharmed.

It happened to my dsis yesterday and we all panicked as she was trapped for a while and then managed to release herself. We chatted about it afterwards and she suggested: “Can’t you just fit a new lock?”

Me and DP were like… “Oh yes, I suppose we could. Never thought of that.”

Bathroom door only shuts with a good slam or wedge, back bedroom door can not be fully closed unless you want to live in there forever like Alan of Jumanji, it has to be literally volleyed to open it.
No cold water out of bath tap, bathroom sink taps are backwards, front door sticks no one can get in or out only me & DH because we know how to use it (kind of don't mind burglars couldn't get in that's for sure) back bedroom window doesn't open, handle lifts up, not locked wobbles abit but just doesn't open so very strange.

Oh, also, the washing machine - I washed a couple of DD’s pony’s saddle pads in it, clogged it all up with hair and now it won’t drain properly - I couldn’t find the little bag thing so bunged them in anyway. I empty it out by the little filter hole at the bottom every time I use it. I even have a specially purchased tray that fits under it nicely. I will get it fixed one day - DH was not happy that I’d washed horse stuff in the washing machine so I can’t admit that it’s pissing me off because I’ll get a load of “I told you so”. We’re in a stand off and I’m in too deep with “it’s fine, I just empty it here”

@RomComPhooey I recently discovered that broken microwave doors are very easy to fix. spare part is circa £5 Microwave door repair

We’re renting so new fittings aren’t an option... but of all the dodgy bits, one kitchen cupboard has a hinge that just pops out unless you ‘hold the door up’ as you slowly open it (and keep supporting until closed). We’ve tried reattaching the hinge but it’s so far gone and such cheap material that it won’t stay. Whenever we have guests I completely forget until I hear it crash off and they’re frantically apologising for ‘breaking’ our cupboard.

I feel so reassured that other adults haven't got their s**t together either, I thought it was just me!
Main one is carpet in lounge and hall, pure wool and in great condition when we moved in 15 years ago. We could put up with the hideous design. But now we have hideous design and threadbare patches, real classy look. My solution? Lurid rugs!