Been in our new house for 6 weeks now (moved in on 2nd December)
I had an accident (fell down the stairs!) 3 days after we moved in and so spent 2 weeks immobile (couldnt realy walk or drive - very frustrating!)
There have been a few issues;
The boiler didnt work properly (its not old either!) - very little hot water. (have to bath the dc at PILs and we have to have showers)
The kitchen hob didnt work properly - have had to replace it (£200).
Then the conservatory roof started leaking....a company came round 3 times before it seemed fixed (£300).
Not a great run up to xmas really 
Anyway, new year and all that, right?
Except
The boiler guy is coming out tomorrow to clean and try and sort boiler (£600)
The conservatory roof is leaking again so needs looking at again.
We have no savings left. These bills will have to go on the mastercard. Its mine and dhs 40th b day this year - were planning something special. Not going to happen now.
Just keep thinking - if we had stayed in our (too small) rental house we would have £20k in the bank, the LL would sort any issues and we would be able to go on a nice holiday and have no CC debt.
I know IABU and silly...this is a nice house BUT the shine has really been taken off it for me and all I can see are the problems and things that need doing.
I actually thought about asking dh if we could do a bit of decorating and put it back on the market in the spring!!! I didnt...he would go loopy
Come on...give me a kick and tell me I am being silly!
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House buying regrets...is this normal??? :(
Becaroooo · 16/01/2012 10:45
frigg Some of these posts have really shocked me too and I actually feel a bit of a wuss now for complaining about just a broken boiler and leaky roof!! 
But you know what? My dad has hung my lovely new mirror in the front room, am on third coat of paint in the conservatory and we paper the front room next week (just one wall, thank god!) and I am already feeling more positive
Moving is v v stressful, I wont lie and my journey to moving into my new house is perhaps not the best example! Fact is the vast majority of the time it goes to plan and there are no issues.
Good luck x
You might not have the ability to call the ll but you will have your OWN house. Just because it doesn't immediately feel like home it doesn't mean it won't ever. Sometimes it costs a bit of money and sometimes its a case of just moving the furniture around
we are 90% there with the layout, but it has taken 2 years to get this far and that is only downstairs!!! We sort of chucked it all in, then had another baby and it never really got put anywhere . But it is worth it, it just sometimes feels like its a bit of a hassle, and of course everything always happens at the same time [tis sods law you know]
Its great owning a home, really it is, but sometimes you long for the simplicity of the life before, not for long though. See even the op is starting to come around 
edless I am incliined to agree with you! Dh and I have had multiple fallings out over this issue.
The boiler wasnt providing much hot water either downstairs or upstairs but we did have heating - hence getting plumber in to try and do something with it. It was covered under the BG scheme under the previous owners (we rang them and they didnt want to know as last time they inspected it it was ok)
Plumber tried to fix the issue but just made it worse...tried 2 new (and v expensive) parts (gas block and something else) and then it stopped working altogether!!! So we didnt have much choice re; a new one 
he did knock off £250 (apparently) and is going to try and sell on the new parts for the old boiler to other customers.....He came out 5 times in all inc fitting new boiler.
Am not happy. We wont use him again. Ditto upvc people...although now they have actually put new finials and a cornice on the roof that is guaranteed!!!
Dh just cant understand why I am so unhappy with how things have turned out...maybe because he isnt here all day dealing with the fallout??? I dont know. Conservatory now painted and looks much better....eventually I want french doors rather than a patio door into it (but we are talking years away!!) Also want a new kitchen (might be forced if too many appliances give up the ghost!)
sorry becaroo -and all the other peeps who've been posting on here for a while...after months away from mn I've just found myself sat here sobbing like a twat in a dreadful fit of self pity in my longed for new house, which took us ages to get hold of
I was going to start own thread till your title attracted me (!) and I realised I haven't got the time or the will to sustain one/answer anyone, so am just going to do the most terrific-est MOOOOOOOAN and then fuck off and pick the kids up from school and not come back to the thread again. Can't offload it on any family or friends and certainly not dp- his mum died just after new year and we're a bit sort of raw-ish
the house is ideal- well nearly except we need to do a roof xtn (we knew about this when we moved, o course and I've got an endowment maturing next year to pay for it)...the house is in a lovely street in a lovely, suburban part of town; it was cheaper than our old house (which was in a much more urban-y, lairy street) and is near TWO fabulous parks. It's lovely- or it will be
will be is the thing, though. The lady who loved here before us lived in the house since it was built in the thirties; she moved out to go into a care home but she stayed as long as she could because she loved it here. It's very much a post war house, iykwim- There are layers and layers of ancient carpets and wallpaper everywhere, which of course can all be steamed off/ripped up- we already had to 'make' a sort of kitchen because all that was there was a small cooker space and a sink.
I KNEW all this before we moved. I couldn't wait to get stuck in, and started really well, but at Christmas everyone was ill, then Granny died and I've just sort of ground to a standstill. Everywhere I look there's something I absolutely HAVE TO DO- a pile of random boxes, a strip of loose carpet on top of a strip of loose lino, a downpipe held on with masking tape (really!) and today it's just sucking the life out of me. AND there are mice. AND when I got back from school today one of the dogs had shat in the middle of the living room floor
it's not like we can't afford to do stuff- dp now has an inheritance from his mum (course we'd rather have his mum than the inheritance, but there it is) The kids were home educated before but have gone to school by choice and love it, they really do. I have literally NOTHING to worry/complain about
...which is why I am sitting here covered in snot and tears
thanks, mn
that's better
sorry- have to add that I've got tmj disorder atm which is a jaw disfunction- tis so painful that can only kip for an hour at a time and can't eat either- apart from hot chocolate and squirty cream
this may be affecting my mood somewhat
now, off I fuck
Oh shj I am so very sorry for your loss
I imagine your painful condition is also affecting how you feel about the house.....I broke 2 toes on 1 foot and 1 toe on the other 3 days after we moved in and was in agony...its really hard limping with both legs!!! I was sat there (counldnt really walk and definately couldnt drive) surrounded by boxes/junk/stuff that needed doing...it was awful. You poor, poor thing
Your new house sounds like our old one! It was built in the 1950s rather than 1930s but we had to gut it, basically. And the previous vendors...well...lets just say they were a stranger to the bleach!!!
Did you leave a house that was "done" IYSWIM? We did (only our bedroom left to do) and I think that has affected how I feel wrt this house too tbh...I have gone from a house that was "done" and all I can see now is a list of "stuff" that needs doing (some urgent, some not) and its depressing tbh.
Add to that its January and I am NEVER at my best in January!
I think from your post there have been so many changes - some good (your dc loving school) some bad (your bereavement) and your health....it will take time to process it all.
Is there nothing you can do for your pain???
(Btw, ds1 was HE for most of 2010 and is now back at school too!! Glad its going so well for them)
x
shj - try this better than heinz tom soup and a little more nutritious than hot chocolate and squirty cream
Right. Its the horrible weather and the recent grief that are making you feel this way!
I suggest forking out for a professional mouse killer - when we lived in London we used the boys from the rat pack, it cost about £80 and we never saw another mouse. Worth every bloody penny due to the fact that before this we saw a mouse at least 3 times a day AND dh had to dispose of half dead mouse that had limped to the kitchen with a trap attached to it .
Get someone in to help you do 1 room, just one, whether that is your bedroom and a new carpet (omg it feels so much better to have new carpet) and a new loo seat for the bathroom just to start off with and a fresh lick of paint in your bedroom. Let the dc decorate with loads of posters if they want (though they probably couldn't give a stuff!) and contemplate the kitchen. Go to Howdens or somewhere that will help you plan it. You will feel like you are getting somewhere even if you don't do anything about it!
Easy, small and some quite cheap ways (although not cheap iyswim!) of making the house feel more you.
It also gives you some time to work out what you want to do rather than rushing in to do shed loads of stuff that you regret in 2 years time! Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.
Agree with the prof
We have only spent £14 on paint for the conservatory and it looks sooo much better already.
Front room has cost £150 but that covers wallpaper for feature wall, 4 x sofa cusions, small rug and ornaments/photo frames.
Am already planning my new kitchen (even though its years away!) It cheers me up!
Would any of the carpets be ok if they were professionally cleaned? The carpets here didnt look great when we moved in tbh but we got a guy in to steam clean them and they came up like new!!!! Cost £90 for a whole house!!!!!! 
I wanted to get the steam cleaner around, but when I hoovered our bedroom floor I discoverd that a moth had had 3 years of good chewing with no hoovering (house wasn't inhabited when we moved in) and it made me weep watching a billion fibres come out at once and leave bald patches, huge ones. Hence the new carpet
oooooh, have just checked in- Becaroo and Figgy thanks so much for your helpful and positive solutions to what was a very protracted whiiiiiine
you are both right, of course- it's a combination of MIL, pain and shite weather that made me feel so awful
now my jaw is slightly better and the sun is out...my mum's looking after the kids for a couple of days over the hol which gives me an opportunity to rip up three (count 'em- three) layers of gopping carpet from their bedroom. I literally CANNOT WAIT!
all the carpets, I'm afraid, are beyond help...when we looked round I thought they were charming- but living with them is something else - afaik, though, under the layers of carpet and old vinyl the floorboards are pretty sound so will be able to do something with those while we decide whether to get nicer carpets long term
Also dp has suggested putting a load of our unpacked boxes of crap into storage which'll give me a free run with decorating- at the moment we are evolving v strange habit of walking sideways in every room due to obstacles everywhere
thanks again. And sorry for hijack, B (and yes, I do remember you from the HE boards- iirc you started about the same time as me. Don't think I posted much at the time, but did lurk...hope ds is enjoying school and that it's been the right thing for you, too!)
will check back into this thread to see how everyone's getting on when I'm a bit less busy/self absorbed 
Hi shj Well, you do sound more positive!!
Ds1 is enjoying school thanks...he has been dx as severely dyslexic (no surprise to me) so we are working to help him atm.
Re: floors...is sanding the varnishing them an option?? We did that to a couple of floors in our old house (also disgusting carpets - think covered in urine...) and they looked good with a nice rug on. Its a dirty/gritty job but lots cheaper than new carpets!!
We used a storage facility between moving and it was great...meant I could get all the carpets cleaned here with no furniture here, also hang curtains and do a thourough clean. Would recommend it...cost us about £150 for 2 months for a medium size unit.
SHJ, if it helps we also did a bit of floorboard sanding and tbh the floorboards weren't even that nice (certainly not the old fashioned ones you dream of having!) however -sorry this is the last house - we hired a sander from hss I think for a weekend and then got some varnish. Came up very nicely thank you and actually quite cheap (bearing in mind carpet can be vvv pricey!) but you won't want yourself of the dc in the house whilst doing it as I seem to remember lots of dust and lost of smell! Good luck, sometimes you just need another perspective on things and someone else to point out that sometimes circumstances make otherthings seem worse than they are.
Its a bit like clearing out your cupboard or starting the cleaning, if you have a few hints it can really help you get motivated
thanks again, both!
floorboards are functional, as far as I can tell- ie no beauties. The good thing about them is that they're tongue and groove, so not as draughty as lovely old Victorian ones
I am a bit worried about getting all the vinyl stuff up- and hoping against hope that they weren't glued down. I got into a flap about asbestos in floor coverings (I think down to a thread on here) and got them all (7!!) tested- the only ones that contained asbestos were the ones we had already ripped up in the kitchen, which were slopping around under 5 (5!!) layers of carpet. Gah.
HSS is conveniently just down the road
honestly- I really, really do have fuck all to complain about- just a bit of Hard Work. I'm a sahm with all the kids in school, so this is now My Job for the duration. Thanks for your tolerance
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thanks Becaroo
and good luck with yours too!
just think-in six months' time it'll all look better...
Your home is your fortress, and it will be your fortress at some point. Its just a case of sitting down and focusing on the small things that you can do immediately for very little money (its the money factor as you have just spent so much on a home and usually it isn't quite right but you don't have the cash available alot of the time!) that will make it feel more yours. Elbow grease and your own love and attention makes a big difference, putting up pictures and filling in holes in the wall, a lick of paint or a new rug or curtain rails makes a huge difference or even some new cushions all of which can be bought cheaply (in some places!). And you are right, 6 months down the line makes a big difference . I think part of me hating my home was from benig in a busy town then going to the middle of nowhere where we didn't know what to do with a toddler, an unexpected (not unwanted though) pregancy and very few friends. But 2 years down the line, am going out with new friends tonight, and tomorrow 
, house is looking much better and am now used to not being able to get a delivery pizza so buy the nicest looking expensive ones for a treat and stick them in the freezer. It was the best thing bought (the hugeeeeee freezer) as now when isolated we have little treats hiding in there
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