Is a house ever done ?

[Heswall]

We have now completely stripped back every room in this house, replastered, decorated etc. I've spent a grand this weekend on plastering, paint and new doors and still there is so much to do.
Many rooms need to be done again, the first one we decorated.
Does it ever end ?

Probably not. Unless you do the whole house in one go and then move out!

In a word, No

We enjoyed a brief spell of about 3 years after totally renovating where everything was 'done'. Now the appliances are all starting to fail, the paintwork is looking tired and things that were bodged are coming back to bite us. Sigh.

No.

When DH was with his exp they re-furbished their house, when it was done she wanted to extend. He said no. She left.

You have to allow for wear and tear though, MIL has plastic skirting boards for ease of maintanance. Which I'm not sure I like the thought of but they never need painting but at the end of the day there plastic.

Nope, houses are like the Forth bridge. Just as you finish you have to start again

Plastic skirting! I never knew such a thing even existed! I don't think I'd have it, mind.

I don't think a house IS ever done, because unless you're minted, by the time you've managed to budget and get round all of it, it's time to start at the beginning again.

HOw do people manage to keep the same wall paper for 20 years then ?
When we moved in the carpets had been fitted one on top of the other, there was 7 layers of wallpaper, I swear the room sizes increased by a couple of inches.
Do they just stop caring ?

My list is 5 more doors fitted - £1,000
DD's room plastering and painting £500
DD's room decorating - £250
New bedroom carpets £1,000

All before I even think about the extension we could do with that would cost £30,000k
And bedrooms in the loft, another £40,000 but I am waiting to see if they all move away to uni before I can save it up. (hopefully that'll be the case and I can blow it on a world cruise instead).

Sometimes I think it would be easier to move but the day we completed the boiler would go, better the devil you know I guess.

Oh and the garden forgot about that, another £2,000
Bugger

"Do they just stop caring?"

Partly, but I think it's more about lacking the motivation to get on with it and then just getting used to things getting scruffier and scruffier. My Dad's place is turning into a pit around him, despite him having plenty of time and money (and he knows it). Inertia is his problem.

I think once that little list is complete I am do nothing more than minimal maintenance, I'm over it for now

Depends what you mean by 'done'.

DH would say our house is done - ie all rooms are nicely decorated & finished how I we wanted.

I would say that some of the rooms were decorated a few years ago now - so they are due for a makeover

"Nothing is too much trouble for the woman who doesn't have to do it herself"

My PILs have the same paper on the walls that was there when they moved in - in 1969. They have just kept repainting it. Not ideal really as there are damp patches in some areas.

They had the same carpet down that was there when they moved in til about 10 years ago! (PIL kept saying..."its an axminster!" Like that made up for the fact that it was 1960s brown and orange concentric cirlces and very worn in places )

They also have the same furniture (teak) they had when they married.

Some people dont care/that stuff isnt important to them.

That being said, all my furniture is either Ikea or really sturdy handmade stuff as I have 2 young dc so dont see the point in spending loads on "nice" stuff that will get ruined.

It is never "done" IMO. Sometimes, if you are lucky, its "almost done"

Hah! Noooo, of course they never are!

You've given yourself away by saying the first room needs re-doing. You're still seeing it all as 'new' and noticing flaws. It's the habit you get into while working on the place, isn't it? You notice a missed bit of paint; a mitre that's half a degree off; sticky-out nails, because you want it right 'for good'.

Only, obviously, houses are for living in and your work starts ageing the second it's done. Think about a home from your childhood, or even a nice pub you visit often. Imperfection all over the place. It's the patina of life [busmile]

Don't re-do the first room. Sit on your hands. If you must fiddle with it, change the pictures or rearrange the furniture. Wait for it to start feeling like "your place" instead of "a job". It will!

hall, stairs and landing still to do here and then THATS IT!!! Unless walls actually start falling down (which knowing our luck could actually happen )

as you get older and more tired, and you've done all the jobs a few times, the novelty will begin to pall.

My house was finished and lovely. Now, a few years on, things are breaking/wearing out/going mouldy, and I have stopped caring .

Plus I don't have the time or energy to bother (and it's me that pushes to get these jobs done, not DH, though he might help out). And we've always done as much as we could ourselves, pretty professionally if I say so myself, and I don't like the thought of getting decorators in and risk having them bodge it.

I found a receipt for £1300 for the hallway being done last year and it's not perfect, I won't be getting professionals in again in a hurry.

No, not ever.

"Nothing is too much trouble for the woman who doesn't have to do it herself"

Pah!

I have spent the day (not the entire day I hasten to add) customising a kitchen cupboard and hanging it in my Futility Room. I have also painted the aforementioned Futility Room after finishing putting up the tongue and groove panelling and painted and put up two shelves with several more to do. Once that is done I get to move onto the kitchen (joy of joys!). I need to do something in pretty much even room of the house I think. [sigh]

When it's all done I shall sell it.

Its pretty depressing when I sit and think about it

Done a lot - bearing in mind that we only moved in Dec! - but its stuff we had to do...the boiler broke, conservatory roof was leaking, hob, f/f and oven didnt work properly, sink was cracked...you get the idea!

I would quite happily never touch the bloody place again BUT the back windows and door are the originals and need replacing.

Hall, stairs and landing are AWFUL...1980's anaglypta stained wallpaper and worn carpet...shudder.

All I would say is that it doesnt have to cost the earth...a revamp of our (large) front room cost less than £100...wallpaper on one wall, new rug, sofa cushions, table lamp, ornaments etc

Also, I have got - in effect - a brand new kitchen for less than £1k!

Bedrooms already done. Bathroom already done.

Paint for conservatory = £14.

Just trying to convince dh that we should sand and varnish the floorboards of hall, stairs and landing....he is not convinced!

After 6 years our house is at the stage where almost all the boring stuff like heating and electrics and plastering is done and its just decoration to go. I live in hope that after a few more years we may need to repaint but it'll be nothing like making up for 30+ years of bodge jobs and neglect.

Heswall, can I just ask you to clarify the cost if having 5 doors fitted?
Does that include buying the doors too?

I don't think it is worth spending a lot of money on consumable decorations - wallpaper, fitted carpets, curtains etc - that quickly get tired. Get your rooms really well plastered, papered and painted with a proper, washable paint (not emulsion) and they last for years without getting shabby. Rugs that you can send to the dry cleaners are cheaper than fitted carpets, can be moved from room to room or house to house and are much, much easier to maintain.

Rugs I looked at cost more than the carpets. I only bought cheap carpet the first time around because that was all we could afford and as I tightly pressured the children have ruined it. The trouble with this house is there are no nice floor boards to sand or anything at all you could just work with it all needed replacing. Never again will I buy something that just needs updating behind that wood chip tends to be years of neglect.