What "surprises" did you find after moving in?

[thekaratekid]

I seem to find that most people upon moving into their new home discover something bizarre or something completely bodged (usually hidden) by the previous owner.

In our first house we found that the garage access door had obviously been broken during move day and as we opened it...it completely fell apart and was covered in still wet glue!

In the same house we also found the previous owners had lazily carpeted around large pieces of furniture...so two tone carpet in the bedrooms. Cue scrambling around trying to get new carpet fitted asap.

Current house, I assume that the vendors only ever cleaned what could be seen immediately at eye level or used useless cleaning products. The kitchen cupboards were a sticky, dusty mess of 15 years worth of grease and oil. The venetian kitchen blind was also sticky with grease. The sink drain brown with tea stains etc. I had to invest in heavy duty chemical degreaser and a drill brush and spent approx 10 hours scrubbing and breathing chemical fumes the day after moving in. Bizarrely the dirt was not particularly obvious when we viewed, I guess we didn't actually touch anything too much due to covid etc.

I appreciate the above is probably not as horrific as what some people find, but it always surprises me what people see as "normal" or feel they can get away with.

Anyone else find any horrors worth sharing?

13 baby teeth scattered liberally in a drawer in the attic.

@BettyBooper

13 baby teeth scattered liberally in a drawer in the attic.

I am happy to report that we have disposed of dh's baby teeth so will not be left for the next owner to find.

@AlCalavicci are you on this thread? You will enjoy it

Previous house. Moved in, all fine. A couple of months later had issues with the downstairs toilet not flushing properly and then one day it overflowed, sewage came back up the pipe and spilled over the toilet.
Needed to find the manhole cover outside to get to the drain to unblock it. Previous owner had paved over it! DH outside in the middle of January trying to lift paving stones, had to call previous owner to ask exactly where it was, he came round with a pack of photos from when they had had the garden done to try to identify which paving slab it was under. Apparently it only had a 'dab of cement' on it to hold it in place, everything else was properly laid. Hours later, freezing cold and dark, DH eventually found it, properly cemented and grouted in. Got drains unlocked, had patio redone.

Where to begin!
House was bought in a rush due to dire financial circumstances during the pandemic. We chose to move a loong way. As in 300 miles. We booked a long weekend to see 12 houses but most sold within days of appearing on Rightmove. We were left with 3 houses to view. We bought one because it is beautiful but tippity top of our budget. Sellers were a nightmare but it went through albeit with many tears (mine) and sleepless nights. Property was advertised as having been 'refurbished to an exceptionally high standard ' - oh my sides!
Estate agent whisked us round in 15 mins and we were instructed not to touch anything, open any doors etc. One bedroom we couldn't go in as DC working in there.
Issues so far (and I'm not including minor things as I'd be here all day):
First time using top floor shower - leakage through to landing below. Advised by plumber that shower installed really badly, awful workmanship on the grouting, sealant and tiling, massive cracks and gaps in poorly applied sealant, no waterproof backing behind tiles. Not even sure we can find exact tiles to replace so may end up needing complete refurbishment. Absolutely gutted and must have been a deliberate cover up by previous owners- we can now see on ceiling below where it's been covered up previously. Macerator toilet has a small leak.
Beautuful egg shaped bath...except it has a hole in it where a tool has clearly been dropped and damaged the plastic. I've just bunged a load of clear waterproof filler in for now.
Walk in shower- don't think plumber used a spirit level as water flows out of the shower rather than towards the wall. We have to use a pile of towels to soak up all the water to stop it flooding the bathroom. Our plumber again says shoddy workmanship and he will do his best to fix.
All the taps are mixers with those bloody new fangled rods you move about to release the plug. All broken so you can't get the plug out. We've had to replace plugs with old fashioned plugs on chains for now. Somewhat spoils the streamlined look we were expecting.
Wallpaper in spare room stuck on with sellotape in places. Must have been behind a piece of furniture when we viewed.
They dug up loads of plants out of the garden and left bare spaces (they did not say they were doing this in the legal paperwork). Even our neighbours were astonished by this and had talked amongst themselves about whether we knew...
Cupboard knobs just fall off when you open.and some were just missing..we've replaced about 16 so far.
We can't for the life of us open the 'up and over' garage door so haven't been able to use the garage.
A step in the garden was loose , I fell over it and really hurt myself. As in badly hurt myself.
We had to pay extra for every fitting, every hook, bathroom cabinet etc otherwise we'd have been left with walls full of holes.
Guttering has holes and leaks and makes loud dripping sounds every time it rains. We kind of knew about this from the survey so not a complete surprise. But still annoying.
We love the house, we really do. It has some really beautiful original features..just not those done by the 'refurbishers'.
They've moved on to another refurb project now so just be wary if you're buying a property in the West...I daren't say more for fear of being outed!
There are days when I really want to cry but then I remember the shit that's going down in the world and I'm immensely grateful to have a home at all.
But still...the house will be up to an exceptionally high standard once we've done all the repairs but it absolutely is not what we paid for or what we thought we were getting.

@HarrietsweetHarriet

Where to begin! House was bought in a rush due to dire financial circumstances during the pandemic. We chose to move a loong way. As in 300 miles. We booked a long weekend to see 12 houses but most sold within days of appearing on Rightmove. We were left with 3 houses to view. We bought one because it is beautiful but tippity top of our budget. Sellers were a nightmare but it went through albeit with many tears (mine) and sleepless nights. Property was advertised as having been 'refurbished to an exceptionally high standard ' - oh my sides! Estate agent whisked us round in 15 mins and we were instructed not to touch anything, open any doors etc. One bedroom we couldn't go in as DC working in there. Issues so far (and I'm not including minor things as I'd be here all day): First time using top floor shower - leakage through to landing below. Advised by plumber that shower installed really badly, awful workmanship on the grouting, sealant and tiling, massive cracks and gaps in poorly applied sealant, no waterproof backing behind tiles. Not even sure we can find exact tiles to replace so may end up needing complete refurbishment. Absolutely gutted and must have been a deliberate cover up by previous owners- we can now see on ceiling below where it's been covered up previously. Macerator toilet has a small leak. Beautuful egg shaped bath...except it has a hole in it where a tool has clearly been dropped and damaged the plastic. I've just bunged a load of clear waterproof filler in for now. Walk in shower- don't think plumber used a spirit level as water flows out of the shower rather than towards the wall. We have to use a pile of towels to soak up all the water to stop it flooding the bathroom. Our plumber again says shoddy workmanship and he will do his best to fix. All the taps are mixers with those bloody new fangled rods you move about to release the plug. All broken so you can't get the plug out. We've had to replace plugs with old fashioned plugs on chains for now. Somewhat spoils the streamlined look we were expecting. Wallpaper in spare room stuck on with sellotape in places. Must have been behind a piece of furniture when we viewed. They dug up loads of plants out of the garden and left bare spaces (they did not say they were doing this in the legal paperwork). Even our neighbours were astonished by this and had talked amongst themselves about whether we knew... Cupboard knobs just fall off when you open.and some were just missing..we've replaced about 16 so far. We can't for the life of us open the 'up and over' garage door so haven't been able to use the garage. A step in the garden was loose , I fell over it and really hurt myself. As in badly hurt myself. We had to pay extra for every fitting, every hook, bathroom cabinet etc otherwise we'd have been left with walls full of holes. Guttering has holes and leaks and makes loud dripping sounds every time it rains. We kind of knew about this from the survey so not a complete surprise. But still annoying. We love the house, we really do. It has some really beautiful original features..just not those done by the 'refurbishers'. They've moved on to another refurb project now so just be wary if you're buying a property in the West...I daren't say more for fear of being outed! There are days when I really want to cry but then I remember the shit that's going down in the world and I'm immensely grateful to have a home at all. But still...the house will be up to an exceptionally high standard once we've done all the repairs but it absolutely is not what we paid for or what we thought we were getting.

Bloody hell, poor you On the bright side , it will be absolutely stunning when finished

I don’t know how people sleep at night
I have just sold my house and I left it in tip top condition . I got people to clean the roof, clean the ovens, fix any loose knobs , sort out the garden, fill in any holes. Furthermore, I paid to get the whole house cleaned.
In total I paid about 1.5 k .

Lampzade - I'm sure you're buyers will have been super grateful for your thoughtfulness. I do believe in karma....
One positive is that they did leave the house clean except for the carpets which I need to sort but it's tricky once the rooms are full of furniture. I might have to sort of acqua vac around them!