“I’ve just moved house and I’m struggling”…….Anyone else?

[SoosanCarter]

I thought I’d start a thread for those of us who have just moved and are overwhelmed by what needs to be done. I know I’m expecting too much but I can’t help it.

last week I moved house to a different part of the country.
The house isn’t a fixer-up, more of a doer-up.

The kitchen is a homage to the eighties, the en-suite is very tired (with carpet!) and connects to not the nicest bedroom. So I need to move the access.
Admittedly the house is very clean, but the previous owner obviously didn’t understand what vacant possession is. She left her toilet brushes! Crap in the garage and in the loft. It needs a skip. She was very elderly and probably thought she was helping.

I know I’m trying to run before I can walk, but I’m someone who wants things done yesterday. I’ve organised appointments with kitchen and bathroom fitters and a carpet place.

I wake up in the mornings and long for organisation and sanity. I don’t regret the move but I’m just feeling so overwhelmed. I can’t find places to put stuff.
I leave messages with handymen but they don’t reply.

I’m due my bus pass in a few months; last time I moved was 27 years ago into a new build and it was just fun.

Would anyone like to join me?

Rent a small skip for a weekend and just chuck the crap in it. You'll feel so much better when it's gone.

Give the living room a coat of paint (just do it yourself) and then get a new carpet fitted.

Visit a kitchen shop and get a quotation for a refit.

It wasn't to do with the guttering, it was something to do with underneath the house being too high up so damp was getting in or something like that. Sorry for that rubbish explanation, I didn't entirely understand it 😂

Hey all we haven't moved quite yet but I'm already panicking a little about all the work that needs doing! Basically our sale was v. uncertain for a long while so I didn't really feel I could start writing lists etc. Now however I want to do it all NOW and I'm aware that's not going to happen! I have been looking at some 'temporary' diy to make the house more ours while we save up for the rest... eg painting kitchen cabinets, getting wall tile stickers, getting a lot of rugs/cushions etc... what worries me a bit is being able to get good contractors that I can trust without them being super expensive or unavailable until the NY.

My daughter bought recently from a landlord too. Everything is tired, lots of things weren't working properly or weren't working at all. Yet the landlords (a married couple we met on completion day because the key didn't even work in the lock) were a very middle class "naice" couple.

It has really made me feel quite angry about landlords tbh though I appreciate there are also some good ones out there. But the poor tenant living in this flat before my daughter...she was a single woman too and had to put up with all the things that my daughter is now fixing and starting to gradually feel better about.

I feel for you all and OP I am most definitely that person that wants everything organised and done yesterday!!
when we moved into our current house which was clean and liveable but very dated we tried to do a room at a time. We started with the peach bathroom suite!! It took time to feel like home but we got there

we are moving soon fingers crossed but to a newer house. I know that I will be racing to unpack eveything and put all our belongings where they belong and that will stress me out.

rhe decor is good and so far the only project we’ve earmarked is a new boiler and kitchen. The kitchen is fine but not changed since house built in 2006 and the layout could be better but these will be done at some point next year.

I was going to say the exact same thing. Although ours isn't a fixer upper, we put our houseplants in and photos/pictures in rooms and cozy bedding / rugs etc to start off and then I am going round doing one room at a time. I have bought some home decor stuff but from places like B&M so nice but cheap so I can replace once the house is done properly. I have found its good for my mental health to do it this way as the project is now bite size pieces and you still get a sense of achievement once a room is done.

I'm similar to @alwaysanauntie in that we moved almost 2yrs ago into a house that needs far more work than we thought.

The house still looks like a bomb has hit it and people assume we've only just moved in because there's still boxes everywhere. It's embarrassing. But we have a toddler and a baby to work around plus my DP has 3 jobs so we're getting through things very slowly. When my maternity leave ends in January I dread to think how difficult it will be to get anything done to the house.

So far we have an almost finished bathroom, an almost finished downstairs toilet, an almost finished kitchen, a half finished utility room and we're halfway through the en-suite refurb. My DP seems to have an aversion to finishing anything and it's starting to grate.

I like to list things that need doing and really enjoy being able to tick them off even if they're really small things. Maybe the same would make you feel better OP?
Obviously start off with the messiest jobs first or the worst/hardest to do.

We started with the incredibly expensive heating system then moved on to replacing the kitchen as it was absolutely disgusting.

If you need a skip, get it ordered and start throwing things out asap. I love having a skip here, it feels therapeutic when it's filling up 😄. We've had 2 of the large ones and still have more stuff to go.

We had woodchip mostly on the ceilings, ended up covering it with plasterboard, didn't have the patience to strip that. 🙈

Our survey said that @megosaurusrex - but then weirdly the exact two areas where they isolated the damp I've seen massive guttering and drainage issues. So I'm going to resolve that first then see if we need anything else after

Thanks for all the tips. House plants is a good call! I bought some herbs for the kitchen window sill today and it made an immediate difference.
Apart from the painting and carpets (which we're already sorting quotes for) we really need to get a couple of new pieces of furniture and some fittings like a dining room light and that will really help to make it feel like we're making some progress. I think the hardest thing is not having one room that feels comfortable - like others said - so I guess we need to nominate one and focus on it 😂😂

I’m glad I started this thread.
I’ve reminded myself that I’ve spent just four nights here.
Onwards and upwards.

Phew I'm glad I found this thread! After 18 months of trying to buy and sell, we finally moved into our new house in September. We kind of knew it needed modernising but stupidly thought it would mostly need new flooring and a lick of paint, but it needs a lot more! Turns out the electrics were actually bordering dangerous (we did do the EICR but the person carrying it out was crap and missed a lot of stuff) and it took a month to find an available electrician to fix everything, and the electrical works took ages. Now we can properly crack on but every time we start we discover a new issue we have to sort before we can continue. It's quite disheartening.

It's a 70s house and surprisingly solidly built, but whoever did all the modifications etc along the way was a total cowboy so we're having to fix his mistakes. It feels a bit like we're fixing and paying for fixing someone else's home at the moment because it sure doesn't feel like our home yet. HOWEVER, we made a breakthrough with our lounge over the weekend and it's gone from unusable to looking like us, so that was a bit of a boost. Now just need to keep going!

I do wish we had more money! 😅

You have my sympathies OP. I completed in my new house at the end of September. Luckily nothing "needs" doing, but everything "needs" doing lol

What I find helps is to make a really long list of all the tasks that need doing, broken down into smaller lists, so you can tick off a couple of things each week, which will give you the feeling of making progress.

As it's just me and my DC in the new place, and my EX kept most of the big items from our last place, I've had to buy a few big items immediately; fridge, TV, sofas, childrens bed and guest bed to name a few.

The advice to get at least one room nice and finished is good, if you can. I'm on the way to having my the living room fully complete by Christmas; my new sofas are arriving in the first week of December, and I plan to get the room painted before then.

As they say, you can't eat an elephant in one day, however taking it bite by bite is manageable.

Also, I'm fully utilising the local Facebook group and Next Door app to find tradesmen for my house jobs that do need doing. There are so many useful recommendations from what you can see are real people, rather than the less personal ones you get from the likes of Check-a-Trade or MyBuilder etc.

I feel your pain, we moved into a nice solid 1980s house just over a year ago thinking not much needed to be done apart from the kitchen which was very dated. (And crap)
So far we've had to have the bathroom and ensuite completely renovated, had new furniture fitted in two bedrooms (existing fitted robes were rubbish, huge but with little usable space) and redecorated and recarpeted 2 bedrooms and stairs/landing.

We still have another study/bedroom to do and the kitchen which was the only thing we thought that actually needed doing. But it works well enough and I'm putting up with the 80s decor and crap appliances for now.
On the plus side the house is coming together, we're very pleased with the new bathrooms and bedrooms and we love the area and our new neighbours.

Wishing you much happiness in your new home OP, do give yourself time and enjoy making your choices.

I moved to this bungalow in March 2021 and the 'new' flat roof over the kitchen/lounge was blown off in Storm Arwen last November, the ceiling came down about four days later. Around the same time I found out all the floors were rotten. I managed to get the roof fixed in February 2022. I had to have the shower/fitted wardrobes and fitted units ripped out in August ready for the floors to be replaced. I'm still surrounded by boxes as though I've just moved in. A great local decorator is finally free, so at least I can get the place decorated now and buy new wardrobes, carpets will have to wait until I've saved up again.

I think it helps if you are realistic, or even pessimistic, about timescales. And kitchens are a big job, so maybe as Milkshakes says above, do another living space room as a refuge first. Also, I've found it's worth using a kitchen for a bit before designing a new one to work out if your plans work in the space. It' was 3 year before ours was done (bar the floor, still to come) but it was worth waiting for, and is much better laid out than it would have been if I'd gone with my pre-moving-in thoughts.

I get it OP. We moved about 18 months ago and the house needs so much more work than we realised.

It took me a good 3 months I think to feel settled and like we hadn't made a mistake. I focused first on making sure everyone had a nice bedroom so at least we all have 1 lovely room to retreat to. That meant new fitted wardrobes, paint and new carpets so even that took nearly 5 months due to the wait time on the wardrobes. I am slowly slowly ploughing on with the rest as finances allow but I think it'll be a good 5 years job by the time it's done.

I did feel more settled once I had a nice bedroom and I think the kids did too. It's easy to get distracted and overwhelmed and end up doing nothing!!

Today has been more cheerful. I’ve found a builder who worked for a friend, I’ve asked him to come and do a few handyman -type jobs such as fixing bookcases to walls which mean I can unpack a couple more boxes.
I’ve really made an effort with tidying up the kitchen. I’m going to have to live with it for a few months so may as well embrace it.

I have flattened all the packing boxes, there’s a huge pile in the garage. Will order a skip soon.
Registered with local GP and vets.

Trying really hard to NOT say “home” when I really mean “ the house where I used to live”.

This is a friendly part of the country and everyone I meet whilst walking the dog, or in shops, says hello and is pleasant.

@SoosanCarter glad to hear you feel a little more positive it’s still early days and I’m sure the new house will feel like home soon

I could have written this OP! We moved a month ago, only ever lived in new builds and this is a much older house and needs more work than we expected. Can’t really get on with anything until the electrician has been so for now feeling very impatient at all the things I want to do but can’t! Definitely feeling overwhelmed at times! Can’t offer any advice but I’m there with you!

Oh yes.

I'm 6 weeks in to a new house I thought was perfect. All it needed was decorating to my taste. WRONG.

Firstly was the dirt and grime which isn't automatically obviously when you first look. Piss stained grout and toilet seats (immediately corrected), dirty carpets, skirtings and light switches etc. All easily fixed with a good clean but I'm very aware it's a strangers dirt and piss.
There's a faint smell of cigarettes and dog that hasn't gone yet. Didn't notice they smoked when viewing. Behind the radiators, well, you don't want to know what was found frankly.

Kitchen extension roof has leaked in the heavy rain. Discovered that was down to guttering that hasn't been cleaned for years.

The worst is a mains water leak which we caused just fitting the washing machine. Pipe was so old and damaged a bit of wobbling around caused it to break.

Insurance is sorting it but it's two weeks wait for someone to actually come out so we're living with this leak and the damp/mould and damage it's causing until they can come. Dehumidifier running 24 hours a day putting the bills up and I don't even want to think about the water bill when it finally arrives.

I'm just praying the water damage is isolated and my whole floor doesn't have to come up.

We're getting there though! The kids bedroom is decorated and new carpets are being fitted next week.
The bathroom is actually a nice and fairly new suite so with a through deep clean, new sealant, some special grout stuff and a few plants it actually looks good now.

We moved two years ago and our house is much the same - and we don't have the excuse of being busy with a baby! We really underestimated how much there was to do and how easy it would be to get someone to do it!

I guess we’ve moved into these houses looking forward to all the good and enjoyable tasks; choosing colours, curtains etc, only to be faced with a list of tedious annoying stuff that you didn’t expect.
The worst thing now is getting hold of trades.
And there are never enough sockets!

@FlimFlam2 Yes I think we underestimated it too. Our baby wasn't planned so when we moved in on our daughter's first birthday we had visions of her playing nicely while we were busy with the house. Instead we have both of them screaming as our daughter refuses to even be in the same room as the baby. It feels like we're getting nowhere.

We're trying to do everything ourselves but have tried to get a plasterer that my DP knows to skim a couple of ceilings but he's not been getting back to us. Just a couple of 'I'll let you know when I have some free time' messages and then silence. He plastered our kitchen when we moved in and it was a harder job than he expected so I think he's probably under the impression that all the rooms are as bad as that one, which isn't the case. We need some hot water pipes moving too and can't get the guy who fitted our heating either as he's booked up.