New house - hate it

[hatethishouse24]

We’ve bought an 18 month old new build, not my ideal. But, had to do it for various reasons. One them of been having been in shitty and v expensive rentals since we moved to this area nearly 4 years ago. Nb we have owned previously - 3 separate properties before this move.

I hate it, totally rushed into it, it’s awful, like a soulless office everywhere down stair is tiled and is white/pale grey - inc kitchen.

Whilst this can be changed what we weren’t banking on is that it is like a play house - nothing practical works. And this we have learnt is because it was a crash pad and they didn’t properly live here.

No space - like literally none currently but then physical space in the kitchen to put a bin. Can’t have one out as no free wall space then the cupboards all have some weird accessories in them so you can’t even fit one of out container in temporarily and that’s just waste - god knows what they did with any recycling tho.

The wall cupboards and fridge are all weirdly high so at 5’4 I can’t really use them without a step.

There’s no washing line or pulley or anything inside

It’s cold even so supposed to be super duper insulated. I’m freezing and I have currently have the oil plug in radiator on from the draughty Edwardian rental we’ve just left. Heating is one and all working.

All the wardrobes are fitted - great you think but they are completely empty apart from half a rail - no shelves or internal drawers so pretty useless

The big thing tho is that there is no water pressure.

To top this off it has 3 bathrooms - total ridiculous overkill, but they are useless. 3 pretty much brand new bathrooms, the sink is weirdly tiny (same in all) so that you can wash your face over properly and to make matters worse the tap comes out to the edge so ends up covered in water/toothpaste.

The shower trays are all tiny - so they’re useless and there’s nowhere to put your stuff, not enough edge then if you had something hanging or on the wall/in corner you would be banging into it.

Then to make matters worse there are only rainfall heads with a really small number of holes - which with the pressure is obviously totally pitiful, then a weird knee height hand held bum washer thing. I have longish very thick/curly hair and it takes so much faffing to try and wash shampoo/conditioner out that the hot water (it’s a bloody tank and not a combi). That I’ve ended up getting cold showers as the hot waters gone before I’ve managed to wash and condition my hair.

Even with the totally leaky draughty rentals I was able to get a hot shower and wash my hair and wash my face and have somewhere to throw rubbish.

The thought of having to start getting trades people in and make pretty costly changes to an almost new house is just adding to the why the hell have I bought an office/house!!

And yes I know I should have looked more closely, but we didn’t and now I feel terrible 😞.

It does sound like you bought it without looking at parts of it closely (desperation?) and are very unlucky elsewhere.☹️

Things like water pressure and poor showers I get, there is no way I would have expected that and would not have checked myself. Nor the heating, I would have expected that and the insulation to be effective in a newish house.

As for the size of the kitchen, colour and layout that was there for you to see. Tall units are normal IMO, we have them in our newbuild and the top is 7ft 6in so yes, steps are required with little chance to use the space between the units and the ceiling (8ft 4in).
We have an un-vented tank, apparently that is quite normal for multiple bathrooms and I have to admit we prefer it to our previous combi.

Perhaps when the initial annoyance has gone away, you have made some changes and learnt to live with other parts it will grow on you.🤞

Not much help or advice here, but I feel your distress. We moved house 10 weeks ago from a perfect house, that we’d done everything to re decorating, nice revamped kitchen in a lovely pale honey colour with beautiful quartz worktops, a wonderful utility room with full size sink that we used constantly for washing cats bowls/ hand wash clothes/ husbands fishing equipment/ paint brushes etc to an older house with hardly any storage, no utility sink, a shitly laid out dark kitchen with cupboards that are peeling (didn’t notice when we viewed) and the blackest granite worktops that show every bastard grain of salt that gets spilled.
We always thought we wanted an older house, but how mistaken we were. I keep hoping I’ll get to love it, but right now if I could go back in time, I would not have booked the initial viewing and would be happily sitting in my previous house and not having a constant stream of contractors showing up to give quotes for a load of niggles that seem to come to light on a daily basis 🙁

It's hard but at least a lot of what you mention can be fixed, it just depends on your budget. If I was you I would brainstorm all the issues then work out what are cheap easy wins and what are priorities.

Maybe get a builder/handyman in for a free quote. Talk about water pressure, small sinks - even if you just change one sink it might make a big difference to how you feel. Plus when you change 1 or 2 small bits you might feel a little bit more positive. You don't need loads of contractors at once. Just 1 job at a time.

Don't feel guilty or bad. You can't spot everything even with a few viewings. And don't worry about changing something new. People will buy/recycle a lot of white goods and you'll be getting it right for you.

I think a lot of people feel regret when they move into a new home. Most homes have their own quirks but are much more noticeable when you've just moved.

I would start making a few lists, then figure out what is most important to you and start making some plans.

Did you even look the house before buying it? Because most of those things would be obvious the moment you walked in (apart from the water pressure which I would probably forget to check, and the heating which sounds like there is an issue with it - have you checked the the flow temperature is set high enough to warm the radiators effectively, some people lower it for energy saving but it really needs to be high enough that the rads get really toasty. We put outs back up by 5 degrees and it made all the difference)

Also in the 15 or so houses I've lived in, none of them have had an indoor washing line/pulley - I have seen those but only in a couple of places I visited in London. Seems like a very easy thing to DIY install though.

It all sounds easily fixable, it’s easy enough to put up a washing line and retro fit the wardrobes with some shelving, take out the ‘weird accessories’ in the kitchen cupboard and put the bin in instead. Change the sink in the bathroom you use and get a plumber in to check what’s going on with the heating and water pressure, it could be a very simple problem to fix particularly in a new house. As for it feeling like an office that’s all down to your skill of making a house comfortable and cosy with decor, furniture and accessories, if you are not adept at this look on Pintrest or ask a friend who has a good eye. All houses have their issues, nothing is perfect but what you have listed is easily fixable, at least you haven’t discovered you need a new roof or the place is riddled with woodworm!

I'm sorry you're feeling shit. It's understandable to be disappointed. Fortunately the things you describe can be resolved and hopefully that will make your time there happier. I would be surprised if someone moved into a house and didn't want to change a single thing. I imagine that's quite rare! The home is yours now to make your own. Get some colour on the walls and even paint kitchen cabinets if you want? Cabinet paint is cheap also can you lower those top cabinets? Remove the in cuboard accessories and get a bin insert for inside another cupboard? Add a pulley? (Personally have never had this nor would I expect it in a house but if you want it then add one!) I would get a plumber round to see if anything can be done about the water pressure etc and to fit new sinks, can they also change the showers? No harm in asking if things can be altered rather than a full new bathroom. Maybe get on Amazon and order some shower wall caddy's or something for shampoo's. I love our shower gem it hasn't moved an inch in 4 years it's amazing!

It might not be perfect but it's yours and it has potential. Best of luck in your new home, I hope you grow to love it 🩷

I had a pad in the kitchen when we moved and every time I found something else I scribbled it down. Reviewed the list and chose the next most manageable / most irritating thing and just plodded through.

Some things I thought were 'must do' I have learned don't matter that much and some im still getting round to 5 years later!!

It helped to take the stress out thinking well Ive written it down, it will get done eventually).

It's buyers remorse.
Completely normal when buying a house, new build or old. I feel for you but don't panic!
It will still be under NHBC guarantee (for faults) so definitely worth making a snagging list and contacting the builder.
You will find fixes for the storage issues. IKEA (and even Amazon) have lots of handy bits to fit inside wardrobes etc.

Thank you to everyone who has taken time to respond. I am very glad I posted, it has made me feel slightly better this morning reading these.

With NHBC thing it seems to be a little smoke and mirrors, we have contacted the builder under this on day we moved in but have heard nothing back. Not adverse to just sorting but a neighbour had said if we (or an outside contractor) touch anything it will invalidate guarantee 😑.

Yes @Cotswoldbee definitely desperation!! We did come into knowing the downstairs is the diametric opposite of our taste and that we would change it to some degree, a v good friend’s family are cabinet makers and we discussed having units sprayed and handles changed as a definite, and loosely looked at possibly selling this kitchen and having them make us a new one. But having been here a week it really needs to be the latter, as like I said it’s like a play house - looks okay if you like that sort of thing - v shiny but, not wholly functional. I thought some rugs would would help add some warmth to the tiles but I do hate them - it feels like a holiday apartment.

However I did not bank on having to mess about with the bathrooms, wardrobe internals or heating. Obviously there is only so much spend to go round 😑.

Then to make matters worse my parents came down a few days ago to help….they love it! They have a place in Portugal and it is very much their taste and similar to what they have out there. They were aghast that we want to do anything to a ‘new’ property that is so ‘nice’ and that it is so wasteful and told us we shouldn’t be touching anything as so new, should just make do etc. Yes you don’t have a bin but you have Caple wine fridge - I barely drink anymore 🤣!! I’ve spent the last 4 years making do and I’m 40. How old do you have to be to stop making do?!?

You need to get the water pressure sorted out asap. Call in a plumber and see if they can work out what the problem is, and if it turns out to be low mains pressure coming into the house, then contact the water company.

Re the water pressure new showers often have an eco fitting inside the head to save water stop you getting a decent shower.

You can just take off the shower head and take this out, no tools needed, it was a plastic cylinder thing in ours.

I bought a new build apartment out of desperation a few years back. I looked at the houses in the same development at the time and observed as you have that they are not fit to live in.

you have my sympathies