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Original poster

House needs money spending on it again

62 replies

hillsandtrees · 16/11/2024 00:12

Feeling overwhelmed as house needs money spending on it again
New kitchen
Redecorating (everything grubby)
New carpets
Some new floors
Garden work

Etc etc etc

What things do others have to do in their homes?
Is it worth it?
Haven’t decorated for ages as careless teens but now looking around chipped yellow skirtings, grubby looking even when cleaned.
Just wandering if others feel same and what you all need to do in your homes?

OP posts:
ByMerryKoala · 16/11/2024 11:09

Yeah, the house maintenance merry go round is endless. DH is really handy generally but he's an electrician too so we have probably saved a small fortune over the years. But it never stops and if you step off for even a short while then it accumulates really quickly and begin to devalue the home.

Netcam · 16/11/2024 11:21

Moved into new build 13 years ago. We've painted most of it twice, some rooms only once, which really could do with painting, but will wait until both have left home. Carpets all been replaced with wood flooring.

Bathrooms are OK, replaced shower recently and filled in gaps in grout, but tiling could do with replacing at some point. All taps in the house have been replaced.

Next things are kitchen and boiler. Thinking of replacing boiler with heat pump since we'll only get a few more years out of it at the most. Kitchen has deteriorated the most and is next on the list of things to do.

But agree, it's all expensive.

RidingMyBike · 16/11/2024 20:09

Doris86 · 16/11/2024 08:00

A lot of people these days seem to automatically call a tradesman out for anything you need doing. However DIY can save you a lot of money, is very satisfying once done, and often much easier than you think. YouTube is full of videos if you’re not sure how to do something.

My neighbour is having her house redecorated and the cost has made my eye water, running into a few thousand pounds. When I did my house it cost a few hundred for the paint.

My other neighbour got her fence done and it cost her £3000. I did mine myself and it cost me £700 in materials (and that’s better quality posts and panels than my neighbour got)

I tried the DIY approach with my first house and it really didn't work well. It was hard to find the time to learn how to do things, then have to go and buy the equipment and materials to do it, then find the time to do it, then find it doesn't go well so you do it again, then you have to clear up all the mess. It wasn't compatible with full time work and a commute so I gave up and got trades in after that.

Diyextension · 17/11/2024 06:17

NewFriendlyLadybird · 16/11/2024 08:33

Tell me about it. We have a running list of things that need to be done and aim to tick one thing off per week. We have a weekly diary meeting anyway and decide our house maintenance priorities at the same time.

One policy we have is to eat the elephant one bite at a time. We break down everything into small jobs and DIY what we can. So last weekend I painted one internal door, that’s it. And this week’s job is simply to measure up for some curtains. Much better than looking at the whole list and getting overwhelmed.

A weekly diary meeting …..?????? Wtf !!!

NewFriendlyLadybird · 17/11/2024 08:49

Diyextension · 17/11/2024 06:17

A weekly diary meeting …..?????? Wtf !!!

Show quote history

The name is tongue-in-cheek but what’s so WTF about the concept? We sit down to run through what’s happening in the following week and make sure each has taken in what the other is doing and iron out any clashes. It was more important when the children were little but it’s still useful. And we then talk about other practical things at the same time. Do other people not do this?

Animatron · 17/11/2024 08:54

@NewFriendlyLadybird It's not WTF - not only did we used to do this, but I've also been called in to my brothers from time to time (to coordinate niece delivery). When you have a complicated schedule with work travel and also live in a place other people like to go on holiday to, you need to coordinate!

Farmgoose · 17/11/2024 09:08

Yes the Everything Everywhere all at once thing. I live in a small estate of houses that turned 24 this year and all the neighbours are joking about things falling apart at the same time.
People are just starting to put in new bathrooms and kitchens and fencing now and over half have now repainted the rendering at the front. Makes the others look terrible!
Lots are rentals and aren’t having the same money spent.
If I am ever rich I will so enjoy never having to do my own painting and decorating again.

NewFriendlyLadybird · 17/11/2024 09:08

Diary meetings would resolve a good many of the AIBU threads before they start.

Rocknrollstar · 17/11/2024 09:41

A house is a never ending project. Years ago a neighbour told me to decorate one room each year but I’m afraid we have bursts where we do a 2/3 rooms and then lapse. We are working up to replacing stair carpeting now but floorboards on landing need attention. Kitchen needs doing but has done for a long time. Oh and then there’s the lounge curtains and so it goes….

FelixtheAardvark · 17/11/2024 10:03

New bathroom.
New hall floor (replace broken tiles).
Complete re-decoration,

LadyTiredWinterBottom2 · 17/11/2024 10:45

I'm five months in.

I've had a new consumer unit, roof repairs, new boiler and rerouted gas, new back gate, new loft hatch and ladder as the old one was dangerous, removed grotty blinds in every room, nearly finished decorating the first room.

It's my first home by myself and l feel like it was a mistake to take on this much work as l don't have the money. But l'm here now so l will have to make the best of it.

sallyanne33 · 21/11/2024 12:59

WhyCantTheyJustBeKids · 16/11/2024 07:10

Yeah... I'm a single parent. In 2012 I was earning 8k part time and had a 2 year old. My ex left, 3 months after we'd moved from our beautiful extended house to a doer upper. He was a tradesman. He'd found his ex on FB and left for her.

I had to pay for food and fuel on a credit card. At that time I wasn't good for credit as I'd never built any alone. So interest was high and I wasn't very savvy. Our house had no carpets, I couldn't afford heating oil that first winter, walls in most rooms were crumbling, the bathroom and kitchen were at least 40 years old, the bath had a hole in, half the windows were single glazed, the garden massive and overgrown, I could go on. Needless to say a lick of paint was the least of my worries.

Anyway, long story short, I couldn't sell without being left with massive debt and nowhere to live. So I slowly dug myself out of it. I did the major work slowly - new kitchen as we actually had a flood so insurance covered half of that. Carpets were a priority for warmth. I did lots of little jobs myself - bodged. In 2016 I was able to release my ex from the mortgage. In 2021 I was finally earning enough to increase the mortgage enough to get a new bathroom, roof trims, replace any dud windows, plaster and decorate, replace some of the internal doors. I started using a gardener a few times a year.

The work was completed in 2022 as it took ages to find people wanting small jobs. I was so proud and loved the finished house, despite it being such an old house that it would never be a patch on our old house that I still pine after 12 years later.

Roll forward to now... 3 years on. I look around and see the little dinks in walls, skirting that I didn't quite finish in the bathroom, carpet fraying on the bottom step, dirty walls on the stairs, bits of sealant peeling away. Household maintenance really. Those are things I wouldn't have noticed 5 years ago as the house was such a state I couldn't even face bringing people into it. Now I have a normal house I notice every little issue. I feel overwhelmed by the fact I finally got myself into a position to have a nice home, and now it needs decorating again. My mind has rushed to wanting to sell and buy somewhere newer before expensive jobs creep in.

Home ownership isn't all it's cracked up to be, but I still thank the stars I'm paying £800pm to own my house rather than £1600pm to rent it.

I just wanted to say well done to you, what a brilliant achievement. I have just moved into a doer-upper, I'm a single mum and it has been so tough trying to get the house in shape and safe and warm the kids to live in. Have needed the help of family and friends and every trade there is. Of course the ancient boiler broke as soon as the cold snap happened so I've had to urgently replace that, have spent £20k so far on plumbing, radiators, flooring, electrics, plastering, paint. But it's mine and it's got great potential.

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