Renovation regrets.

[ObtuseMoose]

We bought a 1960s ex council house last year, we're seven months into a complete renovation and I'm so done. We're not living in the house yet as there's still no hot water or kitchen and I'm seriously thinking I don't want to live there ever. It feels like a project and I can't imagine it feeling like a home.
Our belongings are scattered all over the place, some in storage and some in friends attics, spare rooms etc.
I just want to sit on my own sofa in my own living room having a cup of tea from my favourite mug and feeling like I'm at home.
Has anyone felt like this during renovations? Will it get better and I'm just being a giant and very much overtired baby?

Oh yes me! I renovated my favourite house and the bathroom nearly broke me. I was living in it though. At one point I felt like packing my bags and leaving.

It's stressful, expensive and tiring but when it was finished it brought me so much joy.

I'm now renovating this home and this will be the last one. I'm worn out and just want it all done. I understand the appeal of a turnkey property.

Once your home is finished hopefully you will decompress and be very happy.

.I understand the appeal of a turnkey property

If we ever move again it'll be to a house where all we have to do is unpack!

I'm only 2.5 weeks into renovation and already feel done lol.

I'm not a naturally destructive person, everyone talks about how 'fun' the rip out should be but I hate making something look worse before it gets better (and it feels like 'better' is a million miles away) + I feel like I just keep finding new problems.

Our builder ditched us too, he never showed up as he cannot 'commit' to a job timescale apparently which is frustrating because he knew we where on a tight scheduled.

At this point we are just going to decorate a bit (strip off old terrible mismatched wallpapers, fit new carpets, paint etc... in the kids bedroom and main living space) and bodge some bits so we can move in as we need to be in by September.

Will have to do the kitchen and bathroom while living in the house which is far from ideal.

I wish you luck with your renovation.

We did a lot of the rip out ourselves to save some money and at the time it did seem fun and exciting. That soon wore off though as more and more things 'needed' doing.
It's so hard to find good, reliable workmen, we were lucky that our friends recommended someone and he was able to fit us in along with his plumber and electrician.

People say to me they would love to do what we’ve done and do an extension and renovation, but I tell them they need to absolutely all in as it can suck the soul from your body and all the money from your bank. If it makes you feel any better we started our project just after I was pregnant nearly three years ago and we’ve lived in the house throughout, peeing in a bucket at 8 month pregnant was a low point. Still haven’t finished. So sounds like you’re doing better than we are! I’m now at a point where I have major decision fatigue though! Just want it done one way or another.

Keep going, you will get there! It is worth it when you do start to get to enjoy bits of it though - when your vision becomes reality and there’s at least bits of it that you can start to enjoy.

We're 6 months into a renovation. It was a new build (5 years old bought from new) and we pondered for years whether to sell and move or extend and open up our hallway to make way for a large kitchen with an island etc. Moving was out of the question as a 4 bed detached where we are down in SE was nearly 650-700k and we can't afford that. So we decided to get everything done at once, dining room, lounge, spare bedroom, kitchen. ensuite and create a new WC. We have done pretty much half of it ourselves with the help out my very handy plumber DP and friends who are tradesman but F me it is STRESSFUL. We've basically done a full on renovation in a new build. We've knocked walls down ourselves, re plumbed, new electrics, everything. We basically are in a brand new house all over again. We still have 3 weeks to go and I'm ripping my hair out. I don't know how people do this with kids. OP, I get it. It's hard, you always go over budget no matter how much to try to save and it creates cracks in your relationship (as I have learnt)

Honestly it’s gets better. We are 3 and a half years in 😱 But we did it slowly, lots ourselves and little money.

You are segregated from the house right now. You haven’t even had a chance to bond.

Yep we moved into a back to brick reno when I was 10. I will never do that!

Yes, I keep looking enviously at shiny, soulless new builds, rather than my appealing money pit wreck.

We are 4 years on from full renovation and extension done while we were living in it. It wasn’t that bad, but I think we just kind of got on with it and had fairly good builders. We did cheer though when their fucking portaloo finally left our back garden for good after 6 months. It was lovely the first day we were sure it was done and a cheery face wasn’t going to appear through a gap in the wall at 7.30am asking if the kettle was on….

We bought a big Victorian house that was an absolute wreck (think barely touched since the 1940s) and did a complete renovation including an extension, wiring, heating, windows, kitchen and bathrooms. We also restored all the period features (grand three storey staircase, doors, fireplaces, coving, floorboards etc). It took seven years, and we had to live in it. It was literally like a building site for the first 3 and a half years, and I had no kitchen at all for a year!

I thought I was going to have a breakdown at points but honestly, it was worth it in the end! I LOVED that house in a way I could never love another property. I was heartbroken when the kids left home and we downsized to a more modern turnkey. Keep the faith, what you’re experiencing is completely normal. You’ll get there in the end.

sympathies. The only way I coped with renovating was to keep one area completely ‘sanctuaried’ away from the chaos, where I could escape with a cup of tea and noise-cancelling headphones, and pretend I lived in a normal house for half an hour.

I completely get how you feel OP. I did up my house and it was three years of hard work and not feeling settled. I camped in one room for a year and washed up in the bath. Everything was one step forward, two back. So often I'd have given up many times.

A real turning point is when you get one room finished. Then even if there's still a lot of work to do you can picture how lovely the whole thing will be finished and imagine yourself at home.