What do you wish you'd known about maintaining a home (house or apartment, etc.) when you started out

[OneFancyTealQuail]

Can be anything

That no matter how much you do in the way of maintenance, there's always something else that needs doing. It never ends!

That they’re not self-cleaning.

That I loathe cleaning.

That other people seem bothered by this.

That a nice green garden with lots of grass, hedges and shurbs needs constant bloody maintenance and grows like a son of a bitch in the summer months.

Having to find time on weekends to constantly maintain it, cut the grass, clear it up is a real ball ache.

Gardeners we are NOT! 😂Next house will have a nice low maintenance patio, or we find ourselves a gardener!

Also that no matter what you do to reduce maintence it will STILL bloody need maintaining.

Our last house had solid concrete yard which got invasive knot weed stuff in it and had weeds that would find every divot and crack and they root down deep so don't come back out.

New house has a pretty patio of hexagonal brick pavers, though 'great that looks easy' by the time we completed every join was filled with weeds and you pull them and 4 days later they are back again.

Its like every little crack (regardless of if theirs soil or not) will find itself a weed.

That you should clean before it's dirty. Clean daily/weekly whether it looks like it needs it or not. And do it, don't let it slide.

Says me looking at my washing, washing up, and dirty floor 😫

Actually, I'm going to get it done now. Then I can sit guilt free after.

We live in a damp country and damp exists in all houses. Yes opening windows etc... might help but its a constant thing.

The more damp proofing you do the worse the damp will seem to get.

I wish I knew basic diy skills.

That having a large garden seems lovely but it's hard work!

That I should have married rich

@housethatbuiltme do yourself a favour. Clear all the weeds properly in the autumn, then in Feb/March, water over it all with Weedol - use a red, clearly labelled watering can so it doesn’t get mixed up. Repeat in May/June and you will be pretty weed free. Just whip out the odd one that defies you.

Damp wise, its all down to ventilation. Don’t hang damp washing inside, dey off the shower after use and dry towels in an airing cupboard. Open windows for a short while every day.

I hate fences, they always need fixing, had them renewed twice and they still aren't straight, wish I had a walled or hedge garden

Large gardens, lovely idea. In reality, bloody hard, endless work.

That it's difficult to get reliable, fairly priced trade people when you need something doing, who also actually turn up!

WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THIS 🤣😂😂😂

God, this is so true. I have never lived in a house without damp, even when everything was well-ventilated. And old houses were built with the thought that there would be a constant fire in the grate for cooking/water, which would have mitigated the damp.

I blame my mother. She encouraged me to marry a good man that I love :) Granted he's great at DIY so that's a huge bonus!

That trying to find a good cleaner is harder than finding a rich husband 😂

Just to add. I’ve found neither.

Is that true? No damp in this house 30 years old and nothing new done damp proofing wise.,Just open the bathroom window for half an hour during and after showers.

The only thing I didn't know was the gardening but. I thought I would enjoy it. Why did i think that?

I hate that rooves and windows seem to be a once in a lifetime thing. It's luck of the draw. I managed not to have to do these in my last house, but I will have to do these in my home now.

Any DIY job that you reckon will take 10 minutes ends up taking at least 2 days and involves numerous trips to buy extra supplies and tools.

Also, any job that you reckon will be a total ballache so leave for years, ends up taking 10 minutes.

No walls/ceilings/floors are horizontal or vertical or at perpendicular to each other.

Edwardian semi owner here.

That georgian houses may be beautiful but they are also money pits.

That although at age 40 and super-fit I could do all the cleaning and DIY in a three storey, eight-roomed house, 27 yrs later, at 67 and disabled, it would cost me a small fortune to have a cleaner visit every week and painters and handymen charging many hundreds of pounds for what I used to do for free!

Tradespeople are unreliable, double the cost of what you think it will be and never reply to messages. So if you are planning on having any work done get asking around for quotes and recommendations months before you actually want it doing 😂
I'm 6 months into my new house and tradespeople are the biggest bain of my life at the moment!

Keep a list of major works and purchases.

Then you can refer to it in the future and see, "Oh yes that plumber did a good job, the other one didn't, we'll call the first one." Or, "We haven't had the gutters cleaned for 5 years, better get round to it." Or, "Bought the dishwasher 15 years ago, not worth repairing it."

If you have a good memory you might not need this, but if you don't..