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

[OneFancyTealQuail]

Can be anything

Big beautiful trees means sweeping up leaves and needles endlessly through autumn.

Worse when you actually dont have any and they're neighbour's trees.

Clean/fix/replace as you go, don't let things get worse.
A cupboard door hinge only needs a small screw, but if left, will come right off.

Buy mould spray even if you don't have it, so when & if it does appear, you're ready.

Sharpen knives regularly.

Buy the best you can afford.

Store unused paint, fillers etc properly so it doesn't dry out or go off.

Remove shit you want to get rid off immediately. Don't let it sit by the front door until you get pissed off tripping over it and it gets moved under the stairs etc then never leaves.

If you have stuff for the charity shop, take it immediately. Don't let it sit in your boot for months on end.

Google is your friend. Don't be scared, most of it is common sense. Buy decent tools. Nobody can do DIY with a wonky old hammer and a couple of screwdrivers they bought fron the pound shop.

Don't buy 'storage'. Get rid of the stuff that doesn't fit into the storage you have.
(Easier said than done.)

@Bikergran , what tools should I have, and are there any budget-friendly but decent enough brands?

Agree, about mould.
Learn how to do basic maintenance.
Pets and carpets do not go go together.
Never buy a leasehold property.
They are like the Forth Bridge, once you finish one project, another needs doing.
Estate agents and conveyancing solicitors are the two worst professions to deal with.

😌

Declutter, declutter, declutter.

Have as little ‘stuff’ as possible - clothes, toys, kitchenware etc etc. Operate on a ‘one in one out’ basis. Work towards having a lean and streamlined home.

This has always puzzled me. I've never had damp or lived in a damp house. Current house is a barn conversion with some very old walls. We've been here 40 years and never seen damp. I do keep it warm though, none of your Mumsnet 17C is too hot.

what?! I thought those things were called “Wall plugs” 😂

@UpMyself depends what you plan to do. If it's just the odd few small jobs, you're ok with somewhere like B&Q, they often do basic household toolkits. If you plan some big renovations, look at somewhere like Screwfix or Toolstation, and spend a bit more on more solid items. If you have a DIY competent friend or neighbour, ask their advice, you will find that there are plenty of retired chaps who are bored stiff and would love to offer advice and even practical help!

They are wall plugs but Rawl plugs are a brand of them with the handy holes in to check your drill bit and screw size 😀

Other brands probably have them too I guess but only have Rawl plugs so don’t know!

Ohhhh @Seaitoverthere thanks for explaining!

It's a constant fight with nature no matter what you do- damp, mould, leaves/ moss in gutters, weeds, grass growing, hedges growing, fences need maintenance so they don't rot.

No matter how organised and amazing at DIY you are, something is always broken/ in need of replacement or needs updating. Even if against all odds you perform the miracle of having every job done, there is never more than 2 weeks between having all jobs finally done and something going wrong. Taps leak (just fixed the kitchen tap last week, the bathroom tap obviously got jealous and now it has started leaking), appliances break or need regular maintenance (fridge shelf supports are randomly cracking), pipes randomly develop sudden leaks (washing machine pipe had a slow leak into the back of my cupboard that has got missed for weeks), something needs painting or wallpapering (hallway), a carpet or laminate floor somewhere needs replacing (stair runner getting threadbare - not quite a trip hazard yet but give it a few months), a door needs rehanging or the bottom or top planed due to warping (bathroom and living room), a window somewhere will be blown or full of condensation, the bathroom ceiling once again needs a mould treatment as someone living in the house is either unable to use the extractor fan consistently/ the extractor fan needs cleaning as clogged with dust/ the extractor fan actually isn't powerful enough for the power shower you installed despite the plumber buying all the bathroom kit you supposedly need.

As PP said, they are not self cleaning. No matter how many hours a day you dedicate to cleaning, something will always need cleaning. If you have small children (or a man child) then no matter what you do, the house will never be clean. Someone will spill something/ lick something/ smear dirty fingerprints somewhere/ tip toys somewhere.

Thanks, @Bikergran . I've got a few bits and bobs, but the toolbox seems to contain lots of bits I never use but I don't seem to have a decent screwdriver. My neighbours are the sort who ask to borrow mine.
I could find what's in the basic toolkit and make sure I have those.

Keep on top of literally everything, whether cleaning, maintenance, gardening, DIY, etc. It's A LOT cheaper and less stressful to keep on top rather than letting things get out of hand and then it always costs more and takes more time.

Don't hold back when it comes to buying the right tools, whether for DIY, decorating or gardening. Yes, it's an upfront investment, but the results will be better and time spent will be less.

Don't delay getting leaks or damp sorted out as the damage caused can be very rapid and costs can escalate almost exponentially if even a relatively small leak/damp is allowed to continue without action, i.e. things like ceilings caving in, walls needed to be stripped back to brick and re-plastered etc.

Sorry if it’s already been mentioned, but when planning to undertake a task add on another 5 hours or day when estimating the time you think it will take. There can be ‘surprises’ once you start working on revealing what’s underneath (e.g peeling paint on walls etc)

Any task that if it goes slightly wrong and you need help, or you need to buy a tool or something for, do it early in the day.

Whenever you start doing any work, allow for the fact that it's probably going to be 10 x more work than you thought, take 6 times as long and cost about 50% more.

Witness my work to clear out our front garden and make it look nice – I thought it would cost £1k, but as work progressed, there was a heck of a lot more crap to remove than we realised (including an asbestos structure) and so far it's cost £5k to clear and counting.

I’ve never lived in a house with damp and I’ve lived up north, down south, new builds, Victorian…

That the previous owners are likely to have cut corners and bodged things which will cost you a fortune. Think DIY fitted boilers, electrics, kitchen appliances, burying building waste in the garden etc. 3 layers of bathroom tiles was a good one!

Ditto Edwardian three story terraces. Just try getting anyone to do anything up a height without scaffolding 😬

That new build houses have interns walls made of cardboard that won’t hold shelves up.

That a plastic conservatory is unusable for most of the year.

When I moved out at 17 I was most shocked at the cost of cupboard & pantry staples. Going for that first big shop to stock up and noticing the pricing on things like tinfoil, kitchen cleaner, rice, shower gel etc. I basically wiped out my months' shopping budget before I'd bought a bloody Pot Noodle.

I'm in my 40s now and am still shocked at the cost of loo roll & cheese!

You may have considered rent, council tax and utilities... but have you factored in your tinfoil and cheese costs?!

Leasehold and share of freehold flat owners are "lucky" in the sense that they have little choice but to save for maintenance and a sinking fund through a well maintained contract. They budget and get ahead of the curve in terms of paying for the required maintenance.

A sensible home-owner would replicate this and save a good amount each month for the inevitable future bills.

Cobwebs will form in ten minutes. Even on walls you've just checked. You will only notice them when you sit down with guests.