How long did it take you to get your house straight and how you want it ?

[MillyMollyMoo]

We've lived in this property for 3 years and missed loads of things when we viewed, DH and I are hardly DIY experts but we relied on electrical reports etc so we had an idea what we were looking at but it's turned out much much worse.
So now we have finally done the bathroom, kitchen, living room and are half way through the study, the bloody bedrooms need redecorating as I want to move everyone round and there's some damp which needs dealing with.
I haven't touched the hall as the dog ate it, don't ask.

Anyone else feel by the time the house is finally finished they will just want to move because they are sick of the sight of it ?

I like the dog

I do feel better now, the lady down the road from us is married to a builder and always seems to be getting something done, but I find whatever we do the kids or animals seem to trash anyway so I'd rather go on holiday, which is where I suspect I'm going wrong
Oh well ... work in progress I'll remember that phrase.

5 and a half years and we still live in chaos. The house needed a lot of work doing and we completely underestimated the cost of everything.

Sometimes it bothers me. The kitchen drives me deemented. I'm not sure what to do about it really .

About a week before the HA dropped a leaflet through the door saying they were going to sell all their affordable housing

Oh no tethsend that's rotten

We've been in this house for 3.9 years and still haven't got there. 3 bed Victorian semi with truly hideous decor when we moved in - textured wallpaper everywhere, one brown and orange '70s style bathroom, one blue and gold '80s style bathroom.

Still need to strip wallpaper off the stairs and landing and do something with the kitchen.

This thread is making me feel better! Moved 3 months ago into a house that is definitely not a doer-upper in any way, yet the list of things that have to be sorted out is endless - getting appliances checked, repairs, decorating, shelving, smelly drains, wobbly door handles, broken toilet seat, loose roof tiles, sorting out the garden etc etc etc. I was hoping to have it much more sorted by now as we've got a baby on the way, but it all takes so long - whether you DIY or sift through endless mumbling, teeth-sucking blokes to do it for you.

Every day I thank my lucky stars that we did not do what DP wanted and get a proper doer-upper. What a nightmare.

I know someone who has not only not sorted out his house 11 years on, but has made it considerably worse with ill-advised DIY efforts. It's like DIY SOS. Awful.

Thanks Milly. It's shit. Fifty years of providing affordable housing and they change their mind just as we finish painting the living room.

that is really crap tether.

noddy - some more doggy pics - just for you ( Ok . I was actually putting some on anyway)

MarineIguana - that is what our house is like the twats we bought this house off thought they were some sort of DIY experts and have actually trashed the place with 10 layers of wallpaper, dodgy patio paving the list is endless, the electrics were also homemade, not even funny.
The plumbing was done in industrial steel and had to have a specialist team come in get them out

Oh yes I forgot to mention the flooding in basement, drain probs, leaky roof and gutters and v dodgy garden...

Perhaps we shoudl have a support thread for long term house renovators, it can be quite demoralising and its good to know that there are lots of us out there....

He looks what my dp would call a 'spoiledy chops'!Gorgeous

Five years and counting......
We are just about coming to an end of the bulk of the renovation work on our house infact we stated on the last room to be done this weekend. Then there's the 1/2 acre of brambles to tackle

I am very Pagwatch, your house looks lovely (and the dog too!)

The kitchen and bathroom were done and its been decorated but I want to put a new staircase in - not that it needs replacing but if I can get one with a bend in it at the top the bathroom wall can be moved out by 4 feet which would give us a bathroom with room for a seperate shower and storage and having two growing girls is going to be a big bonus.

And I want a porch and a bigger conservatry but it'll get done at somepoint.

Noddy, i thought your current home was supposed to be permanent? Or did you not move after all the last time I remember you posting about it? (a few years ago now)

It was indeed but I hate it!

4.5 years and counting.We ripped the kitchen out on Friday,electrician in yesterday,plasterer tomorrow,kitchen fitter next week.Bathroom still unfinished,only one bedroom done,hall floor needs replacing,conservatory floor too.Garden has had loads done to it,but still looks terrible,car port slowly disintegrating,but provides valuable storage at present and we may extend into it at some point in the future.

We've been "at it" (in my dreams! ) for 3 years now and there's still a long way to go. To be fair, we knew there was a lot of work when we moved in and we wanted to do as much as possible ourselves but we seriously underestimated the time a lot of jobs would take.

You are inspiring me to get orf MN and get doing those jobs!

We've been in 3 months and the house is liveable but- you in your decaying Victorian houses will laugh dryly- actually the stuff we think we 'need' to do isn't actually bad enough to force us to do it!

So far we have: UNPACKED. I vowed not to have the never to be unpacked box in the garage for 5 years. The charities have done well...

Hung curtain poles and bought curtains (£1000 all up- eek!)

Ordered a new sofa

New dishwasher installed (DON'T kink the drain pipes...)

Painted the erstwhile poo brown ensuite 'aqua'

Got a teeth sucking mumbling bloke in to quote on fitting the new shower enclosure

Temporary roofed the shed (leaking like a sieve: Didn't spot THAT on inspection!)

Bought new light fittings, as yet uninstalled

Put up a shelf and lights in the spare room.

All seems pretty unimpressive typed out! I need to repaint the living/dining room, get quotes for refronting and topping the kitchen, want new carpets upstairs but again, they just aren't nasty enough to force my hand! Sigh

But at least I now know I have 10 years in which to procrastinate and save!

Been in current house 12 years and have now officially spent more on it than we originally paid for it.

Have done pretty major extension plus loft conversion- kitchen twice-

Will never be 'done'

Bedrooms are always the most fun to decorate, I think! :-)

If you want some visual ideas of designs/styles you could always have a browse of these - bit.ly/alzL9u - I'm sure that you'll be able to find something that you like the look of.

I hope you manage to get your whole house sorted in the end. I'm sure you'll have it done in no time!! :-)

Liz

We lived in our old house for 7.5years. We got it to how we liked it in 4 years. Lived in it, more needed doing, things changed (having twins so more needed to be done to make it right. We eventually gave up and moved to something that we are again having to do up but will suit our needs in the end, I hope!!

I envisage this house to take about 3 - 4 years to get right but thats more finances holding us up than will.

never will have far to much else to do

we have lived here almost 10 years and i am constantly changing it little things like cushions,pictures etc i love it especially my kitchen/ diner and living room

.