How long to prefect your house after buying?

onlyroz

When we bought our house we immediately replaced the boiler. Around 6 months later we had it re-wired, and got in landscape gardeners to turn the jungle out the front into a gravelled area with a new fence and path. We also had to replace the flat roof and skylight on the kitchen extension because the skylight was leaking and the flat roof was ancient.

A few years after that we installed carpets, because the ground-floor was just polished boards, and we replaced the French doors out the back. We then replaced the skylight *again* because it still leaked, and put new flooring in the kitchen and conservatory.

We've now been here around seven years and we've recently remodelled the back garden and are in the process of doing a loft conversion. The next project will be new double glazing and then possibly a new kitchen.

notanewuser

DH's parents bought their house new in 1975.

They still have the original kitchen and bathroom!!

They've been saying they should put new ones in for as long as I've known them (12 years) but they can't agree on what to get, so they stick with what they've got!!

Strapped

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

So true lesson

I do wish or house could be improved by a few gallons of emulsion though - can't be done because of breathability issues when the walls are bare stone unfortunately......unless of course you're prepared to lime-wash them, then re-plaster at a later date, which just seems crazy IMHO.......

Every day I long to be able to freshen up that nasty, inappropriate stone - especially in our bedroom where I'm sure (as well as all the dust from two years worth of building work) there lurks many a horrid spider :eek:

I like lime-wash (Well, I like it better than damp woodchip over cement plaster which has happened in certain areas of our house...one day it will be lovely...)

phoebe1989seb

Strapped wrote: »

I like lime-wash (Well, I like it better than damp woodchip over cement plaster which has happened in certain areas of our house...one day it will be lovely...)

Yeah, me too Strapped - I just don't think it would be appropriate in this house

The PO appeared to have attempted to make what's actually quite a typically Georgian-proportioned house into something more cottage-y - bare stone everywhere and stud walls with fake (albeit real timber) beams set into them.......a bit of a pastiche, if you like

For another example, he'd re-modelled the (very large) inglenook complete with new bresumer beam and faux bread oven openings........suffice to say we've put a more appropriate fireplace in and covered the stone that was never meant to be exposed in a house like this!

Our house - although thatched - has a third storey, relatively high ceilings and an ashlar stone facade, whereas our neighbours (which do have lime-washed stone interiors) are two storey, lower-ceilinged and have a more cottage-y appearance including rubble-stone facades......

I'm sure it is lovely, btw - the yellow you mentioned in your earlier post sounds perfect

greenbee

I've just had the survey back on the house I'm buying. Although the house is structurally sound it has confirmed that I'll need to upgrade boiler and heating pretty soon, replace the windows as they haven't been maintained properly, repair and possibly upgrade gutters and downpipes, get the place rewired, replace the kitchen and bathroom (another avocado bathroom suite here...) and redecorate throughout.

The house I'm selling took me over 10 years to complete. I'm hoping this time, as I'm earning more, I'll be able to afford to do things in the right order and therefore only do them once (well, apart from the constant round of decorating and minor repairs!).

Kaz2904

We've been in our house 8 years now and we still haven't finished it. I've had no carpet in my bedroom for 3 years, none on the hall and stairs for 4 and none on the landing for 8. We've replaced the kitchen (needs doing again as the units are shot ), done the bathroom (twice ), moved walls and doors, replaced the horrid UPVC front door with a lovely wooden one, replastered throughout. I think we got away without replastering DD's ceiling but we've had to do every other one. We've replaced the fireplace with a more fitting reproduction than the horrid monstrosity which was there. The bannisters were our most recent job. That was no fun! I'm just willing DH to pull his finger out and do some painting of woodwork now so that we can finish off. Once he's painted, we can carpet and it'll just be a case of redecorating throughout whilst I save up for a new kitchen. I'm getting a better one this time which lasts longer than 7 years (I hope...).

dominoman

A house built in 1999 is practically brand new!

It depends whether you are up for a bit of work. I always think its best to live in a house a few weeks before making any decisions on what to change. That way you can ruminate, ponder and ask friends of their opinions.

DLTAG89 wrote: »

it had double glazing but with the old wooden frames

Wooden frames put in in 1999 will last at least another 30-50 years if you look after them. So much nicer to have wooden ones that uPVC. Don't change it or you'll look back in horror in years to come.

LittleMissAspie

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

We've been here two years and have re-wired, built a 20' x16' extension to extend kitchen, fitted the kitchen, laid 40 sq m limestone flooring, added an en-suite bathroom, decorated five rooms and are in the process of landscaping the terrace. We've also just demolished the internal walls in a ghastly 1980s annexe extension and plan to create a spacious sitting room.

Oh god. We bought just over 2.5 years ago and we've painted the kitchen and hallway, and replaced the hallway flooring.

We want to decorate every room, replace the bathroom, refresh the rear garden and landscape the front garden (kitchen was already newish).

I feel horrifically lazy now.

RustyPots

When we bought our house it needed a fair amount of work.

New boiler and full central heating re-doing
New electrics through out
Every wall needed replastering along with most of the ceilings
New kitchen
New bathroom
Double glazing throughout
New carpets/flooring throughout

Then the decorating:
Skirting boards, plus sockets, lights, curtain poles, furniture, paint, curtains.

In total it took 15 months, we had to move in at that point as we'd run out of funds and it was almost done, just tiling and the guest room to paint. However it took a lot more money than we expected, in total around £18k :eek:

It was an experience, and 4 years later i'm still not 100% sure if it was a good or bad one :rotfl:

You really need to make sure it's NEED and not WANT before you consider buying. Most houses will WANT a lick of paint, a few tweaks and a change of fixtures and fittings. A good scrub can also do wonders.

You need to also factor in what this house is for.
Ours was a first step on the ladder, so we only expected to be in there 5 or 6 years, however due to the amount we spent on it, and the market taking a fall we will be stuck in it for a few more years yet. If however this is a family house, where you plan on spending many years the big stuff can wait a while!

AFK_Matrix

I've been in my 1973 house now for about 1.5 years. At first all I did was paint the main bedroom as it was bright pink! And redecorated the second bedroom as I use it as a lodgers room and it needed brighting up. I also painted some of the upstairs doors in gloss white as they had used mat and they were marked up etc.

But I have a long list of stuff I want to do and I realised this when I bought it but the house is perfectly livable and I am happy with it. I am actually holding off on all the things I want to do as I want to overpay the mortgage while I am on a fixed term so I have some choices when the term is over.

But the list I have is:

Re do all the back garden fences as they are pretty much falling down (I am actually hopefully if I get my work bonus going to get this done next year as it does need doing)

Re do the patio, walls and paths in the back garden as they look pretty bad.

Re decorate the lounge as it is currently yellow and feels drab and the carpet also needs to be replaced so a whole new make over is needed.

New kitchen as the one I have is a bodge job when you look in the cupboards and is impracticle but it is usuable for a good few years.

New bathroom as the layout is silly as its a huge bathroom but doesn't have a standalone shower, and I would love one

Paint all doors in the house and skirting with gloss white.

Remodel front garden and build a front porch.

So just a few little things lol!! But once I have overpayed my mortgage by a good amount I will start to save up and do some of the stuff I want to.