How long to prefect your house after buying?

phoebe1989seb

LittleMissAspie wrote: »

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.

Don't feel lazy - we literally had to get on and do the work as otherwise the house was what most sane people would term uninhabitable

Those *sane* people would (assuming they had more cash available than us, lol!) have no doubt done the work before moving in, or at least had a team of builders knock it all out in one go......but having a limited budget has meant we're doing things in stages and as DH works from home - and is both a seasoned house restorer & fab at DIY - we've tackled much of it ourselves, which of course is always slower but less expensive than the team of builders route

We had no kitchen when we moved in and had to rig up something temporary till the extension was completed. During the building work we had no hot water or heating - other than a woodburner and electric fires - for over five months......so it's not been a walk in the park! If the house had just required *normal* things, like a new kitchen or decorating throughout, we'd have no doubt taken our time and been more leisurely in our approach.........

We totally blew last years (and this year too!) budget on the extension and re-wiring - about £45k in total - so this year have concentrated on cheaper quick fixes, such as taking down non-load-bearing walls ourselves in the 1980s part of the house. DH's dad passed away earlier in the year and as he was a keen gardener we used some of DH's inheritance on transforming our terrace - previously a Tarmac driveway for eight cars with corrugated plastic carport - into a pretty kitchen garden type space!

Sounds like you're doing a great job with your house and you'll have a home to cherish and be proud of when you're finished

DLTAG89

We intend to stay in this house for at least 15/20 years (depending on our situation obv) as we have moved 8 times in the past 6 years so are so so sick of moving. We want to turn it into a family home and with 3 (currently) little ones need to maximise as much space as possible.

The only BIG job would be converting the garage but we have said we wouldnt want to do much of the other work before this was done really as i can see it causing a lot of mess with dust and mucky builders.

I totally balme my OCD for seeing the house in all the bad lights too. We are viewing another house tonight which is very similar but is 10k more than the other one but it would need less work doing to it (from what we can see anyone) and is slightly bigger.

hellzbellz

Bought a new build just last year and Im still buying things for it twelve months later.

It just now feels like home.

Previously when renting it took two years at each place to make a house like home.

Id say from experience try not to rush towards the end to meet perfection. Enjoy your home and the effort going into it and you will get there.

I have heard it said that by the time a house is like you want it you're dead!

Ha good luck