Feeling over whelmed over new house

dan958

I moved into my first property about 6 months ago. The flat looked great from all the visits I had, it was only once I purchased and got to look closer, that I saw how dirty the place was. Vinyl flooring that I don't think had ever been cleaned, there was black gunk in the part where the floor meets the wall. Every night, I'd turn a light on to see silverfish scuttling around (due to damp from a leaking pipe)

The leaking pipe was fixed and I gave the place a good, needed, clean. I painted all the walls, and once the damp was all dry, I put down all new flooring and put down chemicals to kill the silverfish. The place looks great now and I'm very happy with it.

You will also be happy with yours once all the changes you want to make are completed.

Jarviscocker

Thanks.
Omg I feel so much better now it’s cleaned!

Onwards and upwards

Ian_875

I know exactly what you mean. My wife and I bought our first home in May and went all out trying to do everything at once.

The best bit of advice I can give is do one room at a time. Either the bedroom or living room, so you've got somewhere nice to retire to.

We tried to do everything and it meant we didn't have a haven. Sleeping on a matress in a room covered in junk and half stripped wallpaper, only to go into a corridor with no carpets cause we'd ripped them up!

As for tradesmen and recommendations, I've found the app Nextdoor to be really good (it can be a bit full of curtain-twitchers at times!) but asking for recommendations for people was always really helpful.

[Deleted User]

I had the same problem with our house. The owners were absolute tramps. They too had dogs and I don't think had done so much as whipped a hoover round since the day we viewed it 5 months prior. There was black dirt behind the furniture. Thick clumps of dog hair everywhere. The bathroom was mouldy. They had even left dried on skid marks on the toilet bowl.

The smell was vile when we first moved in and lasted for what felt like about a year. Eventually the smell went but even now we walk into the house sometimes after being at work all day we get a whiff of something unpleasant.

Unfortunately I think the only way to completely be satisfied is by ridding yourself of any kind of furnishings they left behind.

Appreciate not everyone can afford to re-carpet and decorate the whole house in one go, or have the time, so do it one room at a time. Do the most offending room first and the one you spend most time in e.g. the lounge, and your bedroom.

In the meantime, vacuum vacuum vacuum and vacuum again. Add some scented oil to your filter so it spreads a nice scent around the room. Use odour removing substances like bi-carb soda. Open the windows whenever possible.

Crashy_Time

RelievedSheff wrote: »

Instead of looking for people to blame look for a solution to the problem. It is your house now so it is yours fix.

Good advice.

maisie_cat

Deleted_User wrote: »

I had the same problem with our house. The owners were absolute tramps. They too had dogs and I don't think had done so much as whipped a hoover round since the day we viewed it 5 months prior. There was black dirt behind the furniture. Thick clumps of dog hair everywhere. The bathroom was mouldy. They had even left dried on skid marks on the toilet bowl.

The smell was vile when we first moved in and lasted for what felt like about a year. Eventually the smell went but even now we walk into the house sometimes after being at work all day we get a whiff of something unpleasant.

Unfortunately I think the only way to completely be satisfied is by ridding yourself of any kind of furnishings they left behind.

Appreciate not everyone can afford to re-carpet and decorate the whole house in one go, or have the time, so do it one room at a time. Do the most offending room first and the one you spend most time in e.g. the lounge, and your bedroom.

In the meantime, vacuum vacuum vacuum and vacuum again. Add some scented oil to your filter so it spreads a nice scent around the room. Use odour removing substances like bi-carb soda. Open the windows whenever possible.

I had to remove all carpets, wallpaper and even the kitchen units as they were so vile. I reasoned that living with bare floorboards and camping kitchen was preferable to gagging on a regular basis

robatwork

Bleach is your friend.

Most surfaces will take bleach (test inconspicuous area first), and bleach will clean and really disinfect. Myself and Mrs Atwork are a bit weird in we like the smell of bleach, but ensure you open doors and windows to let some air in. The smell tends to disappear within 24 hours.

First thing we do when moving house is bleach all the cupboards up and downstairs, and the walls if they're painted. Scrap the carpets as you can NEVER clean carpet properly. I'd go to Ikea and buy some new cheap rugs to tide you over.

Clean more delicate surfaces and windows with white vinegar - you'll be amazed how much difference really clean glass and clean white window frames and sills makes.

Jarviscocker

Oh yes I’ve had a great time with bleach in the bathroom! I can’t use it in other places as I’m worried it will get on the floors. I have used a disinfectant on everything else, and have those liners for cupboards.

Glad I’m not the only one who thinks new (to them) houses are dirty!

Greenqueen_2

The day we moved in we found the previous owners had left a pile of vomit on the landing. And it wasn’t fresh!

Skiddaw1

Greenqueen wrote: »

The day we moved in we found the previous owners had left a pile of vomit on the landing. And it wasn’t fresh!

Oh that's truly gross...:eek: