Tips on 'living' when your house needs lots of tlc

lookstraightahead

Really helpful thank you. We have outside space - one of the first things I did was scrub the decking so that it's not slippy, and I have rug doctored the old carpets to make them cleaner. And scrubbed the bathroom to within an inch of my life. 

Downstairs is Marley tiled throughout so have our big cream rug on it.

we just have so much stuff (none of it useful 😂).

babyblade41

Forget gardens, and get the basics done .. strip all floors out better than manky carpet & throw down some cheap rugs... get plumbing fixed but can it not be used at all ??? 

Most of my houses were in a right mess with crumbling walls through damp.  Coming up to xmas as we had all the ceilings and plaster taken off , I made a feature of the joist and made a magical grotto with lots of twinkling lights !!

...but on a serious note make it as habitable as possible, preferably one room especially as you will need a safe haven for relaxing or else this will all get too depressing and you will end up hating it .

I usually have.a plan of 2 years per house project and my house now was a hefty one. Our plans have fallen through and we are looking to go to market sooner than later so we can manage our physical problems that have occurred unexpectedly .. even through Covid though we have sorted roof, electrics, plumbing , plastering and new kitchen plus planning for a large extension passed , oh and cleared the 2 years of overgrown garden on a pretty substantial plot .

It can be done but you have to be pretty organised...write a list with jobs that are urgent down to things that would be nice and work through it 

gingercordial

We're in a very similar situation I think - we've been in our place about 8 months, and it has been a real challenge.

I would recommend doing a couple of things now in a cheap and temporary way.  I know it isn't moneysaving in the long run, but the first thing we did was get the cheapest carpets installed in the bedrooms at least so we didn't get splinters from the floorboards.  We will replace them with nicer when we can, but just having something immediately made those rooms warmer, less echoey and so much more inviting.  I swear it made all the difference.  The fitters can move furniture around if they have to so don't be afraid to get beds out!

As for entertaining - my parents had been champing at the bit to come to see the place once allowed and stay for the weekend.  I was nervous as they are quite *particular* people - clean, tidy, love interior design and nice things, we always lived in beautiful houses.  We put them off a few weeks intending that our major bathroom refurb would be finished in time, but guess what, of course it isn't.  They wanted to come anyway.  I warned them that we'd all be sharing the under-stairs WC, no decent bathing facilities, everything nice we do have is covered with dust sheets and even the spare bedroom is full of the builders' tools, tiles and sanitary ware to be installed.  But they insisted and came last weekend.  And it was GREAT.  No pretension, we put them on a blow up bed in the lounge and we had to queue for sponge baths in the tiny loo.  I didn't bother to scrub to "parental standards" and get into a tizzy about that as everything is covered in plaster dust anyway.  We mainly sat out in the garden during the days, barbecued one night and went out for dinner the other.  And I got to hear all the stories about what the fabulous houses I'd grown up in were *actually* like when they first bought them before having me, and all the leaks and disasters they'd had, and how they had no furniture and one big carpet offcut that was passed around the family from one new homeowner to the next.   

I've had friends and neighbours round too and every single set have told me their house buying or renovation or DIY horror stories, and we've laughed about it and shared tips.  People coming to a perfect, beautiful house just say "oh how nice" and that's all, this is far more interesting!  My visitors have also pointed out all the good things about this house in their enthusiasm (and politeness), which actually has helped me so much because living here during this phase I can only see what's wrong and not done yet.  They notice and comment on the light and space and features like the old fireplaces, all the things we saw and loved during the viewing but had forgotten to appreciate.  

Have people round anyway.  They'll love it and you will feel so much better for it.

Edit: Covid disclaimer in case anyone thinks I'm being irresponsible - almost all visits were quick house tours with masks then commiserations over drinks in the garden.  Pick nice weekends for it!

MovingForwards

Mine is 111 years old, hasn't been decorated since the 80s, has artex ceilings in some rooms. Kitchen is possibly 90s at a push 2000, shower room is 60s fittings, original plumbing with mostly wood panels, tiles and shower cubicle maybe 1990s.

Main bedroom was painted before I moved in. Then the garden was tackled and everything unpacked.
Evenings, weekends, before breakfast, lunch breaks and wet days I was working on the lounge and managed to get that 99% finished Xmas Eve. Over the Xmas holidays I painted the hallway.

I've run out of steam due to long work hours and workload, but when things settle my next project is painting the kitchen as it's hideous.

Everywhere is liveable, just old and the proper work is currently being saved up for.

You don't have to live in a mess while doing things.

GDB2222

How do you socialise when you don't want even the shopping delivery man to see your hallway 😂


Worth repeating. CBT is one approach.

Ramouth

Like others, we lived in what most would consider a bit of a building site while we worked on our house.  It was supposed to take 2 years.  Due to ill health took more like 10!  There were a couple of times when socialising was difficult.  One was when friends came round with their young children (who have a knack for finding the most dangerous situations!) the other when they came in the winter and it was too cold to take their coat off inside.  Other than that, everyone was fascinated to see the progress as we gradually transformed the layout (loft conversation, relocation of stairs, relocation of bathroom, relocation of kitchen).