Ummm, 2 weeks!
Bought a house while we were renting, so didn’t live in the new one while we were working, which made a massive difference.
We stripped the new place and had new windows fitted. I then fitted a new kitchen (plus laid a new floor), new bathroom, knocked the fireplace out in the living room then redecorated the whole house (along with new carpets top to bottom) in a two week ‘holiday’ with Mrs fettlin.

That was 7 years ago, we haven’t redecorated yet, it’s looking a bit tired!

The garden on the other hand, I’ve re done it twice since we’ve been here, I need a project to sink my teeth into (currently replacing the fence and lean too, when it stops raining!).

Currently in the process of chiselling the old wall paper off my hallway walls. Steamer wont touch it and it simply won’t peel off the wall if you manage to get a scraper underneath a section.

Not sure what’s happened, maybe the bodgetastic **** who used to live here used superglue rather than wallpaper paste. Reckon that’ll take me a good 18 more months to complete 👿

I need to show this thread to my Mrs 😆 We move into our new house next week. The boy’s bedrooms are a priority as I am not sure purple flowery and grey flowery wallpaper is how they role at 4 & 6!!

I am not looking forward to it, as I hate decorating.

We have two little houses, next door to each other. Both done out in identical F and B colours, cheated with the Wimborn White and got it copied. I always keep pots of paint for touching up. Bought a 3m roller extension pole and painted the rendered front of both houses and the tunnel in a morning without the worry of swinging around up a ladder. Once I’ve built up a head of steam (it can take some time) it’s all do-able and pretty quick.

15 years and still my place looks 90s or earlier 😀

Only room I’ve done is the Kitchen, and that was 10 years ago now so already out of date.

I have just no desire to sort it out. It’s functional so does me.

I have a need though as I want to sell to buy a bigger place. Just it seems a mammoth task to get it to the state where potential buyers aren’t going to just walk away. Daft thing is people look around commenting on cosmetic things they don’t like and that turns them off, and yet almost certainly whatever they buy they’ll redecorate anyway.

Anyway, woodchip wallpaper. Yes, woodchip! 😮 😀 I put off tackling it as I suspect it’s there to hide the awful state of the walls. And then there’s the other sin of artex ceilings. I don’t give a crap but everyone else hates them so needs sorting out to sell the place.

^^yes. When Mrs MC was selling a house she had a vendor walk away as a fence panel needed replacing, ‘too much work to do’. You can’t anticipate people’s responses. My place needed everything doing and that cheered me as it was reflected in the price and I ended up with what I wanted, others probably saw it as a nightmare.

I couldn’t have afforded a house where I live without it having been a fixed upper

Just moved into our 1960s house 2 weeks ago. The whole interior is dated and decidedly past its best at that. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t give a shit. It’s all functional. When something requires maintenance then I’ll be right on top of it but tbh I don’t see the house as a status symbol and I don’t feel the need to live up to others’ expectations with the decor.

I drive an old car that, while mechanically impeccably maintained and in top order, I can throw muddy stuff in the boot and not care, park anywhere and not worry about etc and it’s very liberating. My nature is to take the same approach to my abode.

However I fear that my girlfriend/wife in 2 months time, sees things slightly differently. 😐

13 years, recently had it redecorated in exactly the same colours as before (if it ain’t broke…). Added some nice but random bits of furniture over time. There is no cohesion or consistency. But all our visitors say they love how it looks. We like it and it’s very comfortable.

Currently selling another house; estate agents advised giving it a lick of paint, but it’s just not worth the hassle for the limited amount extra it might bring in. Whoever buys it will want to do their own thing anyway (it’s very much stuck in the era in which it was built, post war), and to be honest, it’s sad that it will lose it’s character. I can imagine the next owners will do all manner f hideous ‘improvements’ to the place. It won’t be our problem by then though.

I’ve finally accepted that avocado bathroom suites aren’t going to come back into fashion.

5 years later:

Ripped out the under stair cupboard, repapered where necessary and moved into magnolia hell.
Cavity wall insulation fitted.
Insulated and floored loft.
Threw out the bathroom carpet and replaced with cheap lino.
Replaced jurassic era electric shower.
Redone the back room (skimmed, painted, carpeted).
Ripped up front garden
Knocked down deathtrap extension. Destroyed back garden in process
Built new extension, had kitchen, new consumer unit & new combi boiler fitted. Replumbed house throughout & new rads.

To Do

Finish kitchen *sigh*
Fence & turf the garden
Rip out old kitchen & convert into study, possibly fit internal window to living room.
Fir glass doors downstairs

Then I’m allowed to start something else. Probably bathroom.
Fit glass doors

But you see pics on here of people’s living rooms etc and get slightly envious of the below par decor you are living in.

That made me laugh. A lot.

Flash man Stan – if you ever want to feel better about the mess in which you live then come and visit my humble abode. Serious invitation – you know where I am.

I care not for the more material things…

8)

With a family of 3 and a busy job each, my parents took about 28 to go from having a stone built 5 bedroom Victorian semi detached house go from needing replumbing and rewiring to become habitable (which was why it was cheap and they could afford it) to being actually quite nice and posh even, what with their pay fluctuating over the years and other things to spend the money on, like holidays and records and clothes and alcohol and that kind of thing, and nice food…and their three children most of all(!).

It was never grim, though, as layers of paint and a practical dad can cover a multitude. Thanks mum and dad. 🙂

I’ve been in pretty much a year to the day

It’s been a busy year during which I have…

Lounge: Painted walls, ceiling, skirting boards, mantlepiece, radiator & door. All plug sockets have been replaced, as have the light switches & ceiling roses. I’ve also laid a new floor.

Dining Room: Painted walls, ceiling, skirting boards, radiator & door. All plug sockets have been replaced, as have the light switches & ceiling roses. I’ve also laid a new floor.

Kitchen: Painted walls & ceiling (units are fine so no plans to replace any time soon)

All Bedrooms (of which there are four): Painted walls, ceiling, skirting boards, radiator & door(s). All plug sockets have been replaced, as have the light switches & ceiling roses. Two bedrooms had 80’s fitted wardrobes so I had to get rid of those. I also did coving in two bedrooms (two were aleady done). There was alot of making good to do in two bedrooms which previously had wallpaper and are now painted.

Hall, stairs & landing: Painted walls, ceiling, skirting boards, radiator & door(s). All plug sockets have been replaced, as have the light switches & ceiling roses.

I am currently fitting the new downstairs loo, after which I move on to the bathroom.

Then the new carpets go down in all bedrooms & on the stairs, the final job will be to lay the floor in the hallway.

The previous owner turned out to be a bit of a bodger, so I’ve had a bit more to do than I expected (very sloppy painting – some poor electricals)

I’ve done all the work myself so far, I’ve got a mate coming to do the carpets & another mate who’ll help a bit with the bathroom.

We bought a do-er upper 18 months ago.ran out of money and still need to do the kitchen.
Lived in it ,sans toddler whilst we rewired,renewed plumbing ,new bathroom ,plastered,painted,new windows,flat bastid roofs,shed& sorted the garden . No carpets and the kitchen is awful.
Also had a gas leak and we have the boiler on life support til the kitchen is done!!then there’s the gutters and the mystery damp patch..agh
I could have done a lot more tbh but you have to live your life & ride your bike!..
I give it five years to be finished….fingers crossed.

I’ve simply not the time/motivation currently to do anything DIY, if i had to buy a house again tomorrow, id but one that didn’t need anything doing to it,

1st house, was a repo, you could have live there for 10+ years and not done anything, was good

2nd house was a horror, within 12 weeks i replaced the kitchen/bathroom/removed windows/levelled floors/replaced parts of the central heating system/installed fires/repainted/recarpeted – it helped to have some money to chuck at it and we could see the potential in the “shell” – wouldn’t have bought it had we had no money to spend

3rd house, bought on the strength of refurbing no2, replaced the boiler system from a bodged GSHP to LPG bottles, needs painting throughout and new woodburner (condemned) – very liveable though

carpets in one of the bedrooms of no2 looked like this

Someone been doing bike maintenance indoors?

[taggart voice]

“There’s been a Mur-der…”

[/taggart voice]

About 4 months here in total, with an extra couple for a final few niggly jobs. Okay so the place is only 11 years old, 2 bed and we were renting previously so had 2-3 weeks with it vacant to get if recarpeted and decorated before we moved in.

So far replaced full kitchen, all flooring including laminates, new recessed lights throughout, garden tidied and decking stained, new blinds and curtains throughout, new locks, lots of furniture assembly, some plumbing work, some additional painting (highlight walls), new fitted doors to all recessed wardrobes, plus loads more little stuff. Bathrooms are fine.

Couldn’t stand living in a place that’s not as we’d want it or having all those jobs hanging over us, would rather get it done, and get on with life, riding bikes etc. We paid someone to paint the flat and make good in white before we moved in. Best £650 we ever spent.

You also have to think, by paying someone else to do stuff, it actually saves money sometimes. I’m a self employed contractor and my daily rate is higher than the daily rate I was paying the painter and decorator. The painter finished the job in 1/2 the time it would have taken me (if I’d have taken time off work to do it) – took him a full week, so estimate 2+ weeks for me. He did a better job than I would have too. No brainier really. Obviously we also got the kitchen fitted by professionals, did think about it ourselves but seeing what they did in just 3 days, so glad we didn’t.

The key to doing up a house and also living there is to make sure that you’ve ‘habitable’ rooms along with the ones that aren’t. And you ALWAYS need somewhere to cook/wash plus a toilet and bath or shower.

So while our house looked chaotic, we could still live happily in it:

Even now, 3 years later we’ve still 5h1t loads to do – but it isn’t in such a state that I/we have to work on it every ‘waking hour’.

We haven’t “done up” the kitchen or bathroom as I’m sure our original 1930s tiles are “vintage” and therefore very trendy – I just hope we find someone who agrees fairly soon, it’s up for sale…

Been in ours 3 years, house was only 15 years old, so far have all on my own, fitted second hand 9 x 3 conservatory out the back

Replaced the family bathroom, new suite and tiled top to bottom, with pumped shower fitted over bath.

Removed Kitchen / dining room wall, moved understairs opening, moved double door opening, new Kitchen, flooring, hallway etc…

Lounge and En-suite next, then its onto the garden, so hopefully only a couple more years.

Marcel

We took on a massive project(full renovation of large 5 bed Victorian terrace) 3 years ago and are 80% done. Tips:

It isn’t going to be possible to undertake this scale of thing over evenings and weekends single handed. You need time and money available.

We have been
Lucky in the form of my Mrs.being off work to look after kids (young school age) and also beinv around to both project manage/labour.

Lucky that I only have 15 min commute so can work in the evenings

Lucky that have some £ saved from inheritance and also our own savings

Also you need FOCUS. Don’t be thinking you can flit between 1 hr of diy here and there and get stuff done. You can’t. I have written last 2 winters off for anything other than working on the house. Ie working almost all evenings and weekends.

You can’t work all the time. We take the summmers off. I’m just preparing to return to the diy ing for this winter, and dreading it! (last winter now though!)

Find good builders and tradesman for work you can’t do, or that will simply be too disruptive or take too long for you to do.

Finishing is everything. How picky are you? I prefer to concentrate on finishing jobs because I’m a picky bugger. Always a bit disappointed with tradesman’s finishing work (unless paying ££££ for specialists)

I’ve no regrets, well have made a good sum on our house and its a fantastic house to live in. Also the project has been very rewarding. Would I do it again? Erm…………. Maybe

RETRO83
RETRO83

Dont piss about spending ages scraping wallpaper off. Either

Skim over (if wallpaper is very well stuck this is possible)

Overboard and skim

Take back to brick

You have to recognise the coat and.time associated with your labour! Many times it is better and cheaper to think of ways around pure sould destroting diy work.

Coat = cost

11 months in, 2.5 bed terrace. every room re-decorated bar the kitchen

70% of the way through putting a new kitchen floor in tonight – will need tomorrow eve to finish the tiles, and tues night to do the grouting. then on holiday for 2 weeks, so painting walls and refurbing the cupboard doors can wait until oct.

next job is re-staining the upstairs exterior woodwork. did all of downstairs in 3-4 hours, but don’t have a ladder long enough to do upstairs. will prob just pay a handy man to do it… new worktop can wait until next year. would like new carpets throughout, and it’s got ghastly dark stained door frames and skirting boards, but that’s a massive job and i’m relatively ambivalent towards them really.

all done on a budget, so not perfect, but good enough for most people not to notice the imperfections, and it’s my first house, so still learning really.

I have found it easier, cheaper and more convenient to “get used to” rather than “do up”.

🙂

We took 3 years to get a lampshade over the naked bulb in the bedroom…
Porch light still naked… 5.5 years.
We procrastinate on some stuff.

We bought out first house in June, 1930’s old person 3 bed semi.

We kept our rented place for 5 weeks after we got the keys to the new place. First 2 were spent on holiday, then there were 3 weeks of intensive DIY.

We stripped out the carpets from the living room, dining room, and the 3 bedrooms. Removed the woodchip wallpaper from 2 of the bedrooms, the other thankfully had “normal” wallpaper so we just painted over it. Had the 2 previously woodchipped rooms re skimmed (best decision ever) painted all the walls and picture rails in all 5 rooms. Painted the weird hard board ceilings, one of which was blue to start with, another was covered in polystyrene tiles which had to be removed, sanded back then beading replaced. must have used a gallon of caulk all round the place filling the cracks. The had laminate laid downstairs and carpets upstairs on teh final days of the 3 week period.

Hallway thankfully was inoffensive and recently decorated so we left it, the kitchen, bathroom and loo are all like stepping into a time machine to see how people lived in the 1950s, yet are functional so will likely be left for if we ever have any spare money.

In the 8 or so weeks since we have been in I have done a million man hours of Ikea furniture building as we all needed wardrobes, beds etc. Worst bit was the littleuns cabin bed, with draws, shelves and desk all built in.

Changed all the light switches and fittings that were obviously from the time when electricity was first invented. Will need to get an electrician out to look at it all properly, again in the distant future when we can afford it.

Then there is the garden, between mowing, trimming, weeding, planting it’s almost all I can be bothered to do to just stand still with that one, and thats before the tree house mrs-g wants built for the kids, or the driveway that needs widening.

Since the initial blast of the DIY things are now slowing down, but I try to set little goals as I know otherwise once I’ve lived with something for a little while I get used to it then it never gets updated. If I can gloss the doors and paint the shed this month I will have hit my target.

Longer term there is an extension to build, I have resigned myself to the fact that the house will never be finished

We lived in our 60 built/90s redcorated (badly) paradise for 20 months before we did a thing. Then we started to fix all at once, as we planned from before we even put an offer in. Planning started after about 6 months living in the house and work started 4 months ago, we are on the final stretch now.

We’ve done new boiler, re-wire, extension over 2 stories, 2 x bathrooms, kitchen, new doors, walls skimmed, carpets etc. The works.

It’s a lot of work to do all at once, we had to move out for 2 months and have spend every spare minute doing decorating, and it costs a lot in one chunk but it’s the best way IMO. Cheaper in the long run as you don’t have to do everything twice. Also you get the full benefit and can relax afterwards rather than always having another job that you really should start.

years and then we sold it. Finally finished a few days before the estate agent took his photos.

This.

Also, think Forth Road Bridge – just when you think it’s done it’s actually time to start all over again…

Just moved into a 1930s semi that has had a serious lack of maintenance, in fact anything that has been done tends to be detrimental to the house with the exception of the central heating.
I’m in the trade so skipped the full survey, that was my first mistake!
I knew it had damp issues, rotten windows, facias etc but I way underestimated the amount of work needed.
Last couple of months have been spent lowering the ground level outside to expose the dpc ( something I knew that was going to have to be done, I found 4 different concrete paving levels!) fixing leaking gutters, fixing a leaking shower, replacing drains front and back, digging out the crap from under the floorboards and getting an airflow back under the floors. Last weekend was spent reclaiming about 40 sqm of land lost at the top of the garden because the previous owners stuck a fence up inside the boundary as it was easier.
Thing is all the jobs so far with the exception of the fence are temporary fixes till I can sort them properly!
Many many more jobs to do, as well as build an extension sometime next year.
I fixed the mortgage for 5 years hopefully by the time I come to renew I’ll be done….. But I doubt it 🙁

Forth Bridge sounds about right with one caveat- if you do a proper job the first time the rework should be easy. For instance we fitted a proper drain to the central heating as well as draining lockshields meaning we can do part isolations whenever we want to take a radiator off a wall or drain and refill the system in under half an hour.

Its the little things that you do that make all the difference, costs pennies extra for the valves but the time they will save (as well as hassle) will be priceless.

2 years in to owning a 30 yr old house that still had 100% of decoration from when it was sold to the previous (and only other) owner.

About 40% in and about to tackle kitchen / wall removal / double glazing before Christmas which will have us almost done.

Been in the house 6 years. It’s a late Victorian end-of-terrace.

After taking possession, but before moving in, my father ripped out the kitchen right down to the masonry, and we did the whole thing up.

After that, it was:

1. finishing the second reception room on the ground floor(it was a tip; it’s now a library/guest room)

2. [Year 2] doing the main bathroom on the 1st floor

3. [Year 4] undertaking a loft conversion and adding second bathroom (done by a builder)

4. [Year 4] redoing all 3 bedrooms and the hallway that make up the rest of the 1st floor

5. [Present] re-doing the back garden (which we are now in the midst of)

6. [immanent] completely re-thinking and re-doing the library/guestroom