So, you see a house you like, go round, have a good look round and after making sure it won't fall down, decide to buy it and you move in 3 months later.
A few weeks go by and with an ever increasing list of things going wrong, you begin to wish you hadn't bought it!
Here's a selection of mine :
1. The muddy track/path which runs down the side of your garden (end house and nothing next to mine except a wooded area) is the rat-run between the estates for the local riff-raff and their scramblers/motorbikes/mopeds etc.
2. The speed hump (table top plateau type) outside my house is not a problem at all except when a vehicle pulling a trailer goes over it or a vehicle with loose stuff in the back (like a drop-side van/wagon), which is when they make an almighty bang like a mini bomb going off.
3. The previous owner had a cat and only moved a couple of houses away (moved in with boyfriend). Even now, 3 weeks later, the cat still thinks it lives here and spends all its time sitting on my doorstep howling and dashes in the house and hides under the sofa/behind the furniture/any other inaccessible place whenever you open an outside door. It's really pi$$ing me off and its owner won't do anything about it, like keep it inside.
4. My motor has had its o/s mirror taken off once and smashed a second time by passing traffic, even with it folded in! I decided to park it half on the pavement in an attempt to reduce any further damage, but all that's happened is that some kind soul has lightly keyed it down the n/s even though there's more than plenty of room to get things such as a double push-chair through if so required.
5. Not a major job, but the whole GCH system needed bleeding as it was full of air and even now it's pretty noisy when running; there's like a constant rushing noise. Not a problem really, but is taking some getting used to.
6. The toilet is on the verge of dying. It only flushes when it wants to and I concluded that it wasn't filling up with water properly, ie. needed the angle of the ball-cock adjusting so that the valve would stay open longer, but alas no, it's something else.
7. The wiring is absolutely horrendous and is a lot worse than first thought and will need rewiring sooner than later. The light in the hallway has to be on for the lights in the lounge to work! Same kinda thing is going on with the sockets - in fact there are a couple of bodged extensions round the house which consist of glueing(!) a plug into a socket and then connecting a socket to the other end of the wire and vaguely securing it to the wall at the other end of the room, with the wire tacked along the skirting!
Went for a shower on my first night here and after 10 mins the bathroom light went out on its own. I thought it was the bulb but 10 mins later it came back on again! In fairness it was one of those energy saving ones and that's a sign they're about to blow so I got a new bulb and now that's alright, which is more than I can say about the kitchen lights which are LV style spots on a strip.
They stay on for as long as you want but if you turn them off and then back on again, they won't come on! They will eventually come back on again if you leave them long enough (like an hour). I've concluded that the transformer behind the strip is knackered and is probably a thermal cut out of some sort going on. Thus new light required for kitchen sooner than later! More expense!
8. The TV aerial on the chimney fell off as is now lying very bent in the garden!
I guess it could be a lot worse, but when renting you can just phone someone up and get them to sort all these out foc, but now I've got to do them all myself or pay someone to do them!
So come on then, what things have you discovered/gone wrong since you moved in to your new house?
I moved in to my place in February. I have been through all this before, so it doesn't bother me. My 'snag list' so far;
1) Wiring is ok, but noticed a lot of plug sockets rely on other plug sockets to be turned on! My father in law worked for LEB for 35 years, he said it's fine, looks like a job he would have done! LOL
2) My wife counts, I am sure she is retarded! (hope she doesn't read this!) Anyway, she counts stairs and stuff as she walks up them! She was really pleased to discover the stairs had 14 steps as opposed to 13 at the last house. She failed to notice that the steps were smaller, and promptly fell from the top to the bottom on her backside! One night in casualty and 2 weeks off work!
3) Cooker included in the sale, gas rings fine, oven not fine. Could not get it to work, so new cooker £400.
4) GCH, works fine in mild weather, but struggles to heat up radiators in freezing weather. Need Melboy to advise me on this one!
5) Power shower is at wrong end of bath. It is not above the taps. Fine you say? Well, muggins here is having a shower and the bath slopes up at the non tap end, and I slipped and crashed in a heap in the bath. Made of sterner stuff, so no casualty and no time off work.
6) Garage door does not open easily, in fact you have to thump the top of the door very noisily to open it. I notice the top of the garage wall above the door has drooped downwards, it has even bent the rsj or metal support thingy. So, builder required, but for now, a good solid thumping will do. Not picked up on survey!
7) Discovered I have a pond in the garden, it was covered by an out of control leylandii, and discovered by my 4 year old nephew as he fell in it recovering his football. One wet boy! I cut back leylandii, and then discovered it is full of Koi when I saw my cat with one in his mouth! I now need to feed said fish, and have no clue as to how to care for them.
8) We are located on one of the premier roads in our town, lovely! However, this does mean that every odd job man, driveway consultant, window specialist, roofing contractor, Jehovah's witness thinks it is ok to knock our door of an evening!
I could go on, but all the above is now growing on me. It is the character of the house!
AND, I should mention the positives!
It is a 3 bed semi, same as my previous new build house, except built in 1965, but it is TWICE the size! The location is lovely, the neighbours are great, I have a gate at the bottom of the garden that takes you straight onto open playing fields. I can park 5 cars on the drive, I can spend a little money but add a great amount of value to the property. I have room to extend at the front, side and rear. I have 3 large reception rooms and don't know what to do with them all! I am 5 minutes walk from major retailers, but it is so quiet you would think you were in the country. Both myself and my wife really love the house, and are so pleased we moved. We can stay here forever!
The kitchen, which is easily twice the size of our old one has got b*u*g*g*e*r all storage space. The boiler, which was 'serviced' before we moved in, did not work for three weeks - combi, so no hot water or heating - and cost nearly £300 to put right. The bathroom light stays on unless the extractor fan is switched on about 10 minutes before running the bath. The kitchen tap drips, still, despite 'too many to mention' attempts at fixing. They have just move round the corner and all the neighbours keep telling us about 'what a nice couple they were'. Oh, and the neighbours don't like the fact that we got the house cheap because 'the nice couple' were desperate to sell and our purchase stands out like a huge 'blip' on nethouse prices.
I still can't figure out why I didn't realise how noisy the traffic was.
moved from a very quiet off-road location to this house on a main road ten years ago; admittedly traffic has got far worse since County Council's schemes on other roads have led to its developing into a rat run, but even so, you'd think I'd have noticed it. I sure did the day we moved in!
thank god for secondary glazing eh?
behind every successful man is a disbelieving mother-in-law
Originally posted by Rob K: 2. The speed hump (table top plateau type) outside my house is not a problem at all except when a vehicle pulling a trailer goes over it or a vehicle with loose stuff in the back (like a drop-side van/wagon), which is when they make an almighty bang like a mini bomb going off. R
This is exactly what happened to me when I moved in to my previous house. Only after completion did I find out that the sound of people crossing the speedbump, especially heavier vehicles, was sometimes very loud and could actually make the house vibrate. At night when I was in bed, it sounded like the sound was coming from my living room. Several times at the beginning I'd creep back downstairs convinced that I was being burgled!
I had the usual dripping taps, dodgy wiring etc but I must say I expect it when I buy a house as people usually move for a reason or at the very least when they know they are moving will not bother with all the odd jobs.
What I didn't expect though was a psychotic neighbour who hates children and talks to birds and screams at me for daring to eat a bbq in the garden at 9pm on a sat evening!!
Oh I also forgot to mention that there's a bus stop just past my house, and when the bus is stopped at it, the arse end of the bus is level with my side hedge. With my motor parked outside my house, the bus sticks out into the road slightly when at the stop and since I've moved in a big yellow sign has appeared on the lamp post outside my house saying "NO STOPPING AT ANY TIME". Needless to say that didn't stay there long! Early hours of the following morning when everyone was in bed and there was no-one about, out came the socket set and it was off in 10 seconds and carefully deposed off deep in the undergrowth behind my house. Bloody cheek of it!
For all I care I could have stayed there, as long as they pay for and put me in a nice drive way or hard standing!
Stateofplay, I count stairs too! I have 13. I know I have 13 but I still count them. My boyf thinks it's a tad strange. In a bar last weekend I went up the stairs to visit the ladies and announced to him on my return that there were 20 stairs. He looked somewhat bemused.
*It is not necessary to understand things in order to argue about them. -- Pierre De Beaumarchais
When I went to view the flat for the 1st time, my mum came with me. We went up the stairs and the vendor was talking to the neighbour. It then transpired that the vendor had lost her keys and had to break into her own flat (by taking out the bottom panel) and crawl inside. I also crawled inside but my mother, being a bit bigger and in her early 60s, had to wait for me to finish the viewing. I still put an offer in for it though...I certainly wouldn't have raised my offer as the flat was a bit of a mess inside.
The flat I bought was ex council and was aware that it would need a bit of work doing to it. However in retrospect I wish that I lowered my asking price by £4,005 for what I have had to spend...and so to avoid having to pay stamp duty.
I eventually picked up the keys from the Estate Agents in October 2004, went to my new flat, unlocked the door was greeted by a neighbour's cat. It obviously wasn't expecting any visitors as the flat had been empty for some weeks. The cat shot out of the door. The old Council door did have a cat "hatch"(rather than a "flap", which was missing)
I treaded carefully over the weeks of junkmail and a few weeks worth of "The Advertiser" free papers,and I heard a gushing sound...
I went quickly to the bathroom and saw that the hot tap was dribbling. I gasped and tried to turn the tap off fully but to no avail. The taps looked liked the original taps (about 44 years old) so I had the bath taps and sink taps replaced. Just as well the flat didn't have a water meter!
The plumbers who fitted the taps asked my if I knew that I had a cracked toilet pan. I said that I didn't and queried with them if that was why there was only a small amount of water in there. Got them to quote me for replacing a new loo but I got a plumber to fit a new toilet and sistern (he quoted a lower price for the job).
There was note from the vendor addressed to me saying that she was really sorry but she had lost the key to the storage shed. She said she was going to dump everything in there anyway. I eventually got round to clearing out the shed after I moved in, lots of letters addressed to her at HMP Holloway and a photo of her hard-looking boyfriend and parts from a Ford Anglia. I took 3 trips to the dump to clear out what I didn't want from the shed but at least I got some badly needed storage space.
The old council front door looked in poor condition upon close inspection, there was a chunk of wood that was taken out where the mortice lock was housed. I t was really loose and a not-so-hard kick would have forced the door open. I had no intentions on replacing the old door, I just had plans to repaint it. However I replaced it with a boring uPVC door but with a 5 point lock...just what every property in an area like mine needs.
One of the panelled doors had a panel missing and my dad spotted another panelled door had woodworm. So thats 2 new doors that had to be fitted.
The vendor left me 2 oversized DFS sofas which took up a lot of room in the rather awkward living room. I kept them until a couple of weeks after I moved in (December 2004). My mum contacted the Salvation Army on my behalf to remove them but they couldn't get them out the door. In the end my dad and I (and subsequently a neighbour) had to remove one of the wooden window openings and slide the sofas down the the ladder, very gingerly.
The kitchen, which albiet needs replacing, has 500mm deep base units whereas the industry standard is 600mmm deep. This is a problem as the kitchen is very narrow. Replacing the kitchen will be more expensive than anticipated.
I had trouble getting the gas fire to work (ignition via a back boiler). I spoke to my neighbour who lived below me who said "I heard you trying to get your fire to work the other day. Chloe (my vendor) used to have the same trouble". I could have lived without it if only the vendor hadn't removed the main radiator in the living room (there was a working radiator at the other end of the living room but this more of a dining area, narrower in size and there is also the doorway to the kitchen there) My sister lent me an electric heater, which quickly consumed the prepayment electricity tokens.
The central heating was in poor condition so I decided to get the whole lot replaced. Had to borrow half of the money from my parents. I did away with the gas fire and had a combi boiler fitted instead because I didn't consider the fire to be that important in a 1 bedroom flat and I could use the valuble wall space.
Shortly after moving in I went to work and forgot to draw my curtains (it was still dark when I left the flat). The plumber who did my central heating was due round that day for the quote for the central heating. My mum let him him. She phoned up to say that a pellet had been fired at my living room window. She reported it to the poilce. The pellet had broke the pane of glass in two.
I was 99% sure it was the hoodie I ended up moving next door to (he lived there with his mum and her partner), who didn't work and had a bit too much time on his hands. Of course, without any witnesses, there was no prosecution.
I suspect the same guy chucked an egg at my living room window, I quickly opened the curtain and I saw him quickly disappear from his bedroom window
I think the same person is reponsible for a few random acts of vandalism to my car, removing dust caps from the tyres and smashing the indicator lense. Again I cannot prove this.
Some passing vehicle (likely a bus) hit my car that was parked on the road. No-one owned up so I had to claim off the insurance, I had to pay the £150 Excess but thankfully I didn't loose any no-claims bonus.
So in my 1st year I have lived in the flat, you could say I was very much against all the odds! However, things have been getting better. I have had the windows double glazed, a water meter installed, a good deal with my gas and electricity supplier and I now have the conventional electricity and gas meters. The thug and his don't-give-a-shit mother & partner have sold their flat for an obscene sum (the sale is still to be completed I think as no new neighbours as yet).
There is still the bathroom & kitchen to sort out but hopefully I can get these sorted out in the next 18 months and my flat will be worth a fair bit more than I paid for it.
Originally posted by queenstomper: Stateofplay, I count stairs too! I have 13. I know I have 13 but I still count them. My boyf thinks it's a tad strange. In a bar last weekend I went up the stairs to visit the ladies and announced to him on my return that there were 20 stairs. He looked somewhat bemused.
Oh thank god, I thought I had married a weirdo, but at least someone else out there does it!
Originally posted by MattW: Oh great, I love reading stories like this.
When I went to view the flat for the 1st time, my mum came with me. We went up the stairs and the vendor was talking to the neighbour. It then transpired that the vendor had lost her keys and had to break into her own flat (by taking out the bottom panel) and crawl inside. I also crawled inside but my mother, being a bit bigger and in her early 60s, had to wait for me to finish the viewing. I still put an offer in for it though...I certainly wouldn't have raised my offer as the flat was a bit of a mess inside.
The flat I bought was ex council and was aware that it would need a bit of work doing to it. However in retrospect I wish that I lowered my asking price by £4,005 for what I have had to spend...and so to avoid having to pay stamp duty.
I eventually picked up the keys from the Estate Agents in October 2004, went to my new flat, unlocked the door was greeted by a neighbour's cat. It obviously wasn't expecting any visitors as the flat had been empty for some weeks. The cat shot out of the door. The old Council door did have a cat "hatch"(rather than a "flap", which was missing)
I treaded carefully over the weeks of junkmail and a few weeks worth of "The Advertiser" free papers,and I heard a gushing sound...
I went quickly to the bathroom and saw that the hot tap was dribbling. I gasped and tried to turn the tap off fully but to no avail. The taps looked liked the original taps (about 44 years old) so I had the bath taps and sink taps replaced. Just as well the flat didn't have a water meter!
The plumbers who fitted the taps asked my if I knew that I had a cracked toilet pan. I said that I didn't and queried with them if that was why there was only a small amount of water in there. Got them to quote me for replacing a new loo but I got a plumber to fit a new toilet and sistern (he quoted a lower price for the job).
There was note from the vendor addressed to me saying that she was really sorry but she had lost the key to the storage shed. She said she was going to dump everything in there anyway. I eventually got round to clearing out the shed after I moved in, lots of letters addressed to her at HMP Holloway and a photo of her hard-looking boyfriend and parts from a Ford Anglia. I took 3 trips to the dump to clear out what I didn't want from the shed but at least I got some badly needed storage space.
The old council front door looked in poor condition upon close inspection, there was a chunk of wood that was taken out where the mortice lock was housed. I t was really loose and a not-so-hard kick would have forced the door open. I had no intentions on replacing the old door, I just had plans to repaint it. However I replaced it with a boring uPVC door but with a 5 point lock...just what every property in an area like mine needs.
One of the panelled doors had a panel missing and my dad spotted another panelled door had woodworm. So thats 2 new doors that had to be fitted.
The vendor left me 2 oversized DFS sofas which took up a lot of room in the rather awkward living room. I kept them until a couple of weeks after I moved in (December 2004). My mum contacted the Salvation Army on my behalf to remove them but they couldn't get them out the door. In the end my dad and I (and subsequently a neighbour) had to remove one of the wooden window openings and slide the sofas down the the ladder, very gingerly.
The kitchen, which albiet needs replacing, has 500mm deep base units whereas the industry standard is 600mmm deep. This is a problem as the kitchen is very narrow. Replacing the kitchen will be more expensive than anticipated.
I had trouble getting the gas fire to work (ignition via a back boiler). I spoke to my neighbour who lived below me who said "I heard you trying to get your fire to work the other day. Chloe (my vendor) used to have the same trouble". I could have lived without it if only the vendor hadn't removed the main radiator in the living room (there was a working radiator at the other end of the living room but this more of a dining area, narrower in size and there is also the doorway to the kitchen there) My sister lent me an electric heater, which quickly consumed the prepayment electricity tokens.
The central heating was in poor condition so I decided to get the whole lot replaced. Had to borrow half of the money from my parents. I did away with the gas fire and had a combi boiler fitted instead because I didn't consider the fire to be that important in a 1 bedroom flat and I could use the valuble wall space.
Shortly after moving in I went to work and forgot to draw my curtains (it was still dark when I left the flat). The plumber who did my central heating was due round that day for the quote for the central heating. My mum let him him. She phoned up to say that a pellet had been fired at my living room window. She reported it to the poilce. The pellet had broke the pane of glass in two.
I was 99% sure it was the hoodie I ended up moving next door to (he lived there with his mum and her partner), who didn't work and had a bit too much time on his hands. Of course, without any witnesses, there was no prosecution.
I suspect the same guy chucked an egg at my living room window, I quickly opened the curtain and I saw him quickly disappear from his bedroom window
I think the same person is reponsible for a few random acts of vandalism to my car, removing dust caps from the tyres and smashing the indicator lense. Again I cannot prove this.
Some passing vehicle (likely a bus) hit my car that was parked on the road. No-one owned up so I had to claim off the insurance, I had to pay the £150 Excess but thankfully I didn't loose any no-claims bonus.
So in my 1st year I have lived in the flat, you could say I was very much against all the odds! However, things have been getting better. I have had the windows double glazed, a water meter installed, a good deal with my gas and electricity supplier and I now have the conventional electricity and gas meters. The thug and his don't-give-a-shit mother & partner have sold their flat for an obscene sum (the sale is still to be completed I think as no new neighbours as yet).
There is still the bathroom & kitchen to sort out but hopefully I can get these sorted out in the next 18 months and my flat will be worth a fair bit more than I paid for it.
7) Discovered I have a pond in the garden, it was covered by an out of control leylandii, and discovered by my 4 year old nephew as he fell in it recovering his football. One wet boy! I cut back leylandii, and then discovered it is full of Koi when I saw my cat with one in his mouth! I now need to feed said fish, and have no clue as to how to care for them.
Well Koi need very good filtration if they are to remain disease free, a lot of work on the pond, and specific food... so if you are not a fish nut, then don't keep them... but the good news is, Koi are worth a lot of money. Healthy Koi go from £100 upwards. I would advise you to contact your local fish farm, and either give them away, or offer them up for sale (if they are healthy).
I can't believe anyone abandoned Koi in a buried pond... that's like leaving your cat behind in a dliapidated garden shed!
ps. I count stairs too... I can't help it... I think girls learn it when attempting to glide like a model... ie without looking down... so if you know how many stairs you have to negotiate, then you don't have to look down when you use them... at least... that's My excuse
Ary.
-------------------------------------- ***Do not, I repeat Do NOT feed the Trolls! *** *** All Hail the mighty hamsters! ***
Mostly my new house is bliss. But I realised I had sewage sloshing out of a manhole in the front garden this weekend. I lifted the cover in the spirit of "i'm sure I can sort this with an old rusty coathanger, a pair of gloves, and a bit of good old british grit." I took one look at the hole full of soggy loo roll and floating turds and dropped the cover back over the top, and resolved to call a drain man on monday morning.
I never had to deal with such things in my old flat!
Since moving in our house we have had loads wrong.
Whole new heating system including fire place after ours was condemed. A cost of just under £3k.The night B4 it was condemed we spent out £450 on new kitchen units
First night in the house took us over an hour to cook a defrosted pizza in the oven! Still putting up with oven but seems to be geting better. odd.
After our neighbours drains blocked we found out we have 2 drains in our back garden which were under paving slabs. Worst of all the slabs were just sat on top of the drain covers which have almost totaly rusted away.
We have 13 electric sockets INSIDE the kitchen cabinates.
We had no garage key left so had to break in and buy a new lock.
The outside light would not switch of ever. It had no switch and we could not find out where it was connected to. So we had to replace it.
The light in the back garden has had the cable cut!
The hot water tap in the kitchen leaks and the one in the bath.
Decided to dig up part of the garden last weekend and found a patio underneath it!!
On top of all the things in the house we have had 14 letters for balifs aswell as balifs on the door step. All for the old people - none for us.
Apart from all that the house is great, its just a pain and all the extra costs after spending almost all our savings on buying the house. Just means having to do more overtime.
Would'ent it be good if you could test drive a house b4 moving in???
Chappers, surely when you spent £450 on new kitchen units you'd have had the common sense to relocate the sockets to somewhere more sensible after you ripped out the old units?
have not fitted the new kitchen yet but yes the sockets will be relocated. Not into any cupbords.
Forgot to say earlier we also found an extension lead running across the top of the wall units and into the wall. Have not looked into it yet - waiting for my father in law 2 come round.
The guy that use to live here was a plasterer(?) and i think he thought he could do anything. The thing is its all cowboy work.
:
I know I have 13 but I still count them. My boyf thinks it's a tad strange. In a bar last weekend I went up the stairs to visit the ladies and announced to him on my return that there were 20 stairs. He looked somewhat bemused.
She said she was going to dump everything in there anyway. I eventually got round to clearing out the shed after I moved in, lots of letters addressed to her at HMP Holloway 
and a photo of her hard-looking boyfriend and parts from a Ford Anglia. I took 3 trips to the dump to clear out what I didn't want from the shed but at least I got some badly needed storage space.
I did away with the gas fire and had a combi boiler fitted instead because I didn't consider the fire to be that important in a 1 bedroom flat and I could use the valuble wall space.
All Hail the mighty hamsters! 
