Post # 1
Member
1751 posts
Buzzing bee
Darling Husband and I bought our first house together 3 weeks ago. It’s a fixer upper and our mortgage is half of what we were paying in rent (score!) We moved in 2 weeks ago and started our renovation. We bought the house off of a family friend of DH’s. She let us in on all the information and secrets of the house. She said it was rewired recently, all the appliances were in great shape, no major problems that she knew of. She told us we will need to add insulation under the bedrooms and in the attic, three outlets needed replaced because she broke things in them and the plugs were stuck (super scary) and replace some of the windows because they are only single paned.
Not a big deal.
Wrong! We moved in and one of the first things we did was replace the light fixtures. Everything looked good and was really easy except for the dining room light. My cousin came over to look and he said it was still the old knob and tube wiring. So he rewired the light and one of the outlets, and doing so he had to rip out a wall. Ugh. I still have no idea why someone would rewire an entire house EXCEPT for one light fixture and one outlet.
Then we moved onto painting the kitchen cabinets. Everytime I was near the sink, I smelt natural gas. I had Darling Husband and even my mom come over to smell and they swore they didn’t smell anything and I was just paranoid. *More on this later* The dishwasher had a terrible smell from what we believed was sitting water so we decided to run it once to get the smell out. A couple minutes after it started, we found out one of the water pipes was just sitting under the sink and started draining out old brown water everywhere. IT WAS AWFUL. Then the dishwasher started smoking!! We unplugged it and took it outside. UGH!
Last Wednesday we finally had the kitchen done, so I started putting stuff away. Once again I was under the sink and I smelt the gas again…but this time my mom did too. We called the gas company and sure enough, there was a gas leak in the basement. DH’s dad is a Landlord so he had some guys he uses to replace all of the gas lines inside and out.
Well it’s been 5 days and we still have no gas. Everytime the gas company comes over to inspect their work, they flag something else that we need to fix.
There was honestly no point in this post other than for me to vent about what a mess this has been. I am kinda missing the days when all we had to do was call our landlord and he fixed it.
Post # 2
Member
3039 posts
Sugar bee
But it will get better, even if it goes slowly, and then you’ll feel so proud of the work you’ve done!
We just got our first house this summer, it’s 100-years-old and needs lots of love, and at times it is frustrating. Then I remind myself that we’re doing all this work for US, and that we’re the ones that will rake the benefits from it in the end. That has really helped me keep the energy levels up!
Hoping things will go a little smoother for you from now on!
Post # 3
Member
1710 posts
Bumble bee
We did a lot of work in our current house (our starter home). We recently house hunted and bought brand new because I did not want to have to go through that again! A lot of times older homes turn into money pits. Hopefully it gets better for you!
Post # 4
Member
14657 posts
Honey Beekeeper
I know your pain. Welcome to home ownership, it’s *never* just what you see on the surface or what you think is wrong. Start peeking around, and you’ll find more wrong. We bought what we thought was a good condition newish 1988 house, and we’ve had pipe leaks (4 spots in one pipe line, a burst pipe in the basement), leak in the oil tank valve, hot water heater broke, fridge broke, AC’s gone out twice, chimney leak, roof leak, rotted siding, rotted window sills, rotted support beam, squirrel infestation, garage doors broke… 4 years of non stop fixing and updating. I’m still hoping for an end to all this to just enjoy living here.
Post # 5
Member
3688 posts
Sugar bee
Did you not have an inspection done?
Post # 7
Member
437 posts
Helper bee
You didn’t get a home inspection? You trusted her word? Family, friends, or not… I would never trust anybody to be honest with such a big purchase on the line.
With that said, I feel your pain. Our projects are self-inflicted. It’s more of a wouldn’t it be neat if… and then boom before I know it we are living in a construction zone. We just got done taking down a wall and while the end product was totally worth it… we lost our main living areas for three weeks. I couldn’t vacuum for three weeks! It hurt my soul.
Edited to add: A lot of her “updates” are probably not up to code. Expect more crappy work.
Post # 8
Member
46646 posts
Honey Beekeeper
BakerBee16: Another example of why you need an inspection especially when you are buying from friends or family. People lie.
Post # 9
Member
6005 posts
Bee Keeper
BakerBee16: Welcome to home ownership! Although I agree, this is a lot in a short amount of time. There’s a trade off to paying less for a mortgage than for rent — you get to fix stuff! But that’s a lot of stuff. So far in 1.5 yrs we have had 2 pipes burst and needed a roof replaced and insulation added after the ice dams ruined an inside wall. Fun fun FUN! I still wouldn’t trade it, though.
Post # 10
Member
1477 posts
Bumble bee
BakerBee16: My first thought was also, “why didn’t the inspector catch this?” Did you not have a home inspection conducted prior to closing?
Post # 11
Member
579 posts
Busy bee
BakerBee16: Having just bought a place, I hate saying it but this is normal. Ours got a electrical compliance certificate, but it is a joke. No ways it should have, the issues are too numerous to count. When you buy a place there are always things that need fixing that you don’t know baout before. My mom keeps telling me that Rome wasn’t built in a day. We have done all the urgent stuff but now we need to pay that off before we can do the rest.
Post # 12
Member
1751 posts
Buzzing bee
All of the utilities were shut off and my Father-In-Law who owns tons of rental properties told us it would be pointless to get an inspection because they wouldn’t really find anything without anything being turned on. Plus with the lady being such good friends of DH’s family, everyone told us not to do it. She gave us lists of everything she had updated, worked on, etc. Hindsight is always 20/20. The house was built in 1940 so we knew there was a lot of work that was going to be involved…I just didn’t know most of it would happen within the first 3 weeks of owning it!
Post # 13
Member
2640 posts
Sugar bee
- Wedding: April 2014 - Italian Villa
BakerBee16: What a headache! We are renovating our house, too. So far the worst issue was with the new tub my dad helped us install. I guess he didn’t hook up the drain properly, bcause the first time I tried to use it, there was a cascade of water running down the circuit brekaer box for the whole house- conveniently located in the garage beneath the bathroom 
You’re not alone, and it will get better! The good news is that with these problems popping up now, you are likely to find any other major issues (I’m guessing your Father-In-Law is taking a closer look at the place for you, now).
Post # 14
Member
284 posts
Helper bee
I feel your pain… Not to the same extent but I get it. My Darling Husband and I bought our forever home at the end of August and we’ve been renovating since. I’m also a realtor so of course I’m all for inspections, it’s hard for even a home owner to know everything that’s wrong with their homes. We had our home inspected by a general inspector, pest control, electrician, plumber and my DH’s company’s Maintenance Area Supervisor and we still got hit with a bunch of hidden problems once we started tearing down walls and moving electrical lines and plumbing. Though we already expected it, it’s still a hard pill to swallow!! We are also lucky enough to get to live in my DH’s bachelor pad until our house is ready. I think we would kill each other if we were in that house with all the work being done. Another tip is normally in an offer the buyer can opt for the seller to provide an appliance home warranty not to exceed $xxx amount. It is generally a couple hundred dollars and is only purchase if the house’s appliances start defecting within a warranted time period.
