First-Time Homeowners Are Sharing The Basic Maintenance Mistakes That Tripped Them Up, And All I Can Say Is "Yikes"
Buying a home seems like a never-ending quest in today's housing market, but closing on a house is just the beginning. Once you're an owner, it seems like there's always something that needs to be fixed, maintained, redecorated, or renovated. Recently, first-time homeowners of Reddit shared the big mistakes they made in taking care of their homes, and it gave me a lot to think about. Here are some of the top comments:
1."I thought the weep holes were cracks."
"What are weep holes?"
"Weep holes are holes on the exterior of the building (facade). It's only installed on a masonry wall such as bricks or CMU (concrete masonry unit blocks). It's installed to let water out if it gets behind the masonry and also let the inside breathe so moisture doesn't build. I believe holes under your windows on the exterior are also called weep holes.
Regardless of the location, it's installed to ensure water doesn't get stuck in the locations it shouldn't."
2."I planted a garden before I knew how much light my yard got when the trees actually had leaves. Full sun in winter does not equate to full sun in summer."
3."Spending too much time and money on 'want to have' projects and not saving up for the 'must have' projects that pop up suddenly."
4."Blocking the HVAC return vent with the couch and not replacing the filter. It caused the motor to die and needed a whole system replacement. Very expensive mistake. Leave at least a few inches gap, and set reminders to change the filter."
5."Buying a house with a non-spouse isn’t a great idea."
"Worst idea ever. Friends do this, too, and I have seen a pair of married couples that shared a house. I am a lawyer, and this pretty much always ends horrifically."
6."I thought I could fix all the little things wrong in just a couple of months if I dedicated every weekend to it! Several years later and I still don’t have doors on my still unpainted kitchen cabinets."
7."Don't hire a handyman to do ANY water work. Even replacing a faucet. Call a certified, insured plumber with good reviews."
"I had a handyman use the wrong type of glue for my WATER MAIN VALVE, and when I later had a plumber come for something else, he saw it and was like, 'Um, this is literally a ticking time bomb.' Never again."
8."Not having any money left after close. Living paycheck to paycheck while trying to fix stuff is terrible for your spouse, family, and finances."
9."The previous owners left a lot of junk in the basement and shed. I didn’t know I could have reached out through my realtor to ask them to clear it out. 10 years later, the stuff is still in the basement because I don’t have the resources to get rid of it."
10."I wish I would have looked at my library's 'library of things' online before buying so many niche tools for this new home. I spent $30-$40 on a wallpaper remover. I only have wallpaper in one room, but renting it would have been at least $25. If I had checked my local library's website, I would have realized I could have reserved it and picked it up for free, then returned it after using it."
11."Coming from apartment living, I didn't really have a grasp of the upkeep the yard required. I basically neglected it for a solid year and created a massive problem for myself that I'm still working on fixing several years later."
"Yeah, same. I vastly underestimated how long it would take to mow my yard, even with a lot of garden beds. I've slowly been turning the whole thing into garden beds so that I don't have to mow it at all. I'd rather putter around and pull weeds than mow the fucking lawn."
12."Ignored the fact that my insulation wasn't sufficient to keep the home heated in winter (the HVAC couldn't keep up) until we had a sudden dip in temperature on Christmas Eve, my indoor pipes froze, and I spent Christmas Day feeling like an icicle while also dealing with a burst pipe. I was fortunate that I actually saw it happen and shut the water main off immediately, so all I had to deal with was the repair of the pipe itself and no additional water damage."
"I spent $5k getting the attic insulation re-done which hurt at the time, but has definitely been worth it."
13."I mistakenly caulked all of my windows shut."
14."In my first week, I was installing a chair rail, and the brad nail hit a copper pipe in the wall and flooded the whole bathroom. I had no idea where the water shut off (because I was stupid and inexperienced) and so the water just kept going everywhere until the emergency plumber came. The bathroom was destroyed. It was a nightmare, but I learned a lot from it. I’m much more prepared for self-inflicted emergencies these days."
15."Thinking that the 'Home Warranty Plan' provided by the seller during escrow was actually going to be useful. Those companies are the biggest scam around. They will do anything to deny a claim or slow-roll you until you give up. And they contract with THE WORST providers they can find anyway, so don't bother."
"Agree. Not worth it. I had the home warranty company send someone to take a look at my AC unit to determine whether it needed replacing or could be repaired.
It is common for AC units to be on the roof in my area.
AC professional contracted with the home warranty company told me he was afraid to go on the roof to check the unit and I don’t think he ever did. He was agitated and anxious the whole time he was here. That did not instill confidence in me. I went with a different company and paid out of pocket. The HW was a waste for me. I did not renew.
FYI: I have a single-story ranch-style house, and I have a fear of heights. Over time, I learned to go on the roof regularly to blow off leaves several times a year. An AC pro should be doing that every day... It was odd."
16."Not repainting the entire house before moving in. We bought a new build, so it looked great, and we liked the color. We bought from a local builder after it was already completed, and although they didn’t skimp on anything else, they really chose the cheapest, most stainable, scratch-able, nonprotective, not water resistant (even in the bathrooms!!), un-washable paint that I have ever encountered."
"We’ve dented our drywall by barely bumping into walls in multiple places. I am soooo dreading the eventual paint job we’re in store for, but it has to be done."
17."Trusting a realtor, inspector, and seller. The foundation wall was cracked and bowing. Unfortunately, we didn't find out until a year later, when the paneling that was installed over it began separating from the wall and the basement flooded. We didn't know we could have sued for non-disclosure then. It's now been 18 years."
"The house also has old cloth wire and knob and tube panel box. We did ask for an upgraded panel box at the time. The roof had three layers of shingles, which the inspector never mentioned. Had gas heat but no AC. He wouldn't even look in the attic as the access was too small. So I'm sure there is no recourse.
My brother and I were both 19 or 20 when we bought the home with a VA loan. The wall was cracked below the ground surface outside. So you could not see it. Anyway, the house is almost paid off now, and we had the roof replaced during the last bad storm with hail and wind damage this year. Still needs a lot of work as we find more and more issues as it was an older house, like no insulation in exterior walls.
We should have passed on it at the time, but it was dolled up with fresh paint and new carpet. No one in our family had ever owned a home before, and we always moved around a lot. So this was pretty important to us then."
18."I planted hostas along my driveway to conceal the gutter downspouts. It worked really well. So well that I forgot to ever check on the gutters, which had since been crushed/diverted, so they were pouring rainwater into the thin patch of dirt between my house and driveway. Finally noticed when water started sleeping through the drywall of our finished basement."
19."Not factoring in how expensive it is to have trees removed when they’re rotting, falling over, or encroaching on structures. If you want trees on your property, that’s totally fine. I suggest avoiding anything where trees are difficult to remove. Through a series of unfortunate events, I have had to pay almost $18k in non-negotiable tree removal in the last 15 months."
20."Not keeping track of all the work we did. If you ever move again, you're going to need to reference all the work you did, who did it, and how much it cost. Most people do a lot of work in the first year, so be sure to keep track of what you did in a simple spreadsheet. Bonus points if you hold onto receipts and take pictures of the work before, in process, and after."
21."Freaking out about every little flaw I noticed."
"This is such an 'I'm the dad now' moment.
I remember growing up thinking, 'Why don't my parents just FIX these little things that aren't quite right around the house?'
Now I get it. You work all day, do family stuff all weekend, and often do several things in the evenings of the weekdays, too. There is basically no time/energy to fix small things that don't actually cause a significant problem."
22."My place came with an avocado washer/dryer unit from 1985. Without even trying it, I deemed it too old and probably rusty. I spent about $2,000 on a full-sized front-loading washer and dryer set that I stacked. The new washer always stunk. And it broke within three years. I replaced it with a small, basic unit. No problems so far. Newer does NOT equal better. I won't make that mistake again."
23."I was eager to use my new gas grill. I put it on the deck and fired it up. While it got warm, I went inside to prep the food. About 10 minutes later, I went back outside to see the vinyl siding behind the grill drooping about 4 feet in the center of a 20-foot wide perimeter of the grill. 15 years later, and I'm still not sure what to do there."
24."Going with the contractor/construction crew our realtor works with to update homes. We know now he is a shitty house flipper who doesn’t get permits. We’ve had to pay for updates/fixes that we found out were done illegally or incredibly poorly. Just found out the other day they used duct tape to secure the vent from our range in our attic, and it’s just pointed in some random direction, which thankfully hasn’t led to any mold before we got the chance to fix it."
25."I poured coffee grounds down the sink, and it clogged the system all up. I had to call a plumber."
"I JUST did this. First home and first garbage disposal. Calling the plumber tomorrow."
26."Do you have oil heat? If yes, get a rider on your insurance for oil leaks/spills. Oil tanks need to be replaced every 20 years. Ours just leaked 200 gallons, and we don’t have insurance that covers that. We are looking at paying $100-$200k to clean up the mess. It is devastating."
"We won’t know the final cost until they can establish if they need to dig the soil out from under the house. The house is on a slab. The first two weeks have cost $30k."
27.And finally, "I let the kid flush 'flushable' wipes. Didn't seem to matter in a highrise condo, but in a single-family home, it sure did!"
Have you made any mistakes when it comes to taking good care of your home? Tell me what went wrong in the comments!
