House Gripes

[Ladyzekke]

Well we all live Somewhere, and a lot of us move several times throughout the years, what is your current housing situation? A House? Apartment? Highrise? In the city? Countryside home? Other? But mostly what about the inside? What things about your current "home" that you do not like, and would like to see changed/fixed?

I'll start:

Live in a townhouse we bought two years ago, two levels, in the city. I hate my upstairs bathroom LOL. It is the Main bathroom, as the one in the basement has no shower, just sink and toilet. Sheesh the sinks in both bathrooms are these tiny little things, only about four inches max of an edge (so forget being able to put deo or hairspray, etc. on the edge of the sink). Also, the upstairs bathroom has this weird small three-piece mirror thing going on above the sink. At first I thought it was kinda cool, you could open up three little mirror doors for the medicine cabinet. But in the end it is just a pain because you have to keep flattening out all three pieces to look in the mirror clearly, and placing long objects like swissors, etc. in the medicine cabinet is a chore. sigh. Oh! And the tub sucks too LOL. It is all new, all plastic, but it has no slot to put soap or hang a washcloth. Has one part where the plastic curves out on the wall, providing a three inch ledge, but it is so slippery and such a small area, it is useless! Soap slides off of it, shampoo bottles are too large and you end up bumping them and they take a header... Bought this metal thing with suction cups that is supposed to hold shampoos, etc. in the shower, you like just stick it to the wall the tub/shower area, worked like a charm, for about three weeks, then it fell. Nothing like metal on the top bridge of your foot. Yee hawww! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Oh, and I hate the windows in this house. Got this gigantic window in the living room, from the floor up to the ceiling, with wooden frames in the window. Had to get long venetian blinds else the entire world could see into the living room (have a highrise also across the way - can't ever discount freaks with telescopes, you'd be surprised my friends...). [img]tongue.gif[/img] Then the windows in all the rooms on the top level are so frikken high up. You have to stand to see out of them. Why so high??! It sucks cause there is no sitting and looking out a window I hate that... Soooo, nowww, with a bit of "help from my friends", my entire desk, holding my TV, VCR, PC and all, is now on a large platform, so I can see out the window LOL. I have a step to get up to my platform to my desk now (aka Commander Salamander) [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I also have a small oven that fits into the wall, amongst the cabinets. Never seen an oven like this before. All the buttons to use for the oven are on a flat area with numbers, much like a calculator (I can see that getting worn out in time after so many presses). The oven is so small LOL! 10-12 pound turkey, yes, but barely! It is just weird because when you are done using the oven, it has this fan that continues to run (I assume cooling the oven off?). But thing is, I can use the oven for 30 minutes, but that fan will run afterward for a good hour, sucking up electricity! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

And last, but not least, the lovely beige berber carpet. Never seen berber carpet before, nevertheless moved in a house completely covered in it. I must say, yes it is durable! But otherwise it just sucks LOL. It's not soft and comfortable to walk on at all. And heaven help you if you trip and skid on it, it has no mercy, and will not give, expect major burns and, if a particularly "good" trip, possible skin loss LOL.

LOL I actually could continue, but will stop here. Interested to hear other's house gripes now [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Cloudbringer]

LOL! And it seems like only yesterday I was posting the House hunting threads because you were looking for that place! here and here

hehe

Well, as for my own, we built it about 6 yrs ago, so it's new, but I REALLY wish I'd had the money to put in a larger tub-- yah, we have one of those modern streamline fiberglass things big enough to wash a toy poodle in if you don't turn him around! [img]tongue.gif[/img] I used to have a big old clawfoot tub in my last apartment and boy do I miss it! Baths just aren't the same.

[arion windrider]

hi lady [img]smile.gif[/img] , i live in a house that i share with my sister and her family.. the house is great but i always wish my room was a lil darker in mornings and cooler during the summer, sheesh my sister's room is way cooler than mine... oh i forgot to ask again, hehheh will u be my ironworks gf .... hugs ya [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Night Stalker]

House trouble LadyZekke? Why not send KFG in to do some remodeling? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Anyway, our house issss ..... 25 ... 26 years old. Lots of little (and not so little) things to fix. One thing that bit us this year was the cold - forgot to turn off the out side water (been so long since it's been cold enough to do that). Doh! We'll be calling the plummer in the spring .... and the HVAC guy to replace the heating/ac. Already had the oil tank pulled from the ground. Hmmm bubbuy $$$$ ....

[Arledrian]

I live in an average university dorm room from the seventies. It's twelve by eighteen foot and has pretty much everything I need: TV, VCR, computer, stereo, fridge, bed, wardrobe, cupboard, shelves, a desk and two chairs. I have two windows both directly facing a brick wall which is only a few feet away, so I often can't see what the weather's like at all, let alone get any sunshine or anything. Still, I'm not complaining, I have a neat little room. I really need to tidy up though, it looks like an absolute tip. Looks like I'm in for an entertaining winter break.

[Attalus]

Well, lessee, the domicile that I share with the beauteous Galadria, Piestrider, and Will. Nothing to complain about in size: 19 rooms on 1/2 acre, 4000+ sq. feet. Tub is OK, too, a relic of the 20's (house was built in 1923), 5' long with these cool Deco stripings. And cast iron, with enamelling, not plastic. Yard doesn't have a sprinkler, because I'm too poor to install one, but we've gotten it to be St. Augustine. Library is too small, I need some more shelving, and Galadria's books take up too much room, darn it. Soil is black gumbo, stinks after a rain, and Galadria complains. It is totally central heat and air, and has this great enclosed porch (960 sq. ft.) and Galadria is watching "Third Watch" on it right now. back yard is fenced and looks upon a 6 1/2 acre pasture where there are two bay horses that our dogs bark at. We have a lot of ceiling fans, Galadria wants more, with spring coming up. Heck, I guess that I love it, especially since Galadria came to live here. "Of all dwellings, to me the most blessed." - Eowyn, in ROTC

[Epona]

I have a flat in London, in a small block (5 flats) built in the '60s. I've been here since November last year, and I love it.

2 bedrooms (one of which is my study) - both are a good size.

At the moment I'm in the study - I have Winnie The Pooh wallpaper in here, because it used to be a childs bedroom - bright yellow walls with pictures of all the characters - Winnie and Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Owl, Christopher Robin, etc. with little bees and butterflies around them. Was going to paint it but decided it's nice and bright and cheery so it stays for the time being. Blue carpet, lots of bookshelves, my desk and PC. I have a space cleared and when I get more money I'm going to get a sofabed in here - a seating area with a comfy sofa and a coffee table that will convert to a guest room. I have a framed Chagall poster on the wall (Couple sur St. Paul de Vence).

My bedroom is also a good size, and contains my lovely comfy king size iron frame bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers, hifi, and currently my parrot's cage. It's decorated in cream and lilac - wouldn't be my first choice but it's quite tasteful so won't be decorating in there for a while, besides which my lilac/blue bedlinen that I had before I moved in goes quite nicely. Nice thick lilac carpet.

My hallway is horrible - pink walls and horrible 1970s brown floral carpet (yuk) which is worn through - but I can't afford to replace it at the moment. When I have some money, I intend to get some sort of natural fibre/colour textured carpet.

Sitting room is large - 22' long, with a large window at one end. Same horrible carpet as in the hall (and I intend to replace it with the same carpet I want in the hall), and I've recently stripped the wallpaper off the walls uncovering terracotta and mustard yellow paint (ouch). I'm painting it cream, and am going to put framed posters on the walls - I already bought some in anticipation - film posters of Vertigo and Mon Oncle (both orange) and a large b&w 1930s photo of Grand Central Station in NY. The room will have a sofa and chairs at one end, and a dining area at the other. At the moment there are loads of empty cardboard boxes, wallpaper everywhere, and my sofa, TV and hifi at one end!

The kitchen needs a lot of work. I have a fridge, washing machine and microwave, but no cooker. 1 long counter, a couple of cabinets, and a sink. That's it. The floor is stained blue carpet tiles. When I can afford it, the whole lot's coming out and I'm replacing it all with modern/retro freestanding units, and wooden flooring. It's a good size though, also room for a small table and chairs.

I have a bath/shower room with a fair sized bath and a separate double shower cubicle, and a big hand basin, and a seperate room for the toilet. Both are newly refurbished and look nice.

I also have loads of storage space - 3 built in walk-in cupboards, one of which is a room in its own right - but it doesn't have windows so I'm keeping it for storage and will put a chest-freezer in there when I can afford one.

So in all, I will have in my flat 2 seating areas for relaxing (one for TV, one for reading) and 2 dining areas - 1 nice one for entertaining, and the other informal in the kitchen.

It is a lovely flat, but part of it feels as if it's been gutted at the moment and needs some work doing.

The other bonus is that it's in a not too bad area of East London (hey, in East London it's all relative, but it's not as bad as some areas - the place I used to live was the UK murder capital LOL), I have a view of Canary Wharf, and it's well away from main roads - the only access is pedestrian only and lined with trees so it's really quiet, no traffic noise at all, and close to Central London.

My living arrangement is kind of complicated at the moment [img]smile.gif[/img]
Half my stuff is in a tiny one bedroom (540sqft) apartment that I moved into right after the divorce. I have my half of the furniture from a 3bed room house stuffed intot his tiny space but have recently been doiong more of my living at My Girl Friend Colleens place.

SO Colleens place is rather larger than my tiny apartment, more than 4000sq. ft.
The bedroom is large enough to easily accomodate my California King size waterbed, 4 large dressers and has a sitting area off to one side, for a nice comfy chair and a largish TV.

The house is spacious and you can barely tell that 5 dogs used to live in this house (now down to 4) The problems are that the huge soaking tub is comfy but surrounded by ice cold tile surfaces which you must place delicate body parts on to get out of the tub...and hope to god you don't slip and place all of your skin on the cold tile. The showers drain is constructed in such a way that ensures that it takes forever for the water to drain out, ....the back yard is a mess from the 5 previously mentioned doggies, but is fenced in, and "Dave the Doggy Do Guy" comes around every week to remove the waste products from those doggies...but he can't help the grass situation...it looks awful.

lets see...oh the south east corner of the basement leaks if we get too much rain, the grout in the "guest" baths needs completely replaced. and on and on [img]smile.gif[/img]

All in all if it were my house, I would be faced with a LOT of minor fixit jobs, but the plan now is to move to a new home once her divorce is all settled....it seems that the lawyers are dragging this one out.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

My wife and I actually managed to buy our "dream house". It was a modest home with 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths. It has a large living room with an 11ft window running the length of it. We also invested in venetian blinds for it. It also has a very large kitchen (which my wife liked) with lots of cabinet space. A fair sized screen porch was wrapped around one end of the house, but a large portion of it was "closed in" last summer to create a "toy room" for my two oldest boys. This freed up the 3rd bedroom for the newest (and LAST) member of our little clan.

The only complaints I have with the house are the tub (which is simply too small for my 6'1" frame to lie down in) and the location of my PC. It sits directly in front of the monitor heater and the air conditioner that we use for heating and cooling the entire house. The heater doesn't bother me too much (even though I'm close enough to reach the controls while still seated in front of the PC), but the AC freezes my butt in the summer time. I usually can't get onto the internet until the family is asleep (at least 9pm). On the weekends, I will sometimes stay up till 2-3am. By that time, I am "thoroughly chilled" from the cold air of the AC. I finally managed to maneuver the vents so that they don't blow DIRECTLY on me, but they tend to slowly rotate back to thier original position, so I either turn the AC off and have to keep re-adjusting them.

My wife's biggest complaint is the carpet. It's a nice shade of blue, but the section in the living room is simply ruined from all the spills and accidents that 3 young boys can produce. We have it covered by a large "area rug" and it is also showing signs of wear. We are hoping to replace it within the next two years.

The biggest irony of our house is that the previous owners sold it because "they had outgrown it". It was just too small for them and their ONE child. We're still there and have no intention of moving, even though we have THREE kids. [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

[WillowIX]

I, well we, live in Willowdale (where else LOL) in North York. Townhouse, almost suburbian, well it used to be suburbian until All of Toronto was named Metropolitan Toronto . Two levels, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen (duh) and a lovely dining room facing west. It´s lovely in the summer (especially with air condition). You have perfect view of the garden and the sun sets over the tree line. We have done some changes to the place since we moved in. The wall between the dining and living room got knocked out so we now have a spacious living/dining room. We laso removed the wall-to-wall carpet and put in parquet instead. I still haven´t found a rug that really fits in there so it gets dang cold during winter. We also have a fireplace in our livingroom whihc makes it the cosiest room in the house. Stephen will begin building a porch this summer (I hope! He told me he would start last summer). What else that needs to be done? Hmm the stairs need to be replaced. They are too slippery and unfortunately worn down. Stephen´s office is downstairs as well, as is our guest room. Upstairs is our bedroom, Jackies room and Joshuas future room, right now it looks like a war zone with toys everywhere. Up here is also my little study filled with books, folders and my computer. Some remodelling is also needed upstairs. Our bedroom needs to be painted. Right now it is too cold with a light blue color. I would like a much warmer color but so far I have not been able to "convince" Steve to agree with a lovely shade of peach that would be amazing in there.

LadyZ, if you don´t want those windows I´ll be glad to take them. I have been looking for such windows for our livingroom. Since it is facing our garden it will still be private. I´m not sure I will ever get such windows though. Too much work.