I feel your pain! If I could just use the money we have for the "fun stuff" instead of chalking, gutters, furnace repairs and plumbing fixes I'd be in heaven. The list never seems to get any smaller. One thing gets fixed and another problem pops up. However I still love my old house and wouldn't think of trading it for a new one. Just take a look around at all the things you love about it and focus on them. Polish up those gorgeous wood floors and run your hand over the time worn bannister and remember why you fell in love with it in the first place!

When I feel lousy about all the money spent on fixing the bones of this house.It's 170 some years old. I grab my notebooks and head off to the historical society or the library to do research on the house and the people who have lived here.
It helps remind me of why I love this old place.
That or if the weather is better I go outside and start digging a new flower bed....If I can't get the inside to bloom the way I'd like I can at least make a go of the outside. Digging new gardens doesn't cost much and it's a constructive way of getting rid of some of that frustration.

Yes,hang in there. Spring is almost here, you'll be opening the windows to the breezes soon and going barefoot on your wood floors. There are times that I get a headache from worry, yet slowly but surely, things get accomplished. My small front porch was also rotting, and it took a hole in the roof and a column to lean before I got the money plus the right carpenter to re-do it.
Sometimes, I feel as tho everyone in the area watches to see if I'll "keep up the old school". Almost a duty, somehow.

Just think it didn't get that way overnight and you can't put everything right all at once. (been there tried that). Really, just grab one project at a time. I know it is no fun to spend time and money on the hidden stuff.
Gotta go, boiler making odd sounds.......
Graham

DH and I had this discussion the other night. We're going to renovate this year and we came to the realization that we may only be able to do the boring stuff. He suggested that we HORRORS! tear off the wonderful slate roof and reroof w/ metal so that the new addition will look like it belongs to the main part of the house better. And you know, slate isn't going to be cheap. I told him in no uncertain terms, over my dead body. I said I'd give up my new kitchen before I agreed to tearing off the slate (which I just had fixed before we got married a few years ago). So, like everyone else here, I understand where you're coming from. I would LOVE to be able to paint and fluff, but my conscience won't let me. What you do to restore integrity and maintain dignity in your home is not just for you, it's for the next owners as well as the house itself. So hang in there and know that eventually, all the big stuff will be taking care of you and you can then turn your attention to the dets, like what color of paint to use in the foyer (sigh, wish I had a foyer, we have just a simple farmhousey thing).

Ours isn't what you'd call a fixer-upper but it has been extremely frustrating dealing with the quick fixes the former owners did to exact curb-appeal for sale. The house got a new paint job - but it's obvious now that surfaces were not prepared properly/primed & after less than 2 yrs we've got peeling paint on the exterior of the house. Same with the terracotta color-painted driveway, patios & porch. They slopped on some latex paint which is now bubbling & peeling. All this peeling/bubbling is destroying our curb appeal.

Our floors weren't properly sealed either - within 2 weeks of moving in, the gorgeous finish/shine was dull. The walls were spot-painted, too. I think I've counted at least 4 different shades and textures (semi-gloss, satin & eggshell) of white in the LR.

In the last 2 weeks we've had to replace the sink plumbing & garbage disposal, replace a water regulator and repair a leaky roof in the house; thanks to that leaky roof we have to repaint (maybe resurface) the ceiling in our newly renovated bathroom and a substantial area in the master bdrm ceiling. Water is coming up through the floor of our garage office and oh, yes...the roof is leaking there, too. "It never rains in Southern California..." NOT.

You are definitely not alone feeling the way you do. My husband always reminds me that "...owning a home is a work in progress." Seems never ending.

We are the 3rd family to live in this 1914 bungalow (mostly-original condition) and apparently the first to consider maintenance...

When we first bought the house zillions of dollars ago, "friends" stopped by and said, "Wow! It will be great to come back in a month and see this place all fixed up!"

Years later I've learned not to mention projects to "new house people" as the only comment I ever here is "Great! How soon will that be done so I can see it?"

Unfortunately my just-starting kitchen project is hard to hide. Even after folks are eating from new kitchen I expect to hear, "Now how many years have you been working on this room? And how much did you spend? Just this one room, right?"

Well, I can totally relate. New furnace, fixed sill rot, put a new roof on the barn, replaced some clapboards, all so necessary and all so boring.

Of course, people with newer houses have expenses too. I know of someone with a MacMansion, and the shoddy new foundation cracked, in its second year. So, he's embroiled in law suits with the developer and such. My developer has been dead for almost 200 years!

My recommendation is that you do some focused interior painting. And don't do a perfect job. Just find a small room, like a bathroom, and paint it a fun color, like sunflower yellow. It's cheap and easy, and undoable, and it makes a big difference. Scrape a bit, but don't go overboard with meticulous prep. You're going for a cheap thrill, here, not a perfect restoration.

--Jonathan

Yup, I hear ya. We just celebrated one year in our old house. The previous owners were very lacking in the maintenance department. They slapped a coat of thick paint over everything (dog hair included) to make it look good. Now I have cracks and water stains appearing. The outside paint is peeling. The porch ceiling is rotted. The basement is leaking. Sigh. Replacing the ancient furnace was expected. Replacing the entire bathroom (the floor was rotted through) was not. I could go on but I won't because I really do love my house, problems and all. I actually expected MORE things to go wrong.

I have to agree that little minor "cheap thrills" are very rewarding. I just replaced my kitchen knobs. $40 later - what a huge difference! I have an upstairs bathroom with a nasty tile floor. I would like to redo the whole thing someday - until then, I'll be happy with just putting down some vinyl tile (black and white in a checkerboard pattern). A fresh coat of paint did wonders in several rooms. Updating a few light fixtures was a huge help as well. All $50 or less projects.

Best of luck!

My DH calls it "getting back to zero". We've been in our 82 yr. old home now for 30 years (was supposed to be 2) and I've finally come to terms by earning enough money to do some of the fun stuff myself. I'm in the midst of updating the kitchen, which we did as frugally as possible when we moved in and had a graduate student's budget.

At least most of you bought houses that are large enough and have significant architectural details to make it seem worthwhile. Our house is pretty bare-bones and only about 1200 sq.ft., so on every project I have to weigh what is in keeping with the nature (and price) of the house itself. The upside is that it is on one of the best streets in the best section of Pgh., we have a 3/4 acre of wooded yard and lots of privacy & are 7 min. to downtown. But, after hating the house with a passion and with absolute frustration for 20 years, I've finally solved some of the bigger problems and don't want to move. So, console yourselves that when you find you can renovate, you can pull out all the stops. You're not confined to a 9x11' kitchen with three doorways and a picture window over a radiator, for instance, with no room to expand. I've been reading threads on the appliance and kitchen forums and have developed "appliance envy", but new, mid-range appliances are the only thing that makes sense. Besides, I bet I'll appreciate figuring out how to add a 4 drawer cabinet more than the people with the refrigerator drawers, 36" Wolfe ranges and the Subzero refrigerators. Every square inch in this house has been assessed and utilized for storage and convenience, but it's still a pain to entertain more than 4-6 people. At least now I've landscaped the yard so it is a showstopper and have made a conscious decision that I choose to stay here.