Many young people these days feel like owning property is a pipe dream, due to exorbitant prices and low home supply. Those who manage to scrounge up enough savings for a house or an apartment count themselves lucky. However, just because you own property doesn’t automatically mean that you know how to maintain it. Mistakes can and do happen and we all learn from them.
Reddit user u/Cheirogaleidae sparked a discussion on the r/homeowners online community when they asked everyone about the ways that they’ve damaged their homes through sheer ignorance. We’ve collected the best stories and tips so that you avoid these errors, Pandas.
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Brick is meant to breathe. Painting it can trap moisture inside your walls.
Flushing “flushable” wipes.
I've never understood why these are allowed to be sold as flushable even though apparently they aren't.
New homeowner at 26 and grilled too close to the plastic siding of my house and warped it
Home prices are through the roof (pun not intended) in the United States. CNN reports that in August 2023, the median home price was $407,100. Now compare the situation to just a few years ago. Back in August 2019, the median home price in the US was just $278,200.
With price spikes like this, it’s no wonder that many working Americans feel like owning property is out of the realm of possibility. At least for now. So they continue to rent.
What doesn’t help the situation, at least in the US, is that there is a shortage of homes: there’s lots of demand for (affordable) property, but very little supply. So even if you have a decent job and some savings, it doesn’t mean that you’ll find anything in your price range in the area where you want to live.
I was this dummy. My toilet started running. Intermittently at first but then more frequently. I kept putting it off. Then I had three major surgeries back to back and put off looking at the bills until they were due at the end of the month. My water bill was somewhere around $550 dollars. It is normally $50!
Then because I'd put off looking at it until the end of the month and the water bill invoices for the month before that, I hadn't caught it in time. So when the next month's bill arrived it was $650ish!
It was just piece inside the tank that needed swapped out. A $10 part that literally took 4 minutes. It cost me over $1k just because I kept putting off looking at a toilet that had started running.
Putting egg shells down your drain/garbage disposal. Tons of people do it. It can create a cement and clog your drain. A plumber told my wife that decades ago so we never did it. I figured there's no harm in not doing it so better safe than sorry. Then some friends of ours had plumbing problems. Lucky for them, the point of compaction was above an unfinished room so it was easy to get to. He cut out a section of PVC pipe and it was like a chunk of cement inside. All caused from egg shells.
Moved to texas around a year ago. Learned the hard way that during dry hot months you are supposed to water your foundation to help the clay like soil settle in and around it. Wtf ,water my house?
You may end up paying more than you initially wanted to. Or you may have to compromise on where you plan on living. While having some flexibility is definitely a good thing when looking at listings, the reality of the situation can mean that you’re forced to make a decision that you’re not fully happy with. How much you’re willing to compromise on the ideal you have in your mind is entirely up to you.
However, if you do end up owning a home (congratulations, by the way, we’re genuinely happy for you), it doesn’t mean that life’s going to be full of rainbows and sunshine from thereon out.
Older homes might need a decent amount of repair and upkeep. And even newer properties will require you to spend time, energy, and cash to maintain them over the years. Failing to do so means lowering your own quality of life and reducing the property’s worth.
Not paying attention to wooden things that need periodic painting. Porch posts, door trim, fences, etc. If you don't keep up with it, it rots. Then you have to replace porch posts, door trim, fences, etc.
I had no idea until things rotted. 😂
You're using the wrong wood here. Pressure treated wood should not rot so easily. I have posts on my porch that have been up for well over 50 years and are in great shape despite being in water a lot, same for my fences, and I live in one of the gloomiest rainiest city in the US.
Husband’s coworker hired someone to remove a tree from his backyard. They quoted him $600 to do it. Dude was not insured or licensed. Near as we can tell, it was just a dude who owned a chainsaw.
Tree fell on the house, damaged part of the roof, siding, and took out the electricity. His insurance wouldn’t cover it because the dude who did it was just a dude. Took 4 days to get the electricity fixed. The dude who took down the tree “felt really bad” about the damage he caused, so is going to fix it all himself.
Husband’s coworker had owned the house less than a month.
Broadly speaking, there are two main paths that you can take when it comes to home maintenance. You can either learn to do some DIY using free resources on the internet to fix up your home. Or you can hire a contractor. In the first case scenario, you’re sacrificing your time and energy in order to save money. The upside is that you learn some handy skills that are going to be useful in the years and decades of homeownership to come.
In the second case, you’re prioritizing your free time at the expense of money. You’re relying on other people’s expertise to ensure you haven’t missed anything essential during maintenance.
It might not be a bad idea to learn a bit of DIY for some smaller repairs and to rely on actual pros for the more important stuff, like serious plumping problems and fixing dangerous electrical faults.
Furnace filters. Replace them more often than you think you need. Don’t run ultra high MERV ratings. You need airflow over your indoor coil for the system to work well.
Friend decided to finish his basement. Built his stud wall on the ground and tipped it up to place, discovered it was an inch or two taller then it should have been. Instead of taking it down/apart and cutting to size, he managed to force it into place essentially jacking up a section of his 1st floor. Upstairs, tile grout began to crack and come up, doors didn’t shut/latch properly and you could see new gaps between the baseboards and flooring.
Ignoring very basic maintenance like clearing debris causing water to pool on roofs. And ignoring caulking around windows.
My Aunt and Uncle had a beautiful Spanish mission style house from the 1920s. And it was in really good condition when they bought it.
Roughly 20-25 years later, the only thing in halfway decent condition were the wood floors. Roof was shot and actively leaking in multiple rooms. Causing plaster ceilings to just fall.
Exterior walls were destroyed. Framing was completely destroyed, and again plaster just falling off he walls.
The house stood in great condition for over 70 years. And through minor neglect, fell apart in the last 20.
One issue to definitely be on the lookout for is water damage. According to Forbes Home, it’s a problem that costs American homeowners up to $20 billion (yes, that's ‘billion’ with a ‘b’) every single year.
Depending on the damage caused by leaks and floods, you may have to contact not only a water restoration professional but also a mold specialist who can inspect the house. The best remedy for costly water damage is prevention: regularly inspecting the pipes for any cracks, leaks, or serious damage.
Oh pick me! I had a wash sink next to my washing machine. Had NO idea that the washing machine actually drained into the sink. Left a pile of rags in the sink and flooded the whole basement. I would like to say this was isolated, but I went on to do it two more times. The shop vac was my friend.
Not paying attention to termites invading his garage. The framing was so chewed up that the only thing keeping it standing was the outside stucco. And he won't take advice on it
I only learned recently about the filter in the dishwasher and I’m so grossed out.
* ignoring the anode rod replacement requirements of your hot water heater
* not changing furnace filters often enough, can damage carpet with gross stains and put stress on the HVAC unit
* using those chlorine tablets in your toilet tank, causing plastic parts to degrade and eventually fail
I used those blue tablets that you put in the tank because I wanted the water to be pretty and, it destroyed the toilet. When we replaced it, there was this big pile of blue goo at the bottom of the tank. Stay away from those.
Our sump pump was working when we moved in but about 9 months later we had a week of heavy spring rains. I realized I hadn't heard the sump pump making noise for awhile so I went into the garage to check the 3ft crawlspace we never use which runs the length of our entire house. I kid you not -- we had a 2ft deep swimming pool under our home. We spent $7k on getting the water pumped out, mold mitigation, getting a vapor barrier installed, and replacing the sump pump with one that has an alarm. The old sump pump was the cheapest one our plumber had ever seen. Would've been nice if our home inspector had bothered to mention it.
Why am I reading this at 5 am? Just giving myself new anxieties to plague my sleep cause I'm a moron and will keep on reading myself into a tizzy.
Ignorance in process with my neighbor. They have a very large Oak in their front yard. Its worked its way into their septic and the trunk is only about 10ft from the house. All of the weight is to one side and about 10 years ago the soil was flat around the whole trunk. Hurricane came in, all the sudden the back is elevated a bit. Told the owner, he moved, told the new owner. They have ignored it, then this last year the back soil raised about 2-3 inches in a day. The opposing side, the ground has sunk a couple inches. Bottom line is the tree is leaning bad, neighbor was told again. It is going to fall, just a matter of when. The way it sits and leans, it will destroy their septic system, any cars in the driveway, and take out the front 10ft of their garage. The trunk could hit the house and do a lot of damage, but the roots pulling will damage the foundation for sure. The roots also have their water line running through them so they will lose water. They could spend 3k now and remove it but will probably let it do $50-150k in damage instead.
An old friend of mine moved so she didn't have to deal with the roots from a massive tree on their. back patio that was infiltrating the house. And someone bought it. Not sure if they knew or not.
Previous homeowners bricked over the only (tiny) access point to the crawlspace. It's been super fun trying to fix copper plumbing lines they ran under the house, up an exterior wall to the 2nd floor laundry. Every winter they freeze a few times. There's supposedly a heating line on them but I expect it's no longer working.
I'm using next weekend to pull out the floor in the back stairwell to create a new access point so I can get under and see what's happening. I dread going into the crawlspace, been here for 7 years and I have no idea what to expect 😬
* Don't ignore a dank smell in the basement, get a dehumidifier ASAP because that smell is going to only get worse and ruin anything stored there stink, and eventually black mold will arrive
* If you get roof leaks, it's time to replace, not patch
* Clean out the dryer lint trap every time you use it to keep all the c**p from clogging the exhaust hose and vent which could get hot and/or even catch fire
* Keep the gutters cleaned out and test the downspouts annually to make sure they aren't clogged up (if you get a big frozen gutter waterfall, melting ice can pull the gutter down if it gets too heavy, and it can cause water to drip into the house in ways that normally wouldn't happen (I had a wall waterfall running past my basement washer and dryer outlets which was terrifying)
My parents just experienced this. Had to redo the family room, bathroom, bar area and all flooring. Their basement is rarely used now that all the kids are gone. They had no idea until it was too late.
A friends daughter once cleaned her basement floor using petrol. Then the boiler clicked on. She didn’t have serious injuries, but the house was destroyed.
Probably the biggest one I see a lot (insurance agent) is people not trimming trees over their roof. Usually the company has something to say about it, and it's not just because you want to avoid having a giant limb fall onto your roof during a storm, but also because the falling leaves/pine needles will make short work of your roof by encouraging moss, rot, whatever else to propagate. I've told clients if they won't trim the trees, they'll want to get up there once or twice a year with a roof rake/broom, so it's easier to just take down the limbs and be safe
My father in law had poor quality (locally made) roof tiles on his roof. Pine cones falling from an overhanging tree were heavy enough to crack all the roof tiles, and the council would not let him cut back the tree.
Forgot to take a hose off of the spigot before the first freeze of winter.
Not replacing sump pumps before they stop working
Not cleaning out gutters or making sure water flows away from your foundation.
Unplugging smoke detectors instead of changing batteries. Also smoke detectors do wear out and need replacing.
Not having a carbon monoxide detector.
Not caulking windows, tubs, etc. Water is your enemy.
Not reroofing your house. Water will leak in and start ruining your house. Also mold. You do not want mold!
Not cleaning. Dirt and grime accumulates and then is near impossible to clean after awhile.
Not maintaining and updating as you go. Your house is an investment. Keep it so when you do want to sell you get something out of it.
ok so in texas you water your homes and everywhere else you don't want water anywhere near your foundation? This is confusing no wonder many people don't do it.
Failure to have the chimney of a wood burning fireplace inspected and cleaned before lighting a fire in your new home. Burning cardboard in a fireplace. That house burned down day 3 when the family decided to get rid of boxes.
They decided to burn boxes...in their fireplace???? There's so many other options. Just recycle or throw them away. Or burn them in a fireplace in your backyard if you insist on burning them.
Things wrong with my ex’s house!
Carpenter ants! Everywhere!
There was a leak in the basement so he dug out the back of the house where it was leaking and just left it exposed. Now the hole fills up with water when it rains and needs to be pumped.
Cut down his own tree. Its a miracle no one died. (I think the trunk is still up)
The main water shut off for the house has always been broken. He will never fix it because he would have to call the city and he thinks it costs 1000$ to do that.
Thats just the few i can think of right now. That place could have been so nice but watching it get destroyed was so depressing
A future customer replaced the ballcock in his second floor toilet and then went out of town.
A neighbor called the police the next day when water started coming out the front door.
Always call a licensed plumber.
The first 10 years we owned our house, we rarely (maybe never, I can't recall) got our gutters cleaned. We didn't see the value in it. Eventually we had to replace an entire bay window and the surrounding wall. I think it cost $10-15k twenty years ago.
I hope you got gutter guards. One of the best investments. I doesn't mean you never have to go up there again. C**p still settles in the valleys of the roof that you need to keep clear but, it's a lot less work.
Forgetting to clean the condensation line on my HVAC.
During a hot streak in the summer, the condensation line got clogged. Water slowly leaked out of the HVAC (it was in a utility closet so no idea how long it was leaking.) The water leaked under the drywall to the adjacent room, and ruined all of the flooring.
There is supposed to be a secondary drain that will drip water in a prominent spot that's easy to see (like above the door into the house) when the main drain clogs. That way you can fix the main drain before there's water damage.
I once left a bottle of toilet bowl cleaner on the laminate countertop. It leaked and permanently etched the countertop.
I figured if toilet bowl cleaner works so well on toilets, it should work wonders in the bath tub. Squirted it along the inside of the tub and it cleaned so well it took off the top smooth layer and now the tub has stripes.
Note: this post originally had 50 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Wow, I've never been happier to rent! Here's a crazy thought: Teach house maintenance in schools?!
Renting doesn't guarantee that the landlord will do the proper upkeep and you can still end up with some of these same problems.
Load More Replies...
I have bought 2 homes, 10 years apart, that were typical "deferred maintenance" houses. Got great deals. The first I couldn't afford to do any upgrades for about 9 years, then when I was ready to sell, I took out a second and did all the stuff at once. Then with the profits from that home, I bought another project house, but was able to afford all the upgrades before I moved in. Get inspections before you buy. Get all disclosures your state's laws require.
Wow, I've never been happier to rent! Here's a crazy thought: Teach house maintenance in schools?!
Renting doesn't guarantee that the landlord will do the proper upkeep and you can still end up with some of these same problems.
Load More Replies... I have bought 2 homes, 10 years apart, that were typical "deferred maintenance" houses. Got great deals. The first I couldn't afford to do any upgrades for about 9 years, then when I was ready to sell, I took out a second and did all the stuff at once. Then with the profits from that home, I bought another project house, but was able to afford all the upgrades before I moved in. Get inspections before you buy. Get all disclosures your state's laws require.
