Our house is
90 years old

At least 50 items on the list

I am in the same boat as a lot of the PPs. We bought a 6 year old house which is now 14 years old. Biggest priority project is getting the exterior paint trim re-painted, repairing some rotted wood, and repainting outside handrail. Had to fire first painting company b/c they just painted over old paint. Now waiting for 2 new companies to provide estimates (assuming it'll cost a lot more than 1st one given how unprofessional they were--just wanted to slap paint on house and say it was done).

List of immediate stuff:

1) repair loose bricks on exterior front stairs.
2) add two more downspouts to front porch roof.
3) trim tree branches near roof (damn squirrels getting into our attic crawl space!!!)

List of other stuff:
4) repaint bathrooms (at least 4) b/c prior owners used wrong kind of paint (fortunately we have fans in all of them though) (one bathroom needs to have towel rack and toilet holder put back on wall (both fell off at one point)).
5) switch out hideous light fixture in eat-in kitchen and dining room
6) remove café curtains from kitchen and eat-in kitchen (part of coordinating new light fixture)

Eventually
7) repainting hallways and living room (these rooms never repainted and have scruff marks but will probably have to wait until our youngest who is 15 month old gets older before tackling that.
8) tackling backyard (adding porch--got estimate at least 12K but need to wait until nanny costs are done).
9) tackling hideous lighting fixtures in hallways
10) repaving stones (can't find stones that match but have only searched Home Depot and Lowes periodically) in back patio area and removing mulch/bushes from the back yard (to expand patio area)
9) updating bathroom fixtures

Oh and given the age of the house, our appliances will all start to crap out, I'm guessing. So far DH has repaired the washer (with my help) (installed new mother board), the oven mother board and one of the air conditioners (thankfully only needed a $3 capacitor (other air conditioner cost us $4k to replace)). Would like my front load washer to die first as it's a pain to close and the mold issue (cleaning it out can be a bitch). And our stupid microwave is only 3 years old but the damn light won't go off inside, and so it doesn't work unless you open and shut it half a dozen times to get the light to turn off.

I have a lot that I want to do!
* Gutting both bathrooms
* Repainting the kitchen, the kitchen island and switching out the granite counters
* Replacing a bunch of very old windows, two with broken seals so they're cloudy
* I'd like to extend my deck down into the yard.
* I need a shed for my lawn mower and tools.
* I need to buy a ton of rocks (like white gravel) for the portion of my backyard where grass doesn't grow.
* Replacing my closet door
* Finding 1940's era doors for the upstairs rooms to replace the cheap, ugly 70's hollow-core doors
* Replacing the light fixtures in my upstairs hallway and one guest bedroom
* Restaining the deck and stairs
* Repainting the front steps
* I'm considering having the overgrown shrubs removed from my front yard so I can start fresh with small ones.

I can (and will) replace the light fixtures and do the restaining and repainting myself. The rest I'm trying to figure out.

16 years in our house and here is what we have done:

terraced two sides of the yard and put in stone walls and new landscaping; put in lots of new plantings elsewhere also

tore out parts of old chain link fence

expanded driveway to fit two cars

cut down at least 8 trees (one fell during a storm and just missed the house). We still have plenty more.

replaced roof and gutters and painted entire house

added insulation to attic and cut more soffits for better air circulation

replaced paneling in "den" with drywall

finished basement (including a full bath)

painted entire interior which included pulling down a lot of wallpaper

replaced flooring in a couple of rooms and had some of the hardwood refinished (we really need to do the entire house, but have not yet).

put in crown molding in living room, dining room, upstairs office

replaced vanity in master bathroom (and that room should probably be totally redone at some point, especially if we plan to sell)

totally gutted first floor powder room and put in modern fixtures; new floor, lighting, etc.

totally gutted pink hall bathroom upstairs, moved wall and went high end with beautiful tile all around and high end cabinets---best room in house right now (and most expensive)!

Put in new HVAC, underfloor heat in first floor kitchen and hallway and changed system to two zones (expensive)

We have done many small things---like light fixtures, faucets, etc.

The kitchen was redone 4 years before we moved in, but now is 20 years old and starting to show its age. We can't decide whether to just redo the floor (which is a pretty horrible vinyl that is coming apart and is hard to keep clean) or wait until the whole kitchen needs to be redone.

We have lots of regular maintenance (just stained the deck, pruning lots of bushes, etc., etc.).

BUT, we enjoy our house. You put a lot of money into a house, but it is the place you come home to and enjoy. My favorite room is the one that looked the crappiest when we moved in (fake wood beams, vinyl floor, dirty bricks all around the fireplace, wood paneling on the walls). After ripping out the floor, cleaning the fireplace, taking out the paneling and putting in drywall, putting up crown molding, putting up nice drapes, putting in wall sconces, and buying a beautiful sectional couch, it is a cozy retreat now.

I feel like it's never done also. We moved in last year. On our list was:

1. Paint the basement (Done)
2. Paint the office (Done)
3. Redo the kids' bathroom
4. Replace old as dirt furnace and AC (Done)
5. Replace the hideous cabinets and sink in the half bath on the main floor
6. Expand the kitchen to add some pantry space, a mudroom where we can move the washer and dryer from the basement, and a little more room in the kitchen eating area.
7. Make the master bath upstairs a little larger, so it can at least include a bathtub/shower and can fit two people in it at once.
8. Replace light fixtures in the dining room (Done), kids' bathroom (Done) and master bath.
9. Scrape rusty paint of stair railing to the basement and repaint.
10. Remove old, rotting tree stump next to our driveway (Done) and fix the concrete where it was cracked by the tree roots.
11. Replace the old cabinets in the kitchen with something more modern and practical.

We will never get all this done.

Anonymous wrote:We bought an older home, so everything needs to be updated. We have completed the kitchen which is great, but still have bathrooms, landscaping, roof, windows, floor, doors, driveway, AC... By the time we are finished with the list I assume the kitchen will need to be redone!

I almost thought this was me! We've finshed our kitchen, floors, basement drywall and new doors/windows, some gutter issues. We have 4 bathrooms, new windows and some other work in a patio, and a new French door and some drywall work, exterior paint, some interior paint, new hardware for windows and doors, new interior doors, and lansacling. Currently, we only have two of the preceding list scheduled. It feels like so much but getting the kitchen & floors done was major.

About a thousand.

OP here - wow,it definitely seems like homes always need something! HGTV definitely spoils me because I feel like I always see beautiful homes and mine needs work.

I'm slowly tackling it though! Best wishes to everyone and your projects!

In our three years in our home, the only big project we have managed to tackle is the basement. We put in the new floor on our own, and painted, and had a handryman assist with the baseboard and quarterround to finish. Also had the fireplace repaired. But the lighting needs to be redone and we have yet to finish decorating. We have a finished office though. We have had to replace the roof and the HVAC unit/furnace, so that has eaten up a lot of our funds already.

Still needs doing:

- both full baths need a full remodel
- kitchen needs new floor, new counter, new sink/faucet, and a fresh coat of paint at the very least
- new flooring through the main floor; the previous owner installed Italian marble without proper leveling and its all completely broken
- new fence/balconey, and getting the back patio re-leveled because the retention wall is giving out
- new windows
- new water hearter

We're never done and our list gets longer. We bought brand new 18 years ago so back then did the yard, fence, painting the entire inside, finished the basement, built a side deck and shed and more.

We seemed good for a bit, just maintaining, but then changed floor registers, light fixtures, faucets and other minor things. Repainted as kids grew older. Then changed all flooring and baseboards and trim.

Right now we're redoing the basement into a media room (kids moved out), building a bigger deck, talking about changing our front door and side window. Really our bathrooms and kitchen need makeovers and it never ends. Some is fun and it feels nice when it's done.

We bought an older home, so everything needs to be updated. We have completed the kitchen which is great, but still have bathrooms, landscaping, roof, windows, floor, doors, driveway, AC... By the time we are finished with the list I assume the kitchen will need to be redone!

Too many.

It's never "done".

It's our first home and we'll definitely be here for a few years so we're slowly chipping away at this list. We've already painted the home and redone the kitchen.
I feel like our list is pretty extensive but it's actually manageable over time. I have a few major projects still on my to do list including:

- redo master bath, upstairs hall bath, powder room, and basement full bath
- update deck and pave backyard (small TH backyard and patio is more useful)
- paint and decorate basement (den/office) and larger rec room for DS
- replace carpet with hardwood in LR and 2 upstairs bedrooms
- do something with my front and side garden!


How much do others have or is everyone else "done"?