What's the most awkward household chore for you?

lizzypopbottle

CariadAgain I've got scaffolding right around my bungalow. They couldn't do it without. It's blocking the side path that I use to put the bins out. Luckily, being detached, I can just about squeeze them past the scaffolding on the other side. Also, they put a pole right outside my garage so I can't get my lawn mower out 🤔

The only roof attention I've had on current house to date was the first year I moved in here and thought that the stain I could see on sitting room ceiling was old - and then it started getting bigger and I realised that was another bit of necessary work on the house that the previous owner had neglected to have done. Fortunately there were a few spare of those concrete tiles lurking around in the garden and I'd not yet got round to chucking them out and cue for a roofer shinning up onto the roof and swopping the relevant tiles over - but he only had a ladder too. Thankfully that episode happened before I'd had false ceilings put up all round - as the house had been neglected so badly that it was only about two months after I moved in.

I've had a couple of other roof level jobs done on this bungalow since getting it - 1. a chimney pot swopped 2. the fascia boards and gutters swopped all round (and that included putting up fascia boards in the first place on the two pointy/higher bits of roof) and no scaffolding was used for that. They just used a ladder both times and the chimneysweep that did the chimneypot had shinned up onto my roof and done the job before I'd even realised he'd arrived and I wasn't aware of his presence until he walked into my kitchen to announce he'd just done it (cue for quick looksee - and he had).

Though it is the case I've been shocked at just what unsafe practices I've seen workmen do in this area sometimes.....so the fact they didn't use scaffolding can't necessarily be taken to mean that they wouldnt have done so either on a similar house back in my home area....



Hope they finish the work on your place soon.

CariadAgain I've got scaffolding right around my bungalow. They couldn't do it without. It's blocking the side path that I use to put the bins out. Luckily, being detached, I can just about squeeze them past the scaffolding on the other side. Also, they put a pole right outside my garage so I can't get my lawn mower out 🤔

Romola

Wine rack in the garage NEVER cleaned. Bottles acquire a vintage appearance although they came from Tesco a couple of months ago.

LOL that dusty vintage look! Our wine rack lives in the kitchen so it really should get cleaned once in a while!

lizzypopbottle

CariadAgain Yes, tiles. Eventually they crack. Forty year old felt had rotted and came out in handfuls when it was repaired last time. Felt has really improved these days, my roofer tells me. The North wind is the worst for me because my house faces North so that aspect gets no shelter at the front from neighbouring houses. I'm looking forward (but without much enthusiasm) to filling all the holes in the living room ceiling and repainting it.
The following is the best advice I had from the roofer I phoned in a panic:

*If rainwater's coming in through the ceiling, poke holes to let it through. That will help to stop the ceiling collapsing. It really works!*

Oh dear! Don't know what state the roof felt is in - as, thanks to Mr Useless Loft Ladder Guy = I can't get up in the loft even to peer around myself.

I don't know whether I'd be able to tell if there was a leak coming through my ceilings - as the ceilings in this house were old-fashioned (coving and a sorta surface finish stuff wallpaper that may - or may not- be a health hazardous thing). Cue for my decision about the best way to have normal-looking ceilings I'm used to being to get the workman to rip off the coving as he went through each room replastering and then put up a fake normal-looking ceiling a couple of inches below the 1974 wallpapered one. So the original ceilings are still there - hidden just up above the normal-looking ceilings I had installed throughout.

Guess I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed - as I've got an estimated 10 years remaining in this house (ie as I don't want a longer-than-average lifespan anyway and will be a very unhappy bunny if I get an 83rd birthday or beyond). The house should stay in one piece for as long as I need it to....
I could manage financially to replace even a 2.5 times standard size roof (thankfully the plus side of a bungalow should be = no scaffolding I think) - but I don't want the hassle...

Due to mobility problems and stiffness and pain.

Everthing.

Moving slowly towards living in complete squalor.

Happy Days!!
🙈🙉🙊👍
Love to you all
😻😻😼

CariadAgain Yes, tiles. Eventually they crack. Forty year old felt had rotted and came out in handfuls when it was repaired last time. Felt has really improved these days, my roofer tells me. The North wind is the worst for me because my house faces North so that aspect gets no shelter at the front from neighbouring houses. I'm looking forward (but without much enthusiasm) to filling all the holes in the living room ceiling and repainting it.
The following is the best advice I had from the roofer I phoned in a panic:

If rainwater's coming in through the ceiling, poke holes to let it through. That will help to stop the ceiling collapsing. It really works!

I feel as though I've wasted a lot of time being houseproud -not only did I ensure everything was pristine but I'd arrange vases of flowers everywhere as well .
These days things get a lick and a promise and I feel panicky when I have visitors .
I hate recycling!
I sort out everything faithfully and then some things weren't collected because they weren't recyclable.
Last time it was some plastic tablecloths because they jam up the machine. I've cut them up and see if that's allowed .
Occasionally our bins aren't collected and it really accumulates .

And me!

Oh and I thought it was just me. I have arthritis in my left knee. Can’t possibly bend down. My husband decided to get a cleaner and she’s had a knee operation replacement recently. Estimate she’s about 55. I can no longer Hoover the stairs with my fairy Dyson. Too scared to fall down. I’m still working freelance from choice selling a lifetime of rubbish collected over 50 years but housework never did have me excited.

We have a lovely window halfway up our stairs and l find it practically impossible to dust the window sill, even with an extendable duster as it is too high to reach.

Cleaning behind things I cannot pull out- especially the washing machine - which is under a window I also cannot reach to clean! Changing light bulbs above the stairs.

Does anyone here really enjoy housework? I detest loading snd unloading the dishwasher , emptying the buckets, making beds, vacuuming . I enjoy washing and ironing my dresses (nothing else) . I enjoy making bread and cooking .. all in moderation of course.

FindingNemo15

Changing the bed. I am worried too about cleaning behind the bed as it has not been done since my DH went in the care home and I cannot manage it.

Same, For quite a few years I used a queen fitted sheet on double bed but now I’ve gone back to flat sheets too and bottom. I thought the bottom sheet might “bunch” as I don’t tuck it in (ouch) but it hasn’t happened.

Cleaning the large shower stall. I often have a bath instead as it’s easier and quicker to clean.

lizzypopbottle

Right now there are two chores that are awkward, one is impossible! I'm having my roof replaced at the moment. The scaffolders didn't tell me the poles would prevent me getting my bins down the usual side path. It's very awkward getting them across the back grass and to navigate the scaffold poles down that side. The roofers put some rolls of stuff in front of the cupboard where my vacuum cleaner lives. I tried to move them. I realised immediately that they are lead flashing and weigh an absolute ton! No way can I move them so no vacuuming yesterday or today (because I forgot to mention it!) until I see them tomorrow.I

However, I'll be grateful that the winter storms won't be driving rain under the old tiles and I can dispense with all the buckets and towels that have been catching the drips every time it rains and the wind's in the north. I had to poke holes in my ceiling to stop it from coming down and I'd only just had it fixed and painted it after storm Arwen. (Yes, it did take me three years to get it done. I'm a complete procrastinator...)

I've lived here since 1985 so my roof was forty years old. I would advise people never to get a bungalow. I have at least two and a half times as much roof as an ordinary house! So two and a half times the cost of replacing it 😫

Agh! That thought hadnt struck me re extra size on roof if a bungalow.

I can sympathise re roofs all round. My starter house was a typical Victorian terrace and the main roof was still the original one when I bought it and I could see a noticeable number of nearby similar houses had had their roofs replaced and so it wouldnt be forever before mine needed doing. I didnt think I'd be the one that had to do it though! The plan from Day 1 was to only keep the house around 5 years and then trade up to the next rung on ladder (ie 3 beds/semi and a garden) but my finances all went wrong (not my doing) and the roof "demanded" to be replaced NOW at about 10 years after buying and I was the one that had to do it - grr!

Know what you mean re after decorating! I'd just had my bedroom redecorated and rather liked the nice colourwashed effect I'd chosen and then the darn roof started leaking right through the ceiling and mucked up my new decor! Once they go - boy do they go and at a rate of knots. I was panicking re how long it was taking to have fixed - as those were the days when unemployed people got the full cost covered and I'd got off the dole queue (again!) and found I could get a bit of the cost paid for me because of the low salary I was on and so I'd asked if I could get anything towards it. Daft thing was that I had only a small mortgage left by then (after paying off what I could early) and, for the sake of all of about £2,000 I still owed = I had to get approval from my building society and they dragged their feet and they dragged their feet some more and all I darn well needed from them was 30 seconds of their time to put their signature on a bit of paper!!! I found a way through it - by somehow thinking to get hold of an obscure little branch of theirs over in Wales, explained to the woman that answered the phone and she sorted it and got me that signature - but it delayed the darn roof for weeks because of the inefficiency of the main lot. I've absolutely no idea why on earth I took it into my head to phone a weeny little office in Wales or how I found out the way to get hold of one like that - and can only assume it was more of the thing I occasionally get of "my guardian angel SAID "Do that" and I obeyed".....which is a thing that happens to me once in a blue moon and is very helpful when it does.

I am a bit concerned about the fact I KNOW "roofs last about 100 years - unless they're felt ones" - and then I found out that the roofs on many of these houses in this area are those horrible concrete tiles (including on my house) and gather they only last about half that time!!!! It's a 1974 house - so the roof should easily see me out (should last well into the latter half of this century) - but that's got me fearing that it might not - because of being made of the wrong material.

So your roof should have been absolutely fine/in the prime of life etc - so does that mean your house has also got one of those awful concrete tile roofs too and the darn things do fail much too early?

Right now there are two chores that are awkward, one is impossible! I'm having my roof replaced at the moment. The scaffolders didn't tell me the poles would prevent me getting my bins down the usual side path. It's very awkward getting them across the back grass and to navigate the scaffold poles down that side. The roofers put some rolls of stuff in front of the cupboard where my vacuum cleaner lives. I tried to move them. I realised immediately that they are lead flashing and weigh an absolute ton! No way can I move them so no vacuuming yesterday or today (because I forgot to mention it!) until I see them tomorrow.I

However, I'll be grateful that the winter storms won't be driving rain under the old tiles and I can dispense with all the buckets and towels that have been catching the drips every time it rains and the wind's in the north. I had to poke holes in my ceiling to stop it from coming down and I'd only just had it fixed and painted it after storm Arwen. (Yes, it did take me three years to get it done. I'm a complete procrastinator...)

I've lived here since 1985 so my roof was forty years old. I would advise people never to get a bungalow. I have at least two and a half times as much roof as an ordinary house! So two and a half times the cost of replacing it 😫

Bed for me. I know have flat sheets. I do not even try to tuck them in. I put the top to the bottom every week. Did away with the duvet and have a nice patterned lightweight cover. I also have a very pretty bedspread and an tiny cot duvet belonging to my granddaughter, who is now 30. I move the top covers and the little duvet up and down as the weather warrants. Works for me and my various
aches and pains. It has a very pretty modern layed look. And saves so much hassle.

Cleaning the wet room wall tiles near the shower

Dodgy knees make anything below waist level almost impossible! I used to kneel down and scrub skirting boards or clean base cupboards every week!

For skirting boards (done intermittently when they look as though they need it) I use one of those dishwashing sponges with an abrasive side and a sponge side. The handle has a flip up bit at the end which nicely fits a garden cane, so no bending needed. Also good for the tops of doors.

With a difficult DH who doesn't see the point of housework I can't cope with it all myself. It depresses me to live in such chaos but I don't seem to have any option.

Skirting boards? Ironing bed linen? I have never even thought of doing those things. Or many other things mentioned on this thread.

Lahlah65

singingnutty

Getting things out of the loft. We do not have a loft ladder as one would not fit into the space below the hatch. DH can put up extendable steps and get up there but I can't go up those. He will not put much up there - cases, Christmas decs mainly - so I have under the stairs to store things I wish to keep. The under the stairs bit is quite low so he can't get in there. It is my cubby hole to store things he would want to get rid of!

There are very clever folk around who specialise in making lofts accessible now. They have loads of different types of ladders, and can alter the hatches too. They put up shelves between the W-sections in DD's loft to make storage easier. Battery lights too, which turn on aautomatically. It has made such a difference to her house as she doesn't have much storage at all.

Loft ladders are a good idea per se - to help with storing things in the loft.

With benefit of hindsight I should have realised that the local guy who said he could do me a loft ladder and I wouldnt find a wooden one too heavy for me to use was influenced by this areas style - rather than being accurate. I've seen photos of even proper fixed permanent stairs done in a very peculiar way in this area - ie a long hole cut in ground floor ceiling and the (fixed!!!) stairs put in all looking very odd. So he followed this area's style and cut the loft hatch to this peculiar lengthy size and put in a wooden loft ladder - and he got it wrong. His assurance another older woman could use a wooden loft ladder does not apply to women generally - and I want what my father did in my last house - ie leaving the loft hatch in normal size and shape and using a metal loft ladder. I used to nip up and down that one no problem - perfectly possible for a woman to pull down and put up.

Is not a happy bunny with the very odd way/wooden ladder bit and want it done "normally". The only advantage that peculiar way of doing things has is that the local workmen can manage to pull the ladder down/put it back up again and they can get in and out of my loft - but I can't. So I am angry with him for apparently not being informed as to what the normal way is to do loft ladders....

Allira

A robot one or a vacuum cleaner for upstairs, one for downstairs and a handheld one for the stairs!

My house is a bungalow anyway - not a deliberate choice for it to be that way....but small town here = not many on the market publicly...so that's what I got...

But it does have its advantages - ie no stairs. Re elsewhere = I made a mistake when I ripped out the hall carpet (orange and very much the worse for wear - 1970s' I think!!) and replaced it with one in coffee-ish brown. It showed every little bit and looked like it needed hoovering daily as a result. Cue for I had it ripped up and replaced with engineered wood flooring instead and can now get away with giving it a sweep every few days.

Me too

Yes...beds. Linen as well as under and around them. We've had a moth infestation under one of them, but goodness knows how anyone is supposed to hoover sufficient thoroughly to prevent this. Fortunately, DH mostly does the beds or we at least do it between us.