Let’s set the scene. You’ve recently bought a new-to-you home that was seemingly a steal. While nothing seems majorly wrong with it at first, there are just little things that, after the sale, seem wrong. Doors don’t fit right, the flooring is peeling up – all these could be signs of home renovations that are actually quick fixes gone wrong.
So, what should you be on the lookout for? Here are 13 clues that a home reno has gone a bit off the rails and you might have more to fix on your hands than you had expected.
1. Rushed Paint Job
A bad paint job is one of the easiest and quickest ways to spot a reno job done wrong. You will want to check any newly painted areas to see if they were done properly, looking for signs such as peeling, chipping, streaking, or scratched-up paint. These low-grade finishes or rush jobs will show wear and tear pretty quickly and could be hiding worse things beneath.
2. Plumbing Problems
The plumbing in your home is not something you want to handle yourself or have to call a professional for. Unfortunately, it’s also an area that sellers often avoid addressing, leading to quick fixes and shortcuts that can cause serious problems.
According to the team at The Real Estate Lifestyle, you’ll want to check for leaks, drips, buckets under pipes, or caulk being used to seal up spaces, just in case the previous owners tried to cover up a problem rather than fix it.
3. Failed Flooring
The flooring underneath your feet is incredibly important and, as shared by the team over at Real Property Management Deluxe, can be an easily spotted sign of things gone wrong or corners cut. Rather than fix the problem, sellers looking for a quick fix may lay down poor-quality laminate flooring, or may do so improperly, leaving a buckled-up or warped floor for you to stumble across.
4. Materials and Finishes Not Matching
It might not seem like a big deal to see different styles and finishes throughout your house, but it could be hiding something darker. According to Home&Texture’s experts, mismatched materials could mean poor or lower-quality pieces being used to replace older, more expensive ones. It could also mean that something broke recently and the old owners didn’t have the time or didn’t want to make the effort to replace it properly and just grabbed what they could. Either way, you’re left fixing the mess.
5. Cracks Anywhere
Now, this is an obvious one. If you spot signs of cracks, even if they’ve been painted over or a patch job has been attempted, that is an immediate red flag. Some cracking can be merely cosmetic, but should always be disclosed from the get-go as professional help might have been needed for real repair.
6. Cheap Doors and/or Windows
Do the doors or windows on your newly bought home just look… cheap? Maybe they don’t match the rest of the home or they look like simple particle board thrown in place. The unfortunate truth, says the team at LifeHacker, is that cheap doors or windows are one easy way to cut costs. They also recommend checking things like the weather stripping to see if it’s new or newly replaced, as well as caulking that might have been done to keep the weather out rather than investing in quality.
7. Missing Documentation
Most of the time, when major work has been done on a house, the original homeowner would have needed to apply for documentation or permits. Missing either of those is another red flag that could mean a quick fix was done rather than a better, permanent one. This could leave you holding the bag for major repairs to fix the original issue.
8. Nothing Fits Right
Does that one cabinet just not sit right? What about the door — does it stick every time you try to close it? These could be signs that something was just put in place rather than a real fix being made. Make sure you open and close doors, drawers, and everything else you can get your hands on. Some of it might just be old wear and tear but others could be signs of needed repairs that got ignored or rushed.
9. Poor Roof Quality
Roofs are another area of the home that tends to run a high price point when it comes to repair, which is why it is often ignored or hastily patched up instead of fully repaired. As shared by the Stuff team, roofs are often an “out of sight, out of mind” deal, which means former owners might be hoping you overlook them. Make sure you check out any roof before purchasing a home!
10. Use of Expanding Foam
One of the last things you want to see anywhere in a home is expanding foam, especially if it looks like it has been used to seal up a crack or hide a flaw. As Lifehacker explains, that is usually a huge red flag for a rushed or cheap repair job that will leave you with a major mess down the line.
11. Bad Wiring
Faulty wiring is especially common in older homes, and hiring an electrician to come out and fix things properly can cost quite a pretty penny. Previous homeowners might try and cover up bad wiring with a quick fix that doesn’t necessarily stand up to code, so the Real Estate Lifestyle team recommends checking out circuit breakers, wiring, and outlets to make sure they are up to code and modern.
12. Bad Planning
Weird space planning might not seem like something that comes about because of a quick fix, but you might be surprised. Coldwell Banker Hearthside shares how doors that don’t open all the way before hitting a wall or a drawer that hits another when you try and pull it out can be signs of a reno gone wrong. Instead of planning things out properly, the previous homeowners might have thrown something together hoping it would last long enough to get passed on to you, the new homeowner.
13. Hidden Damage
And finally, we’ve got hidden damage. Really, this is the hardest sign of a bad reno or quick fix gone wrong by its very nature — the previous homeowners obviously tried to hide it. This can be anything from leaks in the attic to poorly insulated walls, all equally problematic for you to try and fix in the future. Make sure you check all areas you wouldn’t normally think to check and save yourself time, headache, and money in the future.