‘I will literally not be in it for even a year, but I'm supposed to shell out hundreds on a wall?’: Entitled step-dad expects teenage children to pay for their bedroom walls while their home undergoes unnecessary renovations

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Sep 2, 2025 4:00 PM EDT

Home renovations aren't cheap. Would you still move forward with unnecessary renovations if you didn't have the finances to back it up? Or, would you ask your teenage children to front the bill instead, like the stepfather in this next story?

Yeah, tell me about it. Kids don't need everything under the sun to consider themselves "raised right". They are, however, entitled to feel like they don't need to financially contribute to their household, at least in the way this stepfather is expecting. Kids are supposed to focus on school, maybe a part-time job. Instead, these kids are worried about whether they need to spend their lunch money on buckets of paint because their stepfather heavily implied that he wants them to.

It's not even like the kids wanted this renovation to happen—they were completely fine with sharing one big room instead of putting up walls. Even after they told their father this, he did it anyway, then expected them to offer to reimburse him. 

I don't know about you, but I think it's absurd to expect minors to pay for home renovations that aren't integral to the home's foundation. What do you think? Scroll below to read the full story.

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  • "He brought it up again another time, saying we were going to pay for the flooring and paint in our own room, offering it as a Christmas gift we could (will) get for him."
    via Milivoj Kuhar for Unsplash

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • "Parents expect me to pay for my own wall"

    My (17) parents are building a new house. This is the 2nd or 3rd one, my step-dad continuously decides he's not satisfied with
    via squid_saturn
  • one and builds another. I'm sick of it, personally, but its his life and his money so whatever. This time, my step-dad has decided to
    via squid_saturn
  • build a home with rooms for all his kids (5-6 total.) He asked me and my two sisters if we would rather have one big bedroom, or
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  • three separate bedrooms. Of course, all of us are teens, and we all say we want our own room. He pushes and talks about the
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  • price and how it'll cost a few hundred more and hows hes already sunk so much into the house. My siblings talk and we
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  • agree we can do one big room, since two of us will be heading out for college in a few years anyways.
    via squid_saturn
  • My step-dad decides to build the separate rooms anyways, cool! Awesome! I was pretty happy and thanked him. Later, though, in a
    via squid_saturn
  • talk where he was telling us we needed to help out more in the building process, he mentioned how we "never offered to pay for
    via squid_saturn
  • our walls?" He brought it up again another time, saying we were going to pay for the flooring and paint in our own room, offering it as a Christmas gift we could (will) get for him.
    via squid_saturn
  • a person painting during home renovations, a bucket of paint on the floor
    via semenay erdoğan For Unsplash+

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • I wouldn't be as upset about this if it wasnt for the fact that he is planning to sell this house soon after I and a few other siblings
    via squid_saturn
  • move out for college within the next few years. I will literally not be in it for even a year, but I'm supposed to shell out hundreds
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  • on a wall? I don't mind paying for the paint, but the wall? Even in the last house he built, I never got a doorknob, because I was
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  • supposed to pay for it myself (which I did not, because I could live without one and I'm trying to save best I can.)
    via squid_saturn
  • He does a lot of other entitled stuff, this is just the biggest one as of late. I feel like I should be more grateful but that just seems over the top. I'm just kinda tired of living with him, to be honest.
    via squid_saturn
  • (Once again sorry for formatting errors. TLDR Step-Dad asks me to pay for my own walls in a house I will live in less than a year, for a room I didnt ask him to make.)
    via squid_saturn
  • Lisa_Knows Best Don't give him anything. You're a minor and it's your parents job to supply you the basic things needed to live, that includes walls. If he won't buy the paint then don't paint your room. You're 17, you'll be out soon hopefully.
    via Lisa_Knows_Best
  • If he brings the craziness up again ask him what portion of the profits you'll be getting when he sells the house?
    via Lisa_Knows_Best
  • Character_Bed1212 If you and your siblings are gonna pay for the house, you should be on title. Otherwise, your dad's gonna profit off of every penny, you put in.
    via Character_Bed1212
  • Gsiver Can you take your wall with you when you move out?
    via Gsiver
  • -tacostacostacos It's his asset, he can cover the improvements. As a minor you have no obligations to pay; your privacy as teens is a basic need he owes you as a parent.
    via -tacostacostacos

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