Building update

This week has really tested my patients. First of all the builders went through the gas pipe.Then on Wednesday night the shower ket on tripping the electric. I thought they had gone through the wire. We only need them to nip the water pipes and they will have  a hat trick.

It turns out the element has gone in the shower. So it wasn't there fault.
We went and bought a new shower. Both the builder and Geoff said it's easy just take it off pop the new one on.

It turns out our old shower was quite deep on the wall and the new ones are narrow. So not so easy unless we find a deep one it will be quite a big job. We will have to take the tiles off and chase out the pipe in the wall.

The drama of it all.

On a brighter note the building is going up.

half the false ceilings gone in along with the carcass of my pantry.

Pudding surveying the scene 

13.03.2018 Bad News

Day 14 of the build.

We were moving things down the cellar last night ready for the kitchen wall to come down and we discovered this.

The builder had said it's because of all the bad weather we've had while they were digging the foundations.
I really hope that's all it is. I really thought it was fixed. I have had a heater on all night and it seems to be drying out.

The floor joists went in yesterday for the garden room.

I will really be sorry to see these go but the building officer has said I cant put them into the new room :-(

I hope I get some good news today. The building inspectors coming out this morning. 

The house is falling down !!!

I was sta in the lounge and my daughter said whats that noise? we went into the kitchen and there was water all over the place.


It would appear the shower was leaking.

The seal has gone a little on the edge of the tray and the tiles.

This is what he did while I was upstairs having a look. Because it's tiled floor to ceiling He said he had to do this.

The builder will sort it when he starts the kitchen....

Monday 29th January

Well the kitchen planner came and took all the measurements and gave me some good ideas and advice.
I chose something similar  to this

I cracked on with packing up the dining room and kitchen. Just leaving essentials in the kitchen.


I had help!! See pic 4 and 7 :-))

And then the bomb was dropped

When the builder was here last week. We noticed that parts of the plan wasn't correct. Mike said he would talk to the architect and have him correct them.

He has corrected part of them. But he can'y correct the size because he says we will need planning permission. I asked him this the day he came and he said we wouldn't. It's not a problem. He will just have to alter them and submit them. But I would have asked him to draw up different plans had he have been truthful. I might have took the end of my kitchen out a little bit. 

This end a couple of foot. 

I can't do much with this end because the cellar door is there.  

Lets see what today brings 

Decluttering

I promised myself I would pack a box of  kitchen and dining room stuff away a day at the start of the year.Of course it didn't happen. The reason being is I just have too much stuff.

I made a start today and managed six boxes. I am going to do another two tonight if I have 20 boxes packed by the end of the week i'me on track.

I am going to sort out what I am keeping and whats going when all the work is finished and have a proper sort out then. It looks so much bigger and better with just half the crap out of the dining room. I am not going to fill it back up I am only going to keep things that are useful.

This was me yesterday

And this is what i'm going to try and do.

I have been on a night shift and it has finally just stopped raining. We have had very  heavy rain all night with a fabulous thunder and lightening storm. 

This was Manchester at 02:30 this morning. 

The drain saga Continues

Well the drain saga continues. My insurance company rang me yesterday about the complaint I put in a few weeks ago. Basically the complaint was about  the sub company they use who do all the assessing.
Every time I ring they are to busy to speak to me and that's why its dragged on this long.

Anyway she asked me if the drain company were on sight. I told her they were not they had already been last week on the 4th. Even though I had a message on my phone saying they couldn't come on the 4th and would be attending on the 10th.She said that was strange because she had just spoken to them and they assured her there operatives were on there way. Welcome to my world Love!!


Then she sent me an email

Hi Donna

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me.  Below are my contact details.

I’ve spoken directly to CET who have advised that the operative excavated on the 4^th, replaced the waste pipe, a bend and length of pipe on a drain run and then tested it for 30 mins.  As there were no leaks, he back filled and left site clean and tidy. 

There is no planned visit for today.  I’m sorry for the confusion.

I’m now speaking with Cunningham Lindsey to arrange for a re-visit from a loss adjuster to view and discuss the settlement for the internal damage.

I’ll speak with you later this week to check that the basement has no further leaks and to discuss a small compensation award for the inconvenience we have caused.

Kind Regards

Well it's still leaking Because united utilities found water under the sub floor.



Any way United utilities came out and fixed the none return valve. You can rely on some people to come on the right day. And to repair things properly the first time.

TO BE CONTINUED

The big build Decisions

Every thing went OK at the hospital yesterday. We came home had some lunch and went off to look at kitchens floors etc. I was feeling really rushed, having to make snap decisions on the spot.

STOP  

No I said i'm not doing it we are going to have to live with the kitchen, flooring, worktops etc for a long time. I have an idea what I want. I have a board on pinterest I have had for ages but that's different isn't it?

Anyway I saw a few possibilities. The builders not coming for a chat until the end of the month and the Kitchen planner is coming next week. So I have a few more weeks to have a good look around. 

I think I keep putting it off because of the mess. I'm in a mess at the moment it's the added mess.

Anyway on to more pleasant things planning days out in spring and summer. 

I have just come across this it's not far from me so am looking forward to it. 

https://www.facebook.com/events/865841390244600/

16 weeks and counting

Someone just asked me in work how my house is? and how long has it been now. Its been 16 weeks yes 16 weeks. My god I can't believe we have lived in that damp mess for all this time.

Hopefully when they dig the drains up again  on the 4th January and FIX them properly this time. No cutting corners it will be fixed. And everything else will fall in to place.

I haven't mentioned it before but weekend before Christmas the drains in the road were struggling to take the rain water away because it was raining that heavily. I had a look at our storm drain that is just outside the cellar doors and it seemed to be holding its own. I asked Geoff to bring a couple of sand bags home from work.

During the week I happened to look at the storm drain again and yep you guessed it it looked like it was blocked.  A call to united utilities and a call out later. The operative they sent managed to break the return valve in the drain so that all has to be replaced. I really couldn't make this up.

They are going to try and scheduled the work in next week. But its left my property really vulnerable to flooding I am so worried about Storm Dylan.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/dec/30/storm-dylan-set-to-disrupt-new-years-eve-travel-across-britain

Clearing Clutter

My back feels a little bit better today. it's still sore but I can move. I really have to get going today I have o sort out what we don't need/ want and get my house back into some order.

The contents or our cellar has been in the garden since all this started . I need to sift through it and see what we really need.

It looks like Clampetts/Steptoes  yard. I bet I can get rid of most of this. Wish me Luck 

13th December Finally!!

I can breath again. It's finally finishes I just need to put every thing back. That might be tricky as its all been in the garden and its frozen at the moment. Oh well I have faced more than that over these last few weeks.
We feel like our house hasn't been ours. This saga with the Insurance company has gone on and on.They are now saying they are coming on the 20th December 2017. To re-repair the drains. Lets see. I am not stressing about it any longer. We are all alive and well. So what if the house isn't perfect for Christmas it will be next year.

11 December 2017

Finally! It's nearly finished

5th December 2017

Well the engineers came yesterday with there cameras again to look at the drains. But this time they were bringing the BIG BOSS with them. My daughter who still lives at home told me not to let him go until he told me he was going to fix the drains. Or at least get his phone number, so he took ownership of this problem.
Anyway they found an anomaly!! basically that means water sat in and under the drain. So they are digging the paths up again and sealing them.

Lets hope they fix it this time. And I can get on with putting my house back together.

I don't know when I will get the time to do this I am on three nights this week and working everyday next.

On a brighter note I have just treated myself to this. With codes and Quidco I did really well with money off and free gifts

Cellar first coat of paint

We have decided to just go ahead and paint the cellar. If we wait for the insurance company to respond to us about the drains, we will be waiting forever. I spent 3 hours on the phone to them yesterday being passed around to different people. They arranged to come out today while I was here to reassess the drains and show me on the camera. They sneakily came yesterday while I was in work. OH well they will just have to come back.

First coat on. I will have to contact the flooring people and delay them coming.