Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
What a swell shell this is
Ok so that should be party but we cannot have one just yet as we have no back on the house. But we do have a shell for the extension and very fine it is too. Completed ahead of schedule and at the price quoted - sinister eh?
So what have we got? Well so far about 62m2 of blockwork building with a single ply membrane roof with skylights installed. We also have all the wiring in for the 40 or so lights for this area and some rendering on the external walls. The weather has been a bit brutal for this piece of work and I am so grateful for Antonio who has continued in the torrential and icy rain. A lesser person (such as myself) would have buggered off down the greasy spoon for a couple of hours but not him. In fact he stayed until about 7.30 last night to make the most of the break in the weather. I am sure his lovely wife Sacha was delighted to have no assistant for bed and bathtime for the children and was singing my praises throughout the evening…However, though small consolation it will be to her, Antonio's work is amazing and I am now considering defecting from Restylane to sand and cement.
If the weather is not too grim and the render can be finished we hope to plasterboard the ceiling next week and get on with the chasing out for the sockets etc. Alan made a mercy dash from Cyprus on Monday evening to start the wiring. Although I am devoted to take away's and sachet dinners for one, CB and the children are sick of bread and jam, Pomm Bears and fish and chips. I have promised if we can just eat at the Tulip cafe three times a day for the next four or five weeks then I'll knock up a meal or two for them when we get a cooker. In the meantime I shall enjoy private dinners while CB is away ( on Wednesday I dined like a Queen on a box of Mint Matchmakers and some old wine I found at the back of the fridge).
I would like a Tsunami kitchen but it would not like the budget I have to acquire it. The model I dream of is called Atelier and comes in at about 80k. Yes, that is eighty thousand pounds. Although I have no doubt it represents fine value blah blah blah it is definitely not within even light years of our budget. Thus we have turned to McGovern Carpentry and Design to build an approximation of this for us. Barry, who along with his partner Steve and team built the extension, is a nifty carpenter. He has had a look at the kitchen and we have come up with a design that he could build for us. Although it will not have been hand crafted by ethereal beings using gossamer and fairy tools in the same way as Tsunami kitchens must clearly be, I think it will be amazing as he is clearly a talented man. In fact it would be worth saying that the whole of the team have been delightful and the whole process to date has been virtually stress free. I say virtually only because I have developed extreme nervousness and anxiety lately none of which is related in any way to the build or the builders. I have been prescribed Dr Stuart's tranquility tea by a friend of mine who although, as he keeps telling me, is nudging 50, looks about 35. If it works I shall be amazed but grateful as not sleeping is undoing all the good work of the facial filling
Louis Samuel Bolshaw Tucker
a remarkable boy.
My gorgeous nephew, Louis, died this morning after a long and courageous battle with a brain tumor.
He was born four weeks after my eldest daughter, Bella, and they were the best of friends. From a very early age they had a deep connection which was only reinforced over time. They would spend hours engrossed in potion making and concocted lots of things that would have put Mr Potter to shame.
Louis remarkable parents, Sue and Liz, ensured that this dreadful disease had as little impact on his life as possible and were active in finding the right treatments for him. It is a testament to them that right until the end Louis still had an amazing life full of love and happiness. Both Louis and Bella were aware that he had “bad seeds” in his head and that these affected him physically. They adapted to the new Louis beautifully, enjoying one another's company to the end.
The world will be a sadder place for his passing.
Where are we now?
A question I have asked myself many times since number four began. Well, wait for the drum roll, we are in and living in some of the rooms.
Although far from finished the financial relief of no longer running two houses and the logistics of running between the two compensates for much of the mess and dust in which we are living. In fact, I have embraced the life of grime to such an extent that I wish we had surrendered fewer rooms to the act of bathing and just stuck with the babywipe top and tail which I have grown so fond of. I would have made a fine bed ridden dowager lying around waiting to be sponged down and fed rose and violet creams.
The extension is looking good so far although not remotely similar to the original design. This is as a result of several factors not least of all the woeful original estimate of the build costs. The latest feature to fall by the waysideis the fixed panels either side of extension. Specified at 2.7m high by 2.4 wide they have proved far too heavy and far too expensive and more suited to a commercial application. Despite valiant efforts by the builders to resolve the issue we are going to have glazing bars down the panels if we are to avoid a crane lifting them over the building etc etc etc. Yawn. Lesson to be learnt here: do not go along with what is suggested without doing own research first on cost and feasibility etc.
The garden is looking truly shocking and is not enhanced by the rubble pile in the middle. The good news is that Sarah Hammond is back on board with some fabulous ideas which we might be able to achieve on a budget less than a Kings ransom. Having met with a potential contractor yesterday,I allowed myself the luxury of hope and a box of Mint Match Makers to celebrate. The enjoyment was only briefly interrupted by a small skirmish above as one small daughter told the other she was an “unkind penis”.
You will all be glad to know that we have taken delivery of yet another giant skip, this time a 25 yarder, which I hope will bethe last. I think, but cannot be sure, this is the 13th - unlucky for some?
The lion, the witch but no wardrobe
So so sad. We have been trying hard to get storage built at number four but are failing miserably.
We have found lots of great tradesmen but cannot afford the prices quoted. Some are clearly reasonable for the quality offered but outside of our budget and others have clearly, mistakenly, believed that a large house equals large bank balance. Not in this equation I'm afraid.
Were we seeking solid wood I could understand that a 2.5m x 2mm run could cost 3k but it is only MDF and the materials could not cost more than 200 quid. Coupled with the fact that this is not to be painted by the maker but by me and it makes it look like a very bad deal indeed. Another chap suggested that this run would take three weeks to build - is he on a go slow before he even starts?
So what to do? Well I have decided in the short term we should buy something off the peg and wait for funds to magically appear for the real thing. With this in mind I went to a furniture outlet recommended by Alison Cork in her really useful column. Located in deepest darkest DeptfordI did not hold out much hope - and I was not disappointed. Really very depressing indeed - lots of DFS style items crammed into a warehouse manned by disaffected youths. Note to this store - you are not allowed to smoke in here anymore and hiding behind beds to do so does not change that fact. About to leave, I suddenly spotted a very nice wardrobe . Still too expensive but thought it might be worth a punt at a reduction and asked the feral lookingboy nearby what they could do. He returned to suggest that he put it through the till at the wrong price and then I bunged him a ” 50 quid drink”. Ah. Note to youth - this is theft not discount. No sale.
So off to Ikea today for some of their wobbly clothes rails.
The curse of the amateur underpinner
Having demolished the rear additions work has begun on the foundations. Although we have reached the very depths of despair re the 2m deep foundations we had sufficiently recovered to carry on. Well I am afraid that Sid and Kenneth would be turning in their graves now - carrying on isnot an option for now.
Some terrible fool has misguidedly tried their hand at underpinning a section of wallby the party wall line. They have in effect poured a lump of concrete, reinforced with steel bars along about half a meter and going down, who knows? Maybe to Australia. The most pitiful thing about this is that it would not have effected a repair or even stabilized a wall in any event as the concrete stops short of any wall or foundation. It is just a big useless lump that now requires serious time and labour to break out. All of which costs a lot. Of course.
Have to be grateful to our diligent builders who have brought this to our attention rather than merely covering it up, but could have done without this news today. It is wet, cold and we are all covered in thick ginger clay. Maybe I could sell it to the Sanctuary as a new beauty treatment, previously unknown beyond the far flung shores of Sarf East London, and finance the rest of the work?
A grey area
Some people only see things in black or white. I have always seen things in grey and now I have hair to match.
Thanks to my mother, I saw my first grey hair in my teens and have been colouring it in, with various degrees of success, ever since.
I sported a foul flat top at about 16, dyed a lovely combo of red and gold. Clearly very nasty indeedbut I though I was the epitome of aNorthernSoul Girl albeit born, and still living, in Essex. At least it covered the first few grey's. I quickly progressed to a perm on top and a few very yellow highlights which, for some reason, I felt looked better than a few grey strands. In hindsight I bore a striking resemblanceto the lead singer of Orange Juice ( a terribly fashionable band (then)for more youthful readers).
The short hair with light perm gave way to longer hair with Dynasty type proportions as the eighties wore on. I fondly imagined I looked glamorous and sophisticated beyond my 18 years but I was mistaken. The photographic evidence conclusively proves that I looked like a cut priceBonnie Tylertribute band member looking for a booking in a Southend night spot - TOTs anyone?
I think it was only in the early nineties when the bob had a revival that my hair came into it's own - for about two months. Downhill again thereafter until now, as I approach my fortieth year, I find myself at number four with hair to rival Cruella De Ville and not a puppy in sight. Having given up the whole thankless task of three weekly appointments to colour in the telltale white line I am now reaping the benefits of that decision. I may be 100 quid a month better off but my elder daughter is mortified and my younger delighted that I look like her favourite Grandmother.
The grey does have two fans though. The first our 74 year old carpenter who proclaimed it very nice and suited to a woman of my age ( guess who is sacked?) and the second who worksin a local DIY shop who has watched the descent into blizzard hair and said that not to tell anyone but that he has always found grey hair attractive - secretly of course, in the way that any shameful fancy should be kept. To those who would shun us grey haired people I have only two words - George Clooney.
All lit up like Blackpool illuminations
So our mate Alan schlepped back from his palatial second home in Cyprus ( the full monty; built upon the same budget that might buy a studio on Lordy Lane SE22 complete with underground parking for four motor's - how posh is that I ask?) to illuminate number four.
What a difference real lighting makes. We have become so used to temporary building lights that I had almost persuaded myself that I did not look too bad on six hours sleep a night and twenty cups of builders tea a day. Top tip is glaring temporary lighting removes most wrinkles and gives a smooth appearance to the skin that even Vaseline on a lens cannot hope to achieve.
Horrid shock then to return to reality this week and find that all rooms have lights and power. Particularly harrowing have been fully lit mirrors showing thefull toll this project has taken. I mayhave been well and truly filled with Restylane back in February but it is clear that the builders will need to chuck a bit ofsand and cement my way when the rendering begins.That aside the lighting is looking marvellous with a combination of pendants, downlighters and freestanding. I am especially fond of the bathroom mirror light which has a soft glow that both Joan Collins and I will find acceptable in terms of flattery to the less youthful mush - thank you Mr Starck. I only wish I had taken Joan's lead on the wig but that is another story…
Nerves of steel
or least a ceiling consisting almost entirely of it.
This week we have had the chimney breast removed and steels put in place to support the chimney breast above and the rather large large chimneys atop that. This has been a very big and costly job and had we known the extent of both we surely would not have touched it with a barge pole let alone a cheque book. The lesson here is not to take the design of others too seriously and look to yourself for the solution which best suits your purse and aspirations. We could have just had the chimney breast cut out part way, new lintel inserted and used the opening for a very swanky range and hood and still have been quid's in. Lesson to be learnt: linear kitchen good; money in thy purse better. It worked for Iago.
The final push
So we are now at second fixing stage and will soon have our bathrooms up and running. I am very excited to see these in place as most of the sanitaryware has been deposited around the rental house for the last five months. Have had to buy as and when we could to save cash and now we shall see the fruits of our thriftiness; or not as the case may be.
CB and I have spent the last week sanding - the job we said we would never do again. It was made marginally less repulsive by the new super duper dust free sanders we hired from www.floorsanderrental.co.uk in Forest Hill. They did just what they said they would on the packet. If you have to endure this most onerous of tasks then give them a call. Cautionary note - if your floor is covered in bitumen as ours were you will have a very hard time.
Several rooms are decorated and ready to go but we are having trouble finding someone to build storage as an affordable cost. At present the quotes would necessitate the sale of all our worldly goods and then we would have no need for storage at all. Any recommendations?
Finally to the persistent flytipper who is now just dumping straight onto the driveway - stop please.
Lies, damned lies and builders estimates…
Mr Disraeli clearly hadno experience of building work when condemning statistics as the most deceitful of all figures. Surely much higher in the list to be named and shamed are the following:-
1) Time estimates for coming out to price a job;
2) Time estimates for returning the quotation;
3) The quotation itself - no more scientific then guessing the number of sweeties in a jar at the local fete;
4) Time estimates for getting the job done;
5) Estimates for the number of people on site during the job;
6) Estimates of number of skips to be used - and of course paid for;
7) Estimates of just how deep the customers pocket can be and how easy it will be to pick;
8 ) Estimates of just how much a customer can bear - even before the work has begun;
9) Estimate of just how close this particular customer is to the edge
and just how far she can be pushed before she snaps clean in two leaving only one half available to go to the bank and pay for it all - better hope it's the half with the hands that is left.