New Windows - Monday 31.1.11

THE STROUD WINDOW COMPANY came to The Turn Around House today to fit 2 new windows.

THE STROUD WINDOW COMPANY

The rest of the windows have been double glazed; it's time these rotting , wooden ones were done too.

Both windows were removed 

in double quick time - I mean DOUBLE QUICK!

The new windows made the rooms look so much sharper from the moment the frames went in.

I got on with emptying the loft, a job I had to leave when Sams' house flooded. 

I think I was a bit of a pain to Phil who was working on the landing window as I threw things out of the loft hatch and into his general direction!

Nothing put him off his task, although he was a star, helping me lower the bigger/heavier items out of the loft. 

Because I kept interrupting Phil, his little window took quite a lot longer to fit than Daves'  much bigger one.

See, this is a dismal shot of Dave, all finished and chipper, whilst Phil struggles on.

Fantastic job - I'm really impressed.

NO WONDER THESE GUYS ARE SO BUSY, WE'LL DEFINITELY USE THEM AGAIN.

Tomorrow : back to Sams' place for the final full day working there for me. Just the specialists after that, with me lending a hand to move furniture out of the way so that they can do their jobs. 

Flooded House - Tuesday 25.1.11

Dave Leggy has done the best ever job on the plastering. He is a STAR and a LEGEND.

I've cleaned up all the little drips he missed. Took about half an hour. As you can see, they were tiny - no trouble at all.

The ceilings in the kitchen, bathroom and 2 bedrooms have been painted now and all look something like this ( the kitchen), smooth and beautiful; SHARP.

The living room was finalized today, which means we have to wait a few days before we can go near it with paint.Looks good though, don't you think?

I realized that with being ill and then away, that I hadn't posted a shot of the loft with it's 270mm thick insulation and new floor. Lovely job thanks to GLYN BOWEN, NAILSWORTH PROPERTY MAINTENANCE. 

I can't believe how lucky I am to have such a great team around me. All topped off with BELLAS' DADDY pulling his weight all for love.

Leave me a message if you need good help at home and let you have their contact details.

Kisses all round lads : )

Men! - Tuesday 18.1.11

Yesterday, BUILD CENTRE LET US DOWN - BADLY. They didn't bother to turn up with the LOFT INSULATION as arranged, nor did they bother to let us know! Luckily I had the sense to phone them and ask what the ---- was going on? They said they'd be here today instead!


When I arrived today, the insulation arrived at the same time, on account of we passed the truck, twigged it was our load and guided it to Sams' place. Shame a high percentage of the load was SOAKING WET. 
BLOODY IMBECILES. 
I sent the wet stuff back, called BUILD CENTRE, WORMLEY, BRISTOL, and discussed the fact that I've had a builder turn up, 2 days in a row, for nothing. They got the truck turned around and straight back to me. 


Meanwhile, back at the coalface, yesterday, Dave Leggy had done the master bedroom ceiling and Glyn Bowen had raised the height of the joists in the loft so that Sam can have both THICK INSULATION (270mm) and a floor. It'll be interesting to see what they get done today!

We got the skirt board off the living room walls.

On the back we could see the tide mark from the little Boxing Day flood.

The walls can dry out fully now.

The boards have been de-nailed and set aside, we may recycle them at some point. The living room will have higher, contemporary skirting, to conceal the very skinny, but ugly, ripple that runs around the plasterboard at low skirt board height.

Ted got on and painted some walls.

Dave got on and relined and plastered 2 more ceilings!

And Glyn carried on in the loft.

Why couldn't Glyn lay the dry  insulation I held onto this morning?? 
BECAUSE EVERY 100mm ROLL WAS WET- AND IT HAD TO GO DOWN FIRST.


We got a lot done though : )

Skip Ahoy! - Monday 11.1.11

The last of the carpet is out! Bathroom and landing. What is it about the smallest rooms? They get put off because It wont take a moment. And it didn't. I whipped these up and out as I waited for the skip to arrive this morning.

Shocked to note how VERY MOULDY they had become over the 17 days since the flood. They're still wet,

as you can see in the 2 shots here! Amazingly, the upper surface felt completely dry to the touch. I have to admit to a bit of a pong in the loo/landing area though and, no, this time it wasn't me.

The front elevation is also showing signs of MILD SHOCK, especially around the windows.

Thankfully the skip arrived before I could depress myself any further.

It didn't take me long to fill it up.

I headed home. 

Most of the ROSES are gone, (sorry Sam - did you want them) what more reason do I need to head out to get food?

Clear Out - Monday 10.1.11

I spent yesterday, SUNDAY, going through my notes and my photos and using them to compile a list of jobs that will need to be done before Sam can move back in.

While I got on with my bit of PROJECT MANAGEMENT, Glyn the builder went to the Flooded House and cleared the loft of wet floor boards and all the soaked loft insulation. He also put in a second dehumidifier for me. It's on the middle floor and still ot enough.

The skip's arriving on Tuesday, I guess I'll have to chuck all this detritus into it. Glyn's on another job this week, Sam's taken her baby to her parents for a while, until the work's nearer completion, so I'm on my own.

The loft had been beautifully cleared and cleaned by Glyn. Perfect. The insulation will be here in a couple of weeks to coincide with the time the loft might actually be dry.

The plasterboard in the master bedroom has a sag in it. From up here the board has an obvious 'scoop' in it at the 'sag' point.

Where the fixings for the first floor ceiling have penetrated the foil layer, water has found a way into the plasterboard's interior and caused these large, soft blisters. This is NOT A GOOD SIGN!

The loft wall is still wet along the mortared joints. With no dehumidifier in this zone, it will take a while to fully dry. which is unsatisfactory to my way of thinking.

Finally, mould has developed along the loft timbers and will need killing off at some stage in the project.

No point hanging about, I ripped up the duff floorboards, which was a pig of a job, but had the added advantage of letting air flow around the under side of the, still good, boards. Perhaps with the breeze from the new dehumidifier reaching their undersides, they'll stop growing mould now and get on with drying out.

PERHAPS : (

Saturday 8.1.11

This morning we fancied getting out into the bright, fresh air, for a long walk/cycle ride/paddle (canoe, not barefoot in the sea .... although that would be nice). Not a chance came the combined shout. One of us has Sciatica and the other one has promised to help up at Sams' place, this was the nearest I was getting to the sun today and that was a lot closer than MeWally got.

Everyone else had headed to the tip, meaning a queue had formed. All I wanted to do was throw away the rubbish Sam had sorted out yesterday.

I'm getting up the laminate flooring today. It had been under about an inch of water, much of which a team of us had mopped up on Boxing Day evening.

The skirt board and walls are beginning to show signs of immersion damage as the water wicks up from the sodden fibre board underlay.

It's a real pity as it was a good quality laminate with a long life guarantee and was well fitted and finished. Poor Sam.

So, up it all came. 

The dehumidifier was chuntering away in the porch.

At last there was only this one piece of laminate to come up, but that wasn't the end of my days work.

With the ground floor ripped up, I got on with the removal of the, now dry, stair carpet. The plasterboard backing the stairs has developed splits and cracks. It didn't enjoy its' bath.

Friday 7.1.11

What a soft day. Mist hanging in the trees, its' water dripping gently onto the buildings below.

Meanwhile, inside Sams' place the DEHUMIDIFIER in the porch works constantly, sucking in air from the open letter box, warming it and then drying it. How useful.

Glyn the builder came over to assess the works, and his sidekick said, as he walked through the door, You guys trying to dehumidify the world?

It would seem that having all the windows open is fine for drying out using central heating, but with a dehumidifier; shut up the house. 

So we did, and we closed the lid on the loo and blocked up the gaping letterbox.

Sam wanted to check the place for developing damage. The floorboards are warping in places,

as is this door, which no longer closes.

We have mould forming. Spores from mould can cause respiratory difficulties, so this is not a minor matter.

Once the carpet was up in Sams' bedroom, there was more wetness and mould

trooping

about the floor boards.

The damp from the loft has begun to affect other parts of the big bedrooms' ceiling and wall. Here by the door,

where the wall has gone all wobbly along the top.

Here over the window the plasterboard has taken leave of the lintel, a little bit.

And as for this corner,

Well it's looking pretty bad.

What with all that, the floor's also warping on the landing,

the bathroom ceiling has gone all ropey along the edge 

and the loft hatch is beginning to delaminate.

On the ground floor, the understair plasterboard has let go

and now it looks a proper mess.

At least we were able to lift the stinking, damp carpets.

HAPPY DAYS.