predencia

I agree with the woman in the bank who said most tradesmen go on a special training course where they learn how to look customers directly in the eye and lie about when work will be finished. Yes, due to some particularly efficient trainees our deadline is receeding fast. We are now just 11 days from our original finishing time of 30th November. I want to laugh hysterically when I remember that the plan was to have the house ready for let by this date- decorated, furnished and ready to show. I know I’ve been asking for a miracle but nothing short of one is going to bring this project in on time.

The main problem continues to be the main builder – but much worse we’ve discovered his real links to the other tradespeople he recommended to us which we subsequently used. They all have the same ethos and work on joint projects which are similarly running over time (and as a result I suspect) over budget.

We are now having disputes about the spec of some of the work. Lesson here Predencia – get it in writing, and if the spec changes by agreement after the initial one – get that down in writing too. A couple of these guys are as slippery as eels. The drainage contractor who got the work in September is now saying he may not be able to finish by the end of the month. He promised to start on 8th November using 4 men to complete in a week. After a week and a half with just one man he will only now commit to the work being completed…..but wouldn’t say when. Aggggh!!

We’ve had some good experiences though. The tilers are proving very reliable and sticking to their quoted prices; the plumbers were in and out in a flash Thursday, Friday and Saturday(though sadly they had to return this morning because of a leak in the bathroom that soaked the brand new kitchen ceiling) but they were pleasant and stuck to their quoted time and price and will put right any lasting damage from the leak.

We finally got an electrician. We were estactic – competent and ….not turning up when he says he will – completely screwing up our schedule. I still have hair – but only just. I’ve been making time for meditation – otherwise I’d be bald by now.

I’m still optimistic that some miracle will work for us and that we’ll have the property ready for showing before Christmas or am I just being stupid?

It is now November 10th and things have begun to move. Not quite a miracle – maybe a miraclette. The tiler’s proved a Godsend (maybe he is the miracle). Despite the fact that he’s charging £20.00 a sq metre he’s agreed to drop the preparation cost. He’s brought his brother in to help. They arrive when they say they are going to, do what they say they are going to do and work quite quickly. The tiling is beautiful so much so that despite the cost we’ve had more of the ensuites tiled than we had intended (another 60 tiles and approx £80 labour).

After hearing nothing from the main builder for a whole week , and discovering that the tilers also fit bathrooms we asked if they would fit the bathroom and toilet for us as we couldn’t see how the main builder would have time (even if he was able to fit the ensuites at the weekend). Not knowing till the moment he turned up on Saturday morning that he was actually coming is no way to run a project. He arrived with the doors and the carpenter. The focus for the weekend was fitting the doors which left no time for the ensuites. We could not help but think we are not at the forefront of his mind. He brought 8 doors – yes we had ordered 8 doors but he’d already fitted two of them. Five of the doors were the wrong size so had to go back, they were therefore only able to fit three and they may (or may not) be able to come back in the week to fit door furniture and may (or may not) be back next weekend to begin the kitchen, Arggg!!

There is some good news though. We found a plumber who gave us a quote on Saturday and carried out moving the gas pipe on Sunday – arrived when he said he would – took as long as he said he would and charged us what he said he would. We’ve also found an alarm engineer who is extremely reliable and his work is brilliant; but then he is the same engineer that fitted the alarm 14 years ago and it has worked perfectly ever since. We are having quotes from two ariel engineers tomorrow and they can carry out the work quickly – even though we need TV points in 6 rooms. And today we gave the ensuite as well as the bathroom and toilet to the tilers and they’ve almost completed one of them already. It was fantastic to see water running in the basin and to hear the toilet flush. They intend to have the two ensuites and the toilet done by tomorrow.

Our biggest headache (apart from the main builder) is finding an electrician. If they are good they are busy and we are asking for a major work to be carried in a very short space of time. We’ve had one taker out of the 5 we’ve approached – and we cannot afford him. We’re thinking of engaging a specialist fire alarm company which would take a significant chunk of the work out and we may then have a taker for the rest. The more off putting things seems to be the alarm system and the metering of the rooms.

Despite this it does feel like things are moving and we’ve had an injection of energy despite working a 7 day week for the last two weeks. We managed a meal out on Saturday night but getting to the cinema to see the new James Bond film was more difficult – don’t think either of us could have stayed awake long enough to watch it – and my friend said Craig is definitiely worth staying awake for.

The result of engaging all these people is a significangt increase in our budget – but maybe it has simply increased to the level it should have been in the first place.

It’s easy to imagine that my life has been completely taken over by the building work – almost but not quite. I’m rehearsing for a drama performance at Birmingham Town Hall on 1st December as part of the World’s Aid Day celebrations, and I’ve been helping to organise a Writers Without Borders/Amnesty International collaboration event on 6th December to celebrate 60 years of the Human Rights Declarations.

And my youngest son has just comeback from a fantastic gig in Berlin – The Fairytale took Berlin by storm. I can’t wait to hear the details.

We are now into November and I now know we’re going to need a miracle to finish this project by the end of December. As the end of November deadline receded and disappeared into a mist of brickdust we sat down to restructure our plans and our budget. The problem continues to be our main builder who proves to be more an more unreliable each week.

He didn’t manage to get a tiler to us by last Wednesday or by Thursday, Friday or Saturday. He arrived on Saturday to fit the en-suites but after fitting the shower bases on Saturday informed us that he would not be coming on Sunday as he had a kitchen to fit elsewhere. He would try and get hold of a tiler for us a.s.a.p. When I suggested getting one ourselves he said he get one to us on Sunday – which he did. The only problem is that this tiles charges £20.00 per sq metre plus preparation of walls and floor. This pushes our budget up by about £800.00 for the total tiling job. We’ve agreed to go ahead because he can start tomorrow.

Even though the fire doors were the first thing we asked him to fit he informed us this week that he’s just ordered them and that they will arrive within 14 – 21 days, then they will take a week to fit. It’s too late for us to engage anyone else at this stage an so we live with the frustration.

The other big realisation for us this week is that Andrew has taken on too much and we are going to need a series of tradespeople to help us complete the work if we’re to bring the project in by the end of 2008. We need an electrician, an ariel engineer, an alarm engineer and possibly a plumber. We hired a carpenter to reroof the shed at the weekend so we can store some stuff down there while all the floorboards are up. He was quick but left us a lot of mess to clear up. In addition we’ve had to have paving slabs for the back garden area which is going to add an extra £1,400.00 to the budget. I’m not even thinking about the budget till we get the quotes in from all the various tradesmen. All I know at this stage is that the figure we thought of in the first place was woefully inadequate if we are to hire extra people.

We are pinning our hopes on the week beginning 8 November when we’ve been promised the fire doors being fitted, the drainage people will be in and we may be able to have the kitchen started (its been dilivered on 6th Nov.) If the electrician quote is anywhere near affordable he may well be able to start work that week too. Maybe that will be our miracle week. God knows we need a miracle now.

Progress is so slow it feels like wading through treacle. Although the demolition work is coming along a treat the construction part is reminiscent of a new driver doing kangaroo starts. I learned a new skill this week. Taking apart a chimney breast. I did it the slow way taking out one brick at a time. Chiselling out the plaster between the bricks and gently prizing each one out so as not to disturb the wall too much. One skill I was not ready to develop this week was using a cutter which not only cut through brick also cut through concrete and steel. I watched in awe and certain amount of dread as Andrew cut through the steep pins holding the concrete base of chimney to the wall above the sink in the kitchen. It was awesome watching all the sparks flying and wondering if he could avoid the dangling electrical cable. I was too busy checking the photos I’d taken to see the concrete block come away from the wall. The room was covered in red brick dust and although I’d sheeted down everywhere it was so intense it filtered through the dust sheets. Brick covered apples – yum yum.

So why does it feel slow? Because the builders are not keeping pace with our destructive work. Well – it isn’t all strictly destructive. Andrew is doing a lot of the foundation work. He spent most of the week laying the pipes for the ensuite showers, basins and toilets. Floorboards are up everywhere, the house is covered in dust. The carpet, where it is still in place has acquired Mars like red sheen top layer over the green. I haven’t quite given up vacuuming because I can’t stand eating grit – but I did take myself away for the day yesterday when the workmen turned up to put in a fireproof partition wall and fire door in the loft. We were expecting them to come back and do the ensuite today but alas they were having a day off as well. The main man was coming round only to measure up. It was too much to bear. I pointed out our deadline of end of November and that I could not see how we could meet this if they only work one day a week on what by his own estimation was a job requiring another 20 days work. He suggested we could let out two of the rooms which would be ready on a £50.00 discount till the rest of the house is finished. I wasn’t really asking for business advise – just for the job to be completed. I voiced what our problem was – we had put all our eggs in one basket and was now totally reliant on one builder. Not that we had much choise. We knew no other builder at the time.

Anyway, he has arranged for the plasterer to come and do the stud wall in the second ensuite room on Wednesday and is trying to arrange for a tiler to come and tile both rooms this week. He will come next weekend to fit the showers (when I think of how we rushed around getting the materials a couple of weeks ago and they are still sitting idle). Whe the elusive fire doors arrive he’ll send the chippy in for a week to fit them. I think Andrew lost heart when he realized how much there is still to do and how little time we have left. He went home early with a bad back. At the rate we are going we need a miracle to bring this in on time.

Its Sunday and I’ve had an unexpected day off – unexpected because the builder who was supposed to be fitting out the ensuite bathrooms is having a weekend in Devon – not told to us till Thursday afternoon and then only at the end of a very long story about his wife booking it and him forgetting. I was pretty damned pissed of especially as we had been busting a gut to try and get things ready for him. My partner had even agreed to go and pick up a couple of shower parts from Bridgnorth so they would be available. He could have saved himself the time (getting up a 6.30 a.m.) and money in petrol. They would have posted them if we knew they weren’t going to be used till next week. He (the builder) said he understood that it’s no fun livng in a building site but that things will proress very quickly once he gets the fire doors. He’ll have the ‘chippy’ working all week to fit them and the bathrooms and tiling shouldn’t take too long. He tried to reassure me that the kitchen shouldn’t take more than 4 days (why did he quote 5 then?) He also tried to reassure me that the work will be completed on time. I reminded him that the end of November was for everything – including decorating – so his bit need to be done prior to this. It’s at times like this when I just have to turn things over to my spiritual guides and trust that things will be done in divine timing (otherwise I’d go spare – and it wouldn’t change anything). Does anyone know a builder that talks straight, gives a price and sticks to it, arrives when he says he will, completes the work on time and leaves your house clean and tidy? Does anyone know a female builder – that might be the answer.

Anyway with our unexpected day off we went for a two hour walk along the canal and river near Kegworth. It was beautifully sunny and although I wasn’t quite blinded by the sun on the water it was certailly dazzling. Loads of boats were out taking advantage of the weather and although it was a bit blowly it was relatively warm. If only I could get over my fear of cows I could see their gathering by the styles as an innocent act and not one designed to terrorise me. I just don’t see anything harmless in the way the stare at you as you try to get by. I’m convinced that there’s at least one in the pack that’s got it in for me and has persuaded the others to join in. It was a good thing Andrew was with me this morning or I may never have got past them.

The walk was followed by 2 hours in the wet area of the gym. Steam, sauna and jacuzzi. I love it at Reeds because they play music to soothe – not the manic stuff you get at L A Fitness. They understand that after a long week relaxation is what a body needs. So – next week we’ll continue with bending pipes, cutting channels in walls, chisseling off tiles, dismantling cupboards and joy of joys I get to take out a chimney breast in the kitchen ; new skill to learn there – cutting through bricks.

What a difference a week makes. The bath and sink are outside awaiting collection by the council; the bathroom is stripped back to the plaster awaiting tiling, en suite number one is plastered and ready for tiling, en suite number 2 was created today – all the studding went in, double boarded, fire and so and insulated. Unfortunately the plasterer is on holiday for 10 days so we’ll have a wait till that one is progressed.

It’s beginning to feel real now. We bought a ton of tiles on Thursday and by sheer coincidence got a great deal in showers in the tile shop. The two showers we’d bought in Junction 2 Interiors were not ordered in time and they offered us replacements, which when I checked on the web were up to £150 cheaper than they were charging us (199.95 on the web J2 charging us £350). So I cancelled and found in this tile shop in Kingswinford 3 showroom models ranging from £900 to £1200. It was one of those moments where both parties got what they wanted. The owners had been unable to sell them and were having the display removed at the weekend. We were lucky. We got 3 shower cubicles and trays originally priced at £3000 for £800. This went some way to compensate for the fact that the stud walls are more than double our budget (£900 instead of £400)

It felt last week like the project had taken over our lives. I kept sneezing and being fluey until I realized that I was reacting to dust. Once I started to wear a mask things improved – there is so much dust in the house old stuff and the new stuff being created with every job – especially the carpentry materials and all the sawdust. I didn’t quite take to bed this week but was generally on a go slow. Performing in the Birmingham Book Festival on Thursday night was touch and go but I made it. My partner was so tired he didn’t come – strange not having him there to do the filming or to mike me up for recording. So – I have no means of reviewing my performance. I’ll have to rely on what I’ve been told by others – that they really enjoyed my pieces.

Andrew took the day off today to go walking with his group. I hope it’s cleared some of the cobwebs out of his head and left him feeling a little less stressed. It’s been a long day. It’s now 12.30 a.m. and I can barely keep my eyes open.

The partition walls are in and the spaces have been transformed. One wall is in one of the bedrooms (Bedroon no 2) what used to be my office – a room 17ft x 16ft. The builders have created the space for the ensuite shower room and I have to admit to being quite taken aback by the transformation. It’s a room within a room and the very high ceiling makes if feel much bigger thaan the 6ft x 6ft square it is. The second wall is the one at the top of the stairs that encloses what is currently my bedroom and shower room into one suite (previously two separate rooms with a bit of landing between them). It is so cosy I wonder why I’ve never thought to do it before.

The two guys who acheived this worked like the clappers from 9-6 on Saturday and 10-6 today. Andrew and I looked on in awe from time to time and quietly admitted to each other that there’s no way we would have been able to do a fraction of it in the time they’ve taken. Would probably have taken us three weeks. Especially as I’ve not been able to do much since Thursday when I was laid low and had to spend the day in bed. Friday was not much better and it was Andrew’s day off. He insisted I do nothing until I was properly well and for once I heeded his request because I felt so lousy.

There was a point on Thursday when I felt I would not be able to write anything in time for the Writers Without Borders performance on the 9th. I was laying in bed at 8 p.m. listening to Radio 4 when David Dimbleby announce that Question Time was coming from Birmingham Convervatoir as part of Birmingham Book Festival. That jolted me. If Question Time could make it I could certainly make an effort to be part of the book festival. I struggled up and with head lolling on my chest from sheer fatigue at times I managed to write a piece on ritualistic killings (or theme is Rituals and Traditions) – albeit of goats. I managed to struggle in to rehearsal on Saturday morning and surprisingly the piece was well received.

I’ve done virtually nothing in terms of working on the house this weekend – lots of paperwork and research on the web. After the mammoth vacuuming session after the guys left at 6 p.m. we went for a well earned meal at Cafe Rouge – to spend one of our buy-one-get-one-free main courses token from the Sunday Telegraph last week. It’s our day off tomorrow….but we’ll see.

It was 2 o’clock before I made it out of bed today. That cold took a hold last night completely blocked my head. Now those of you who know anything about Louise Hay’s philosophy will know that colds are about doing too much – having the head full of too many things. Yes – that could be me. I’m living slap bang in the middle of a building site, I’ve got a performance next Thursday with Writers Without Borders, and preparing for two in December; one at the Town Hall as part of Worlds Aid Day and the other with Amnesty International for the 60th anniversary of Human Rights Day. I’m still seeing coaching clients. It wasn’t until I did some self Reiki that I felt human enough to get up and face the day. Andrew (my partner) was very understanding. He’s nearly finished the painting in one of the bedrooms in preparation for the ensuite which hopefully will be fitted next week.

The builder is coming on Saturday to put in a couple of partition walls. He came round today to measure up so I’m hopeful the work will begin as agreed. The drains guys were 3 hours late as they were stuck on another job. The negotiation skills I learned in Egypt came in useful tonight. ‘What’s your best price?’ I asked and negotiated a £850 discount. They can start next weekend.

I learned how to use a chisel and lump hammer to remove tiles today – and spent most of the afternoon and evening taking the tiles off the bathroom wall. I stopped about 9.30 p.m out of consideration for the neighbours. Tomorrow is supposed to be my day off but already it looks like we’ll have to go and buy the ensuite and bathroom equipment and, because Andrew is having Friday off, we’ll have to put out two settees and the dishwasher (which has very conveniently stopped working and after 17 years and not worth repairing) out for the council to collect on Saturday morning. We are both tired and its only Wednesday and we’ll be working with the guys at the weekend. It’s the 1st October today we only have 9 weeksif we are to get this in on time.

The constant packing is beginning to take its toll. Today I have a cold – loads of sneezing and coughing and blowing of nose. Maybe its the change in weather or maybe its breathing in years of dust. I cleared a bookshelf in my son’s room that hasn’t been touched in 7 years. Did I need to keep any book that hasn’t been looked at in 7 years? There were a couple of novels I’ve put aside to read again (in another 7 years maybe). My son has outgrown most of his books and yet it was still hard to put them into the charity bag. I even found myself thinking I could save them for the grandchildren. No Predencia NO. Let go. If I ever do another HMO I’m sure it will take a fraction of the time because there wont be any of the emotional attachment to clearing rooms – no looking through past school reports; through music concert programmes; no reminiscing about the pride I felt when son number one was selected to play basketball for England, no welling up at the thought that it was all 10 years ago, no reflection on whether I’ve been a good enough parent. No doubt about whether I’m handling son number three’s concerns that his home is being turned into a business. Sometimes if feels like this is more exhausing than the acutal work.

Today the application form to have the gas pipe in the kitchen moved came. Yesterday it took me 15 minutes and 5 calls to get through to the right department of Nationalgrid. I was even transferred to BT Glasgow by a Nationalgrid employee in the Midlands. It really pisses me off when this happens when I’m on an 0870 number. Not only are they charging an arm and a leg to do the pipework but they’re making money out of my phone calls too. We’re having second thoughts about paying over £1000.00 to move the meter. Does anyone know of a lightweight fridge/freezer that could sit on a plinth about two feet off the ground?

I’ve nearly done all the bedrooms now and the loft is looking pretty fat (where did all that space go?) Tomorrow I start on the bathroom – not only is there an airing cupboard to be emptied but there’s a bit storage cupboard almost to the ceiling full of suitcases and travel bags. That wonderful week in La Tour de France just two weeks ago is beginning to feel like a distant memory.

I’m working my way round the bedrooms and already the loft is looking full – despite the mountain of paper I took to the recycle centre and the copiously filled black bags that went to various Charity shops. I like to give to Barnardos; not only because I believe in their cause but because it is on the corner of the High St in Erdington and if I get there early enough there’re places to park.

The clearing is hard work physically, emotionally and spiritually. But much more challenging is getting workmen to give quotes or respond to phone messages and turn up when they say they are going to. I was under the impression that due to the down turn in the building trade that there were a fair few buildiers just waiting to jump at the chance to work. Why then have we got the only ones that seem too busy to return phone calls – or can’t start till March? I would like to think it is because they are bloody good and have loads of work on despite the looming depression that we keep being told is on the way. We’ve finally got a start date from a builder we have been courting. Please dear God let him turn up on Saturday and please let him be good.