Wol's Riverbank tales: Part 3 Restoration

Horace

Pink approval isnt just for weddings its for all businesses who are gay friendly (but it seems to be mainly things to do with weddings).

Rat soup smells like dead rat - sewers smell like sewers they don't smell of rats:eek: I would have chucked it into the neighbours garden:rotfl:

Numpty_Monkey

Love and hugs to you and Ginger:grouphug::grouphug:

Thanks for putting up with me again:D:cool:

Numpty_Monkey

Ginger is going in for another op,
and should be ok after that:j
Wols new rectefication works have hit another issue:mad: (get it on the wish list hun:D;))
I hope Grommie and Muffin can live with each other:T

Karmacat

Thanks for keeping us updated, Numpty.
xx

GeorgeUK

Karmacat wrote: »

Thanks for keeping us updated, Numpty.
xx

I'll second that.
Almost sounds like the house is getting rebuilt from the posts i've seen :eek:

Is that programme still going to do work on the house?
If so, are they doing it all???

taxi73

Thanks for the update Numpty xxx

Wol...hope you are ok in amongst all the chaos going on xxx

Wol2

Phew!! - but warning rant ahead!

The last two weeks have been almost as bad as that week in October 07 when I had the breakdown...but hopefully now things are starting to "lift"

I now realise that ever since moving back in Aug 08, I have been getting more and more "pressed" down each day I have had to get up and look at the complete disaster that Bodget&Scarper made of my house. I didn;t realise how "ground down" I had become-not just with what they had done but with also that
a) the surveyor who was meant to be MY representative didn;t stop this happening, didn;t back me up when negotiating the settlement and has subsequently left me in the poop with regards to the T's and C's of the final settlement (ie no comeback) :mad:
b) I was told in no uncertain terms (in writing) by the builders that I was a "difficult to please" woman who "would never be happy"..... :eek:
c) all works were "apparently" done to "acceptable building tolerances" and therefore, to date, I have been classified as "a whinger" by builders, surveyors and family alike

I have been opening a bottle of wine each night when I can;t take any more and I drink it until I fall asleep and don;t have to look at all the things that are so clearly defective/not straight or true and so I can stop thinking about all the implications of this mess.. (particularly financial but perhaps more importantly the prior "adjucation" of me as a person by the scoundrels concerned) .

BUT.....At last........FINALLY...... I feel [STRIKE]justified[/STRIKE].VINDICATED.......and more importantly validated.....:T:T. - by both the new surveyor and new top totty builders.

My concerns were REAL and TRUE and it would appear that I haven;t misrepresented ANYthing. I am not a crazy woman, my instincts were "spot on" from the start. This WAS a "Very Bad" job.....done by people who had NO proper trade skills or experience and as such have made some fundamental, basic mistakes (with, financially for me, disastrous consequences) . I suspect there will be a lot of tears of relief from me over the next couple of weeks or so, now that I know I am not mad or unreasonable .

My poor little house has been raped and abused from the bottom up and in turn I personally feel completely violated. At the time I was extremely vulnerable and I placed my trust in the builders, the surveyor, the insurance company and the loss adjuster to give me back my home that I'd worked so hard to build up (with all the time, effort and finance involved) . Quite frankly it is now obvious (we have photographic evidence, expert witness reports etc etc) I was shafted big time - and I am very very angry that in particular Dodget & Bodget tried to get out of their complete and utter incompetence by making me out as "a fussy old bag".

For the last 21 months, I have been seriously trying to shut out all the horrible horrible stuff as it has been discovered....(even as of yesterday regarding the less than 2mm thick plaster "skim" put straight onto the pre-existing plaster with no "key" .....so it is now flaking off like the outer chocolate layer of a Star Bar :eek:). And even while trying to get the new build contract on schedule, we have had big supplier problems that are very frustrating. My new oak floorboards were picked up yesterday and have to go back because they are not what I ordered. Another week's delay....

However
a) I now have level sub floors in kitchen and dining room ready for theoak floorboards and tiles/underfloor heating to be laid
b) My hall cupboard and surrounding walls are now straight and true
c) My floorboards in the hall have been securely fixed and no longer move or creak
d) The cloakroom door and doorliner no longer looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa
e) the worst of the uneven plastering in lcoakroom, utility and hallway has been hacked off and is now awaiting replastering


The "cider press" is starting to lift and I have HOPE :T:T:T....(regardless of the money it is costing me :eek:)

I think (hope, pray etc etc) that we have now got to the stage where we have really discovered the worst of the problems.....the plaster skim oin the hall was hopefully the last. (even top totty builders are now swearing regularly at the "!!!!!!" who "came before them" :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:)

So, yes, the lounge and study will need to be addressed next year with regard to unstable subfloors...but at least I am now (with the help of the top totty builders and a certain Simian Knight :A) reclaiming my poor little house.

There have been highlights these past two weeks and I will list those in a separate post

Last thing for this one that I want to say is...

Sir Numpty, thank you for your companionship and support this last week......without it I think I would have just self-imploded :eek:...you;ve helped me keep myself grounded (more or less :rotfl::rotfl:).

Sorry this post is a bit trumatic...but once I started it, it all seemed to pour out
and as we all say "Better out than in"

There is good news..not least that we now have a (MSE) BBQ for the Rave :j:j:beer: :beer:

More on that later

Thank you everyone for keeping posting/checking/lurking on here....hopefeully in the next few days I should be back regularly as I do honestly feel that the worst is now over........

Conscsious of how much have missed - e.g. KC - fantabidosi news about your intended relocation :T:T:T:T

Will get myself together over next couple of days...I promise....:cool:

xxx

Wol2

a) Nargle Hun, your description of Rat Soup was SO accurate :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:.....would you care to share your own experience???. Have to say I did LTPCO

b) Top totty electrician (wild hair David Essex) has his film being premiered in Cannes this week (swoon, Wol sidesteps the stampede from DFW's :rotfl:)...and YES gals..part of his T's and C's re the build contract is that he HAS to attend The Rave on 31st July

c) Ginger piggie is thankfully home today :j:j- after another op, (and still bleeding profusely from his "re-excised and sewn up" wounds ) but... generally much more chipper than before (Horace please note He hasbeen lording it on the sofa with the remote control all afternoon...Beechie is seriously peed off :rotfl::rotfl:). Meanwhile, Wol's bank balance takes another large dive :o...although she is contesting the vet bill in true MSE style :T

d) Today I "procured" the BBQ I have always wanted at 33% off plus Nectar plus CC cashback :rotfl::rotfl: Also today ordered a Chiminea and Bistro table and chairs on same T;s and C's :j:j. Just need a teak table and chairs (and pressure washer) to fully reinstate what I had before the flood :cool:

e) Then went to B & Q for yummy coloured plants for hanging baskets,


So today it seems I;ve been dealing with all outdoor stuff. :j;)....So now everyone...be advised...The Rave is deffo on for 31st July :beer::j

e) It appears we have new wildlife...Mr Tiny Mouse (who I posted a piccie of last year bless him) has now grown into Mr Big Mouse (ever so friendly today but need to keep kitchen door shut ).

f) Unfortunately we now have new vagrant rats in the compost heap :eek::eek: (following the watering can demise of the previous incumbent ).... which now includes a juvenile who keeps walking up and down the garden past Piggie Palace door .....pass the Rentokil someone please :cool:

I have to say at this point that, from a quick flick over the dairies these last two days, that positive "stuff" really seems to be happening across DFW - e.g. Lisawaters, KC, Sally and various others. Well done all of you :T:T:T

Whatever the feeling on the election results..positive or negative......with the help of the many people on this Board who care and support this community........I really do think that this is the year of "Restoration" for very many DFW people ....and about time too!! Stay strong everyone.......2010 is/will be OUR year....:beer::beer:

Thank you so much everyone for your continued support and posts..:A:A:A:A.......words cannot adequately describe how important and valued your posts are.....:kisses3::kisses3::grouphug::grouphug:


Finally........ the "cider press" is now lifting..albeit slowly.....but , for the first time, I really am starting to look forward to the future...
Roll on 31st July :beer::j:eek:.
(Sainsburys have a really good Chilean Sauvignon Blanc wine at half price this week....Vina Maipo Chilean Grand Reserva ..Wol makes mental note to procure adequate stocks for The Rave :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:)

Thank you everyone :kisses3::kisses3::kisses3::kisses3:

xxxxx

Nargleblast

Three cheers for sanity! At last the breakthrough you have been waiting for! I hope you get a written report of everything that was wrong with your house to send to all those who doubted you with a message for them to shove that where the sun doesn't shine!

Karmacat

Wol, you've really been through it, haven't you .... that first long post was really starting to worry me, but the tone lightens up in the second, I hope thats where you are *now*. I've missed you on the boards, but I can't tell you how glad I am that Numpty's been with you, and as I said earlier, he's kept us updated.

I do hope the worst is over for you, sweetie. Love the sound of the garden furniture! I was thinking today, I need to wash mine down with a stiff brush - it wasn't used at all last year, with everything that was going on, and its got a lot of green .... something .... on. Algae? Needs a good clean up, anyway.

I do notice people getting themselves sorted - there's always some massive great bumps in the road for others, of course...

Coloured plants sound great! While I'm doing caretaking on the present garden, I'm planning what I'll put into the new **flat** garden. I love planning. If I get even 20% of it done, I'll be a happy, happy camper!

I'm looking forward to the rave! And it isn't an issue for me what state the house is in, but I understand that for you its a milestone to recovery of your life, and that makes it really important to you. So I want it *for* you. Your new top totty builders sound excellent, and I'm really glad you found them. You take care, and remember to get some sleep tonight.