Preparedness for when

mardatha

ElaineI have that book as well, the author lives not too far from me and my son has done some joinery work in her house

jk0

GreyQueen wrote: »

Perhaps you could offer to pay tradesmen in american silver eagles or silver britannias as an enticement (about £20 for a one-troy-ounce coin atm)?

The roads are generally appalling. And we didn't even have sharp frosts this past winter, at least around here it was pretty benign. When I drive my parents' car, which is every few weeks, they keep cautioning me on the whereabouts of the potholes. I was making several journeys on an A road and we were virtually walzing around them at times. And they've been there, unmended, for months.

After my Dad left farmwork, he worked on building sites for a few years. This was in the height of the 1960s housing boom, and his workmates ranged from those who'd been working pre-WW2 to twenty-somethings like himself.

I remember what he told me about bricklaying. The older brickies, who would have been building 1930s semis like your own, were up in arms at the rushed and sloppy work they were expected to turn out in the 1960s and afterwards. Sometimes, the work of other, younger brickies was so poor they'd have to be called in to re-work it. They kept telling Dad that you can't get good work done in a rush. How does the saying go; you can have only two out of these three, choose; fast, good or cheap?

We're effectively conditoned as consumers to accept poor quality items as normal. I hear people whose fridge has dies remark how it's lasted 7 or 9 years, so that's pretty good, mustn't grumble, buy another on the weekend etc etc.

No, people, that isn't good. Fridges used to last about 20 or even 30 years. And if 1950s and 1960s level manufacturing can make a fridge which will last for 30 years in constant use, compared to nowadays, what does that say about deliberate loss of quality?

And washers contain components which used to be stainless steel and are now plastic, textiles are p-poor, shoes are rubbish, it just goes on and on and most people don't understand that furniture can last several lifetimes, that a decent saucepan should see you out, etc etc.

We've got so that we can barely recognise quality and know we should be seeking it out, to save money and to save wastefulness.

Thanks GQ.

Ah, you're so right about built-in obsolescence. The trouble is that no matter how you specify the work to be done, tradesmen work with the same mindset. (They work to a standard that they know will fall apart within ten years.)

Last year I bought a dilapidated 60's flat. (The one that sadly got flooded in December.) In order to get it let out reasonably quickly, I had it renovated by the brother of my letting agent who does the repairs on the lettings.

You might find our adventures entertaining:

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?52917-Builders-are-such-swindlers

This year I am doing my own renovations. It will cost me roughly the same in lost rent due to the time taken, as the cost of the builder's wages, but it is so much less stressful, and I get the job done how I want.

[Deleted User]

Salting stone is I think a built in stone shelf in an old cold room where the carcass of the freshly killed pig was salted by rubbing salt into the flesh prior to curing it for hams and bacons usually there were hooks in the ceiling above it for the flitches/hams to be hung between saltings and brinings.

thriftwizard

In a (slightly) better frame of mind this morning, after reading something TDiL posted on Facebook, to the effect that after adding up the cost of all the things she'd like to buy, she's decided not to buy any of them - common sense is dawning!

I too am amazed that people just don't see how far we have slipped in terms of the quality of things. I handle old things every day - it's quite literally my business - and most of them were built to last, and be mendable when things went wrong, which I'm quite capable of doing myself, as long as electrics aren't involved. As were most people, backalong, as they say down here. But anything after the mid-80s I may as well just throw out; plastic components will have decayed or sheared off, thin springs will have overwound & snapped, casings will have discoloured & look filthy even when they're clean. Garments won't have pockets or decent seams, and the zip handles will have come off, as well as any buttons.

I know that from an economist or accountant's point of view it makes sense; you need people to keep on having to replace or upgrade stuff in order to fuel growth. (Better still if they buy it all on credit!) But I for one have had enough, and if I can't afford the best outright, or if I don't think that even that is likely to last, I'll go for old every time now.

There's a thought struggling to take shape in my head, connected with all this. Why should we be railroaded into continually buying & re-buying shoddy goods, herded into tiny houses we have to spend the rest of our lives struggling to afford, crammed into inhumane travelling conditions to get to a miserable job oppressing other people, all for someone else's benefit? Whyever have we put up with it for so long?

Pass the pitchforks...

calicocat

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Salting stone is I think a built in stone shelf in an old cold room where the carcass of the freshly killed pig was salted by rubbing salt into the flesh prior to curing it for hams and bacons usually there were hooks in the ceiling above it for the flitches/hams to be hung between saltings and brinings.

That's what I understood it to be too. The old cottages I lived in had a room for this, when we took up old carpets etc...the old floor was stained with blood and salt. a bit yukky...but fascinating just the same.

[Deleted User]

THRIFTWIZARD that is a thought I've been having for many years now, I will not play the 'just buy a new one' game any longer. I know that commerce and industry need 'built in obselescence' to continue to run and pay dividends to thier share holders and I know that people have become used to places like 'Prim*rk' selling cheap and often shoddily made products to be used for weeks not decades before becoming damaged and unrepairable so now I'm the scruffiest person I know, our home is full of rescued,old things that we nurse along and if I need anything because an item is completely irrepairable my first port of call when finding a replacement is either a jumble sale, a charity shop, a boot fair or the council tip!!! Food is another area where we've become used to the lack of quality, cheap ingredients and poor nutrition that is passed off as The Best Range even in the most prestigious establishments so we provide as much as we can ourselves. My pet hate is pairs of shoes made so that they soles cannot be repaired because of the materials they are made from, insanity isn't it???

I don't have a pitchfork but I've got a nice big garden prong, can I play too please???

GreyQueen

:eek: jk0, what a palaver!

About 18 years ago, my parents had their home extended by a pitched roof single story extension with a shower room/WC included. The builder was a local firm of good repute, father and son team. Job took 5 weeks in Nov-Dec and I was living there as 'site boss' whilst my parents were both out at work.

Some highlights; after the tiles went on the roof, we stood admiring them that evening from the back bedroom (they went at right angles away from the rear of the terrace) and noticed the ridge tiles went in a curve not straight. Because the cement hadn't had too much time to set, it was able to be corrected the following day. That was Father's handiwork.

When the footings were being filled with concrete, which was being barrowed up from the mixer at the end of the back garden, a barrowload was tipped in and did something to the water supply which caused a sudden flood of water into the trench. The son of Father and Son Ltd was working that day, supported by some seasoned labourers, one of whom had done this and just stared, muttering that shouldn't have happened. Don't just stand there looking at it! screamed Son.

They asked me where the outside tap was (on the plans you're working to and due to be installed by yourselves). Muggins here had to hold the end of their hosepipe on our cold tap so they could refill their barrel of water down by the mixer. In winter, with the window open, for 40 mins at a time.

The back of the house was opened up to the new room and the framing to support the internal doors and opaque glass windows between old and new room was built off-site by F & S Ltd's regular carpenter. It was delivered and was of course too big to fit through the regular-sized external door to the new room. They rang the chippie but he was up before the magistrate that morning for what might end up with a custodial sentence, so we all waited on tenterhooks to see if he'd be jailed (he wasn't).

When the doorframe of that combo was installed, it was crooked, and the heavy internal door, which is of multi small panes of glass, was hung on 2 hinges instead of 3 and never was satisfactory until I suggested adding a third hinge years later (Mum did this herself).

Mum & Dad had specified that a particular firm be used for the new room's external d.g. door and window, which were at right angles to the existing ones, and they wanted same make and model. Builder kept lobbying for A.N.Other firm (obviously on a kick-back). M & D had to get quite stroppy about it.

The whole comedy of errors was summed up by a terse conversation overheard by moi between Son and the most experienced of the 2-3 labourers we had on site. This labourer was multi-skilled and had several rental properties in town he'd done up himself. At the price of a divorce and stress-alopecia, btw.

Son; I thought I told you to keep an eye on Dad?!

Labourer; You tell me to keep an eye on him, he tells me to keep a eye on you, I'm only the bl00dy labourer on this job, y'know!

There's more, but I'll spare you.............:rotfl:I know it was only 5 weeks but, subjectively, it felt like 5 months. Everyone I know has Bad Builder stories and I wouldn't have tradesmen in without supervising them myself. Oh, and Mum did the tiling in the showeroom herself and the builder offered her a job, she's so good at it.

jk0

LOL. Oh, poor GQ.

It must have been traumatic for the details to stick with you for eighteen years.

Funny about the Dad and son both expecting the labourer to keep an eye on the other one.

thriftwizard

Hmmm - oh dear, brain still attempting to think, here - could it be that builders too are subject to the downhill process? Was there ever a time when they actually did what you wanted, properly & on time, using top-quality materials? Or is that firmly in the realms of fable?

jk0

thriftwizard wrote: »

Was there ever a time when they actually did what you wanted, properly & on time, using top-quality materials? Or is that firmly in the realms of fable?

Ah, maybe not. I've only had the money to employ them since 1997, so maybe I'm a poor judge.

I have fallen out with every builder I've ever used for these big renovations. That's four lots so far. I'm not sure if that's a fault in my character, or builders in general.