Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

ajmoney

This is my settling in at work week. Yes I came back six weeks ago now but we have been here there and everywhere and I had managed not to start any of my extra jobs, I appears to have hot this week though! I started the week with 5 things on my list...that didn't last long I am proud of how I am working through everything though. I have ended up doing a bit of work on my laptop this evening (I don't intend to make a habit of this) but I am trying to limit the amount I have to do when I work from home on Friday. That is the day for doing the jobs I have been putting off.

I don't think I can delegate any of the jobs on my list but I am making a conscious effort to get help where I can as I am not very good at that.

Unless anything comes in through the rest of the week that is very important, it is being added to next week's list!

ajmoney

I have made an appointment with a company that specialises in damp to come and do a survey of the house in a couple of weeks time. It will cost £60 but I think it is worth it is they can get to the bottom of the problem in the house, if there is one. With a cheap moisture monitor and a dehumidifier I have been keeping an eye on the figures myself this week. The monitor started at 84% and wet last weekend which panicked me. By using the machine I have got the hot spot area down to 67% which is where the rest of the house is. This number still registers as wet and I feel is too high and may contribute to the smells etc I have. While I don't want the downpours that Scotland had last weekend to return, I wonder if that is why the figure was so high. I am going to have a very long shower at some point and see if that makes any difference.

This weekend I am going to try and make a start on removing the built-in wardrobe in my back bedroom (the wettest reading) as I feel the issue is potentially behind there and I may as well expose everything for them when they arrive. I would like to remove it neatly but am more than aware that I may need to take a hammer to some bits from when I tried to look underneath it last year.

Wish me luck. If I can get to the bottom of this and know there are no issues remaining, I will feel I can get on with decorating finally. I want to enjoy and feel comfortable in my house.

Watty1

You do.  i hope it is easily fixable.  Have you looked outside to see if there is a cause?  Leaking gutters or pipes maybe?

ajmoney

Watty1 said:

You do.  i hope it is easily fixable.  Have you looked outside to see if there is a cause?  Leaking gutters or pipes maybe?

I had all the guttering replaced when I moved in so, assuming that is still fine, should not be a problem. I got it done pretty quickly as a lot of it was cracked.

This morning the monitor has crept up ever so slightly from the last couple of days. I haven't had the dehumidifier on, it hasn't rained but I had a shower. Not a long one but the only thing I can think of.

I have potentially been slightly lavish this morning. A landscape gardener was knocking on doors and asked if I wanted a quote for the hedge in my back garden to be cut back. I have actually wanted it to be taken out for a while as well as a shrub (I can't remember the name) on the other side of the fence from it which has destroyed the fence posts. £350 and he is getting rid of those for me, another shrub and an old tree stump nearby and pruning a rose that is thriving behing the main shrub. While he has been here I have also negotiated him putting in a new fence post as the old one is now rotten, once that is set he will repair the fence with the materials already in situ and has cut back the conifers I have. The conifer bit is me being lazy and not really having the tools but I can ignore that job for half a year/a year now. The rest I don't have the tools, the skills or the time and quite frankly it is less on my mind that needs to be done. I haven't really spent much money on the house or the things that need to be done in the grand scheme of things and while I don't want to throw money at everything, it feels good that things are getting done.

ajmoney

I have about £220 on its way back to me from the utility company. I don't mind being in credit at the end of the summer but I have just started a new tariff/deal so theoretically what I am paying should be correct.

Next on the hit list is the $ky bill...to keep or get rid, that is the question.

ajmoney

I am struggling. Last Friday a gardener was doing the rounds of the road looking for business. He made a start straight away and has done some of the back breaking work but then it stopped. I had paid some money, more than I probably should have done and I think he has done a runner. He may come good but I doubt it and, after all the issues I have had with trades people. I am really struggling to move on from this.

Mrs_Money_Penny

Oh dear sorry to hear that. Perhaps he’s not been back due to the weather and all the rain. Not sure if gardeners work in the rain. Hope he returns x

ajmoney

Mrs_Money_Penny said:

Oh dear sorry to hear that. Perhaps he’s not been back due to the weather and all the rain. Not sure if gardeners work in the rain. Hope he returns x

He has had a variety of excuses. Time will tell if they are excuses but until then I am trying to rectify everything myself, the weather and working full time is not helping that!

Watty1

Absolute sympathy.  I've had this happen, posted on a village board and a lovely young man remedied the work for a quote that was IMHO too low so I paid him cash and added an extra £100 and thanked him. 
Am hoping the universe will pay me back.

finding people to do the work is so blooming hard

ajmoney

I couldn't agree more. I have just seen your post about the same thing @Watty1 it is really frustrating.

However... The "gardener' I will never know but I think once you have doubts it is hard to regain the trust. He did put £350 back through the door yesterday so the ordeal has only cost me £170 which is probably a fair price.

My briliiant next door neighbour reminded me that there are good people in the world. he came to ask what had happened as he had seen the rubbish on my drive and I was out chopping it all at the time. He has helped me chop everything up that was on the drive, filling both of our garden bins and then helped me pull the conifer that had been discarded on a slope onto the flat so I can work on it through the week. It was so kind and filled me with hope, if everyone could be like my neighbours I wouldn't struggle to find trustworthy people. I have one or two tip runs to do tomorrow to get rid of the extra rubbish and then I will make a slow start on the one in the back garden. It is not going to be easy.

After a stressful week, I am making myself a nice roast dinner then will have a shower and chill out for the evening.