Damp

olgadapolga

Slithery said:

olgadapolga said:

It's a detached house, and down one side had been used as a glory hole.

You obviously have a different definition of 'glory hole' than the one I know...

The definition I've always used was akin to a place to throw stuff untidily. I had no idea that there was another definition until I looked it up 😂

FreeBear

olgadapolga said:

FreeBear said:

olgadapolga said: The neighbour also mentioned that the old owner's wife disappeared before he put the house up for sale. Not sure what to make of THAT disclosure

Do you have a nice new patio ?

Actually, there is quite a nice paved area at the bottom of the garden [...] I see no reason to dig it up...

I'm sure a quick call to the local police force will see the patio dug up in double quick time when you get down there

AlexMac

Thanks for the update Olga...

Just the thing for the self-isolating insomniac!  Thinking back to your original post, though, that arguably semi-competent surveyor really did you a favour?

Look at all the useful skills you've acquired. And the immense sense of pride you must have in turning a wreck into your cherished home?

Reminds me of my first wreck; a three storey terraced Victorian job, bought knowingly but naively in 1975 in pre-trendy Brixton for what now sounds an unbelievable £10,000. Needed everything. We were useless. At 1st. Now I really understand how period houses work... probably worth a £million now, weirdly.

The garden wasn't quite as bad as yours; we just had to lift and lose the concrete, manure and condition the soil and green it.  No dogs or other corpses...

Which is more than I can say for the future occupant of the house and garden of another London property where a mate now lives. He's not very fit, barely mobile and morbidly obese. With, then, an enormous black Labrador to match. Which died. And which he decided to bury. By the time I responded to his "cry for help" he'd been digging for a couple of hours. But as the dog was so big, and the hole so necessarily long and wide, that he was only standing,  perspiring, near expiring, about six inches deep.

I finished it off ( as it nearly did me).  Rolled the monster in. Filled it in.  Size of a pony!  Lets hope no future tenant ( yes, not even his own property) ever decides to dig in a pond or tree in that corner which is forever canine...

Anyway, good luck with your home, Olga dee.. looking forward to update 2... in 2021.. maybe with pics of the garden?