I'm baaaaack!
For those of you not in the know, on the morning of the day I was due to fly to LHR to connect the following day to SFO my home was flooded by a freak storm. I left thinking that my loss was only two carpets but on my return (and a further flood exactly two months to the day later) I realised that there was more remedial work to be done. I initially thought that it would involve removing the plaster at the base of the affected walls but when that happened, the results were far more sinister!!
To put this in context, next year we celebrate the 400th anniversary of our town's charter (C'mon over! We're having a year long birthday party!) and as I live slap, bang in the town centre my house is not young - and is possibly over 200 years old! It would therefore have no damp course and would have been built with stone, earth and lime which would have acted like a sponge. Rising damp and other similar problems would surface from time to time. So, back to the present! The builders (who were also engineers) began their task of stripping the walls and discovered that the internal walls were contained by timbers from floor to ceiling all of which crumbled like Weetabix to the touch! One wall, which was a load bearing wall supporting that of my bedroom above actually started to move as they stripped the plaster because of the timbers! And as for the ceilings!! And the stairs!! There was wet rot, dry rot and woodworm!! I had no option but to vacate the house and decamp to a holiday rental which was fine for a temporary measure but I had no internet save for the iPhone and a Vodaphone dongle, which after a week's free trial, lasted candlelight on PAYG. It also had limited TV channels but I think I've got over that.
The builders worked like Trojans. They excavated so much floor that I half expected to come across some Bronze Age artefacts! They stripped and rebuilt falling walls. They repositioned doors and walls. They installed drains to cope with floods and they did any cosmetic changes I wanted. They even cleared out my shed!! The electrician all but re-wired the house and peppered it with light switches and sockets to the extent that I have de-commissioned 4 extension leads!
Last Friday evening I moved back home. Currently I have no flooring, doors, curtains or tiling. Today a fault on the phone line was restored and I now have broadband. There is still much to do but I don't care - I'm home and I'm back to enjoy V-Flyer once more
For those of you not in the know, on the morning of the day I was due to fly to LHR to connect the following day to SFO my home was flooded by a freak storm. I left thinking that my loss was only two carpets but on my return (and a further flood exactly two months to the day later) I realised that there was more remedial work to be done. I initially thought that it would involve removing the plaster at the base of the affected walls but when that happened, the results were far more sinister!!
To put this in context, next year we celebrate the 400th anniversary of our town's charter (C'mon over! We're having a year long birthday party!) and as I live slap, bang in the town centre my house is not young - and is possibly over 200 years old! It would therefore have no damp course and would have been built with stone, earth and lime which would have acted like a sponge. Rising damp and other similar problems would surface from time to time. So, back to the present! The builders (who were also engineers) began their task of stripping the walls and discovered that the internal walls were contained by timbers from floor to ceiling all of which crumbled like Weetabix to the touch! One wall, which was a load bearing wall supporting that of my bedroom above actually started to move as they stripped the plaster because of the timbers! And as for the ceilings!! And the stairs!! There was wet rot, dry rot and woodworm!! I had no option but to vacate the house and decamp to a holiday rental which was fine for a temporary measure but I had no internet save for the iPhone and a Vodaphone dongle, which after a week's free trial, lasted candlelight on PAYG. It also had limited TV channels but I think I've got over that.
The builders worked like Trojans. They excavated so much floor that I half expected to come across some Bronze Age artefacts! They stripped and rebuilt falling walls. They repositioned doors and walls. They installed drains to cope with floods and they did any cosmetic changes I wanted. They even cleared out my shed!! The electrician all but re-wired the house and peppered it with light switches and sockets to the extent that I have de-commissioned 4 extension leads!
Last Friday evening I moved back home. Currently I have no flooring, doors, curtains or tiling. Today a fault on the phone line was restored and I now have broadband. There is still much to do but I don't care - I'm home and I'm back to enjoy V-Flyer once more