The Species of Mankind Known as ‘The Builder’…

It has been a while, since February I worked out, that I have posted. It has been a really busy couple of months, some good stuff and some bad stuff…… crashed my car, sacked the builder boss man, went to New Orleans, Belize and Honduras, got a lovely new car (new to me), spent lovely times with the kids……….

The title of this post reflects my confusion about builders, read on….

For some reason that I am still trying to work out, the boss of the building company that I had hired had decided not to follow architect and building reg plans, I started to get the feeling that things were not going how they should be and called the building regs inspector. After that conversation, I stopped all the work so that the inspector and structural engineer could look over the work that was done. It turned out that some of the work that had been done on the annexe was wrong, a lesson learnt but thankfully in time.

Work stopped for a couple of weeks whilst I worked out what to do next, not a nice time for me. How it worked out was that some of the team that had been working on the project under the previous manager had decided that they would like to continue on my home project as self employed. I thought that this would be the ideal way of continuing, I was mistaken.

The structural work built for the annexe at the rear of the house had to be taken down, for the second time, new footings dug out down about 45cms, and concrete poured for the foundations. Then another structural wall, double skinned, had to be built up and I had to make changes to the plan.

Luckily I went away for about 10 days, to relax on a Western Carribbean cruise! Always wanted to go on a cruise and so I picked one that sailed from New Orleans, somewhere that I really wanted to go back to. Last time I was there was in 1991 on my honeymoon!

The city was great, I walked alot, heard lots of Jazz and took the tram to The Garden District. Unfortunately it was their school/college Spring Break time so Saturday night on Bourbon Street was to be avoided, although I saw the aftermath walking around on Sunday morning!

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I was on Norweigan Cruise Lines Breakaway Ship, 4000 passengers and 1250 staff – huge – something I admit, that I was not prepared for. So many people, everywhere, and I honestly thought ‘what have I done?’. Things did settle down as I found my way around, where the quiet spots were (not in the casino or the bars!), when the best time to eat was and how to avoid the swingers convention – yes you read right !

I was in a ‘solo’ cabin, where we had our own lounge and bar. I met some great, fun people and so I was able to join them for pre dinner drinks and dine with some of them. I went on a couple of excursions to Mayan ruins in Costa Maya and then the highlight for me, snorkling along the reef in Roatan Island, Honduras.

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After the cruise, I spent a week with the boys and their girls in Streatham and that was just lovely. We ate lots, drank lots, Rajiv & I went to see the hugely talented John Legend at The Royal Albert Hall and To Kill a Mockingbird in the West End.

So, back in Newlyn, and back to the building site! I had my bedroom and the bathroom, the ‘kitchen’ was a table with the kettle, microwave and the very useful Ninja Foodi! The rest of the house was a work in progress. I had a few days of that and I had had enough! I didn’t want to go to the caravan, it was a 2 hour drive away and to be honest, I did not want to leave the builders. I found a lovely little garden cabin about 10 mins walk from the house which has become my little sanctuary. It has exactly what I need, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen with a washing machine! It also has one of the best views ever. It is perched high up on the top of Newlyn and the walk is a killer!

The floors, walls and ceilings in the house came down, it was an absolute mess, but I knew it had to happen. It also went a bit tits up this week, hence the title of this post, and I had to get rid of all but one of the builders. Hours were being charged that were not worked, pints at lunchtime, just very dissapointing stuff that I could not accept. That week was just horrible, I nearly gave up but I knew that feeling would pass.

I contacted a handyman that I had used last year for a few bits and pieces and he put me in touch with a general builder and so Kit and Andy are getting on with the inside of the house, the annexe can wait until I can cope with thinking about it. The aim is to get the house done so that I can move back in. It won’t be finished but the walls will be done, floors laid down and there will be a bathroom!

Jenny next door keeps telling me it is like labour, painful at the time but forgotten about afterwards when you can enjoy the fruits of the labour?!?!?!

I now have the next few weeks before my birthday to wait it out and I cannot wait! I am hoping that when I write the the next post, it will be with better news.