Week 29-1/2: We’re in, Problems and Joys

It’s been an interesting few weeks since last I wrote.  There have definitely been some serious ups and down.  2016 is turning out to be quite the year in so many ways.  I apologise as this is going to be a bit long.  If you just want pictures, scroll to the bottom.

On Dec 19 we had an appointment with the UK Power Networks.  They never showed up despite me staying at home and not showering, which was so frustrating.  They then said they’d come before 1pm on the 20th.  It had to be then for two reasons – I had an eye appointment and we were also meant to get our alarm in on the 20th.  Again, they didn’t show. Due to not having power, we were unable to have them put it in.  I was so peeved.  (And we’re not going to be able to get it down until some time in the new year, darn it.)  My husband and I then call bombed them until they basically got someone to show – around 8pm on the 20th. Yay!

And then, it all went horribly wrong.  The guy started testing things – and everything started to blow – you could hear cracks and pops.  He stopped.  I called my contractor.  He told the guy what he thought was wrong.  The guy checked it out and then called more guys in – eventually they showed up at around 10pm.  Yup, it was going to be a long night.  The same two guys who showed up initially and turned off our power were the ones who showed up again.  AND YES – they were the problem.  The work they did initially ruined our system.  So, they dug it up, changed things and at 2:30am, they were essentially done.  But we had to have an electrician in the next day to fix the internals.  Finally, we had electricity.  But we also had a hole at the side of the house.

At least having power meant we could move.  So, we moved on Friday, 23rd of December.  We had asked the contractor to make sure everything was turned on.  Problem.  The guys had blown the brand new fridge freezer, the dishwasher, the extractor fan as well as multiple lights.  We were worried about the electrical  underfloor heating in the bathroom, but it worked.  It kinda screwed up the fan in there, though.  We soldiered through.  And discovered that the sinks were not plumbed in and no one was available to come fix ’em up.  So, no washing dishes.  Paper plates and plastic forks it was.  Boo.  We also, unfortunately, discovered that the washing machine was not fully plumbed in after a minor floor in the kitchen – we caught it quickly.

Here’s a few pics from the move:

We took over one of the rooms for all the boxes in the kitchen as the guys were still doing some work when we arrived.

 

We put together a small front entry place to hang coats and place shoes (no shoes allowed in our house).  As you can see, more boxes, and an excitable Barney.

 

Our new living room with our old couches and chairs as well as a new coffee table.

 

The old kitchen table with a new rug.

 

A warm master bathroom!

 

Stools at the island.  They are a bit brighter than I expected (ordered online) but I love them as they are a good pop of colour and are very comfy.

We had a delivery from IKEA coming tomorrow as well as a guy from Samsung to check out our fridge.  We’ll be talking to the manufacturers of our extractor fan and dishwasher as well to see if this is covered under warranty.  If not, UK Power Networks are bound to pay for new appliances.  I can’t wait to have a fridge that works (other than my mother-in-law’s old, not so cold mini-fridge).

We also don’t have a phone line, internet or cable at this point, which is driving us both a bit crazy.  We got unlimited internet on our phones but we can only use up to 6GB of data porting to our computers (I’m at our old house as we still have internet there so I could upload the pics and write this post.) .  I hope we get all three very, very soon!

On the positive side, the contractor came today and plumbed in one of the sinks and the washing machine.  We have a working dryer (it wasn’t plugged in at the time of the electrical issue).  I can do laundry tomorrow and not have to hang it up!!!   I love quite a lot about the house – it’s so much more open and airy.  I love the granite we chose.  Barney is having fun playing chase around the entire ground floor. Our new bed and mattress is amazing (King size).  Our new bathroom is just about perfect.  And the house is warm.

Despite all the issues, I’m happy that the house is coming together and that we’re there.  Once things have fully settled and the work is entirely done, I’ll do a final video and pictures so you can see before and after.  I’ll also list where I bought everything and more about our contractor just in case you want any info.

Week 27: almost, but not quite

We’re so close.  So very close.  And yet, not quite there.

We planned to move on Monday, 19 December.  The flooring was meant to be done at least 8 days beforehand, so would have been “cured” perfectly well.  Even if everything wasn’t completed, we’d probably have electricity as well.  Now…who knows.

We arrived on Sunday morning to check out the floors on the ground floor.  While the colour is gorgeous, there were definitely some mistakes that have to be corrected.  I will not live with brush marks that are so distinct.

 

The week prior, I also noticed that the towel rack was placed, not over the toilet, but in the bathtub area.  So that had to be moved.  Luckily, it was and it’s fine.

       

On the positive side, the kitchen is looking good overall (still need to finish with tiling, move the extractor fan up and install the dryer), painting is pretty much done and we got our carpets in.  We’ll wait to see how the floors turn out, whether or not we get electricity turned back on and, we can hope that the weather gets nicer (it’s been rainy) so the outside of the house begins to dry so we can get the final coating of the render.

 

 

Edit: Just wanted to say that we have a move date – Dec 23rd.  So cross your fingers that the electricity turns on!