It all started because the paint on the wardrobe door was peeling and it looked like there was mahogany underneath. Wow, a mahogany wardrobe it worth stripping! I duly emptied the wardrobe of all the clothes and the paint and paper (in the UK people often line their walls with paper prior to painting) was peeling badly. No problem, it looked like it would come off easily; or at least it did at first.... I had to get out the steamer and five hours later the job was done:
Towards the end of the job I found a patch of old wallpaper. It was a real gem, it made me think about all the people who had lived in the house so far and how I hope that everyone who lives in this flat after us will get enjoyment from it.
The tiling in my flat is complete! It looks perfect. I have nothing but praise and recommendation for my tiler Steve from Quigley and Son. If anyone is ever looking for a Brockley Tiler and wants one that comes with my hearty personal recommendation please leave a comment on this post and I'll pass you on his email address.
Without further ado here are before and afters of the great kitchen project of 2008, complete with tiling in situ:
In order to count the kitchen as complete we have to get the crumbling vent in the wall replaced and our botched floor job fixed. It's gutting that we paid someone to botch the floor and now we have to pay someone else to fix it. But I've got a personal recommendation from a lady on Brockley Central that looks very promising and I'm hoping to give this new fellow a go. The sharpest learning curve I've had throughout the work on this flat is that personal recommendation and word of mouth are the only way to properly select the right people for the job.
I'll openly admit that we got in way over our head with this property; we were completely naive in how much work (and money) it was going to take to get it fixed up.
The bathroom in particular has always been a sore point. Not so much because it looked like a German sauna from 1972 gone bad but because it was teetering on the edge of functionality. The shower and plumbing to the shower had such a bad leak that we had to turn the water off to the bathroom when we weren't using it. Taking a bath or flushing the toilet meant that we had to turn the water on and then promptly off when finished; followed by emptying out a rusty casserole dish that the sellers had kindly left behind for us (but had removed from sight during the viewings). Having friends around was a bit of an embarressment; showing them how to operate our bathroom was like something from a Jules Verne novel.
Our trusty plumber has been around for the last two weeks with his team and I'm pleased to say that I got to throw away that rusty dish away yesterday. Not only do I like my plumber because his work is excellent and he's always on time; but because he said "You know, yours is the only bathroom that I've ever worked on that looks better after the first day when it's all torn up." And you know what, he was right. Even having to flush the toilet by dumping buckets of water in the basin is far superior to emptying out the rusty catch-all. Here's how far we've come:
We've come a long way, not quite yet done - but almost there. I'll post the 'finished' photos when we're done with heaps of praise for my awesome plumber and his team.
All that's left is tiling and finishing the walls. We've got to put a few more protective coats on the countertop before we can really start to use it.
I am so happy.
For whatever reason the progression of mess on our landing in this three day photo diary reminds me so much of the Peter Gabriel video for Sledgehammer.
Sunday was spent lifting floorboards in the lounge and laying down a double layer of acoustic mineral wool. We used the fibreglass equivalent in the kitchen, but I prefer this stuff, it's not as scratchy and environmentally friendlier. I'm glad that we took the time to lay it, it's helped reduce the noise from the flat below. I hope that they've noticed a reduction in noise from us too. We still have four more areas that we need to get wooled out and it's a lot of work.
The kitchen was delivered today, everything arrived....except the kitchen sink. Ironic, isn't it?
When did my life become so consumed with home improvement? This was meant to be a craft blog.
The floor-man finally showed up yesterday and we're sort of happy but not happy with the results. Yes, it looks a lot nicer and is a lot quieter. However they didn't seal all the gaps between the floorboards and one of the floorboards has a bit of give to it. It probably should have been replaced. The gaps between the floorboards need to be sealed for soundproofing and just to ensure that if there are any spills that it won't get anywhere near our neighbor's ceiling.
We're now in a bit of a conundrum as the rest of the flat needs the same work done (that is of course after Sam and I have finished laying in all the acoustic mineral wool). Here's what the new floor looks like vs. the old finish on the previously exposed hardwood floors:
Obviously we've got our reservations about using the same company to complete the rest of the work. They didn't show up two days running and yesterday evening the fellow in charge was meant to come around to see the results and make sure that we were happy with it. But he never bothered to come round to hear that as he had said he would. We've had to call him this morning to chase up actually filling in between all the boards and correcting that one board that isn't fitted correctly.
I don't understand why some businesses make good customer service so overtly complicated. He probably would have had a couple grand more out of us for the rest of the house if they had managed to keep their schedule(s) and just made that extra effort. It's hard to find tradesmen and it would have been easier to just hire the same guys again, the issue is that they're just too unreliable.
Yesterday the MFI kitchen delivery showed up and via a miscommunication we were expecting it on Monday morning. We weren't able to accept the order because the floor on the landing was drying. It was stressful. When speaking on the phone with the distribution warehouse I asked why they didn't call me a few days in advance as a courtesy, after all all the other companies that we've had deliveries from for the kitchen have done that. The woman on the other end of the phone curtly told me that we're meant to call them.
With the other companies we spent a fraction of what we've spent with MFI and in terms of good customer service I would have expected for them to go that extra step. Admittedly MFI do have a bit of a hit or miss reputation for customer service, perhaps we should have been more proactive in shaping our own customer experience. In this instance it would have taken MFI less than a few minutes to make a phone call, drop an email or text - and it would have saved us all loads of time and stress. If they had called I would have exerted more pressure on the floor guy to keep his date or to push his workman to do work on the weekend, after the delivery. Maybe as a company they can't afford to make that investment in their customers? Perhaps it's easier to have failed deliveries? Or maybe they don't care as a kitchen/bathroom purchase is only once in a blue moon and repeat custom isn't of the utmost importance to them.
They've confirmed that they'll redeliver on Monday morning and I am on eggshells to see if that will actually happen.
My day off work today started slowly. I wasn't feeling so hot this morning and it took a few Advil and a tall glass of water to get going. Once I got going, there was no stopping...
I arranged for Got Junk? to come pick up all the rubbish, broke down the remaining kitchen units, sanded down the walls (ready to paint) and we installed the soundproofing under the kitchen floor. Sam and Crispy (the electrician) got the wiring sorted out. It was a lot of work. I took a break to photograph my new Adam Ant/Project Catwalk look.
The house came with exposed floorboards in the lounge, the bedrooms and the bathrooms. I always thought that there was basic insulation/soundproofing existing between the floorboards. There's not and I think that our neighbors have heard a whole lot more of us than we had thought.
