Relentlessly Purple

Since last week we have had contractors in starting on our Kitchen, Bathroom & Toilet as they were all over 20 years old and needed fully replacing.

We are on a 20 day programme where work will be done between 8am-5pm and all 3 rooms are being entirely refitted so we had to empty all 3 rooms (not easy to do in a 2 bedroom flat!) for the next few weeks whilst the work goes on.

My usually rather lived in flat is now half a building site & half a storage depot with bags j boxes everywhere & the fridge in our living room!

The work began Wednesday morning with the kitchen & bathroom being ripped out including flooring & tiles leaving us with just the kitchen & bathroom sink & bath for now. It’s been quite difficult at times especially with everything bagged or boxed up and 2 kids & 2 cats! With the first lot of workers repeatedly leaving the front door wide open after agreeing not to which was also previously agreed with the surveyor and resident liaison officer we have had to try and keep the cats in the living room only we aren’t allowed to keep the living room door shut so there were lots of stressful cat hunts on the first day.

When the kitchen floor was being ripped up they found the tiles had asbestos in them which meant the other rooms probably had them too so they stopped & left it as it was and we were told someone would be back to remove them ‘later’ which ended up being 2 days later!

On the second day the electricians turned up to put in new everything so as they had to drill through the walls I took Izzy to Basildon to see her Uncle for a few hours which was a nice break from the noisy dusty flat and Izzy really enjoyed her day out going on the bus, lunch at a cafe, feeding the ducks & playing in the park before being picked up by our friend & taken home (Izzy loves the car!). When we got home though I was a little surprised at the wonky plug sockets & switches throughout the kitchen although I do like the new lay out and placements.

Annoyingly we now have a fluorescent light in our kitchen which gives me serious migraines as it is so bright! They managed to place it well off centre & left one of our previous light fittings in place though so it’s rather odd having a normal light at the darkest end of the kitchen and the brightest nearer the window. I don’t understand why they have done it that way at all but apparently that is how it will be left.

On Friday the bath & toilet were replaced & I’m kind of regretting not agreeing to an adapted bath as I used the new one last night and really struggled to get out although I did forget to use a step. I think we may have to get a handle fixed to the wall to help me keep my balance when I get out as I’ve been having accidents climbing out of the bath over the last few months anyway.

Friday morning whilst the bath was being done I popped out to get some lunch with Izzy & came back to the kitchen door sealed up and the asbestos removal guy lifting the tiles.

He had done all 3 rooms by the time Eva got home from school at least but we are a little concerned about the amount of dust left behind especially in the kitchen but its good to know the tiles are now gone.

The weekend was a welcome break from workmen in and out but it was still stressful doing everything out of bags & boxes and still having the fridge freezer in our living room.

By monday morning I couldn’t wait for the work to continue and be able to slowly use the rooms again! The plasterer came in and did all 3 rooms on Monday and the tiling in the bathroom was started on the Tuesday with the bath & toilet pipework being boxed in again.

I was really happy to find out the kitchen units were being put in Wednesday. We had a few issues where the surveyor hadn’t listened & measured our fridge freezer properly after being told several times its larger than average! The poor guy fitting the units had to pull one back out and alter it and order in a smaller wall unit which will take 2-3 weeks to arrive so although thing’s are progressing rather quickly we will be missing a unit for a few weeks.. not too much of a problem for us though as we have gained a good few extra cupboards & drawers!

I was quite unsure of the choice’s I had made for the worktops & units until I saw it all in place & now I can’t wait to see the end result! I hated the 80’s style council kitchen look we had and although it is still a council property being done by contractor’s I do think it looks a lot better already!

We seem to be about halfway through already although we are only on day 6! The kitchen is being tiled today and and after that it is pretty much just sorting niggly bits, laying the new floor & decorating left to do. I’ll do a follow up post once all the work is complete and hopefully find the time (and space!) to work on the blog again properly soon (I know.. It’s been one thing after another & I miss writing and bothering other bloggers 😉 haha!)