All Done & Dusted ….. September 2014

08 – 15 September 2014:  London

And We Thought We Were Finished!!

With all the rooms completed and the carpet laid we were seriously in the home stretch – but not quite finished.  Since starting work on our flat we had noticed a musty smell every time we come through the front door.  Over the weeks we have ascertained that the culprits were two shelves in different hall cupboards that have had leaking pipes above them at some stage.  The leaks are long fixed but the shelves have rotted and we had decided that we would replace them if we had time.

Having extended our flights by the extra 3 weeks we did now have the time so the very messy job began.  However we had also called our letting agents to advise we were ready for rental viewings.  They had been to appraise the property and had listed it straight away.  Having the property looking pristine while undergoing the following was no mean feat!

The major problem was in the hot water and water tank cupboard, and the rotten shelf had the water tank sitting on top of it. Mark drained the tank as much as he could then stood tip-toed on a chair and several pieces of timber and stretched his arm in holding a small jug and scooped the rest of the brown sludge out – no that wasn’t our drinking water, just the bath and shower supply but the tank has been there 40 years so the sludge was well settled!!! 

Then he disconnected the remainder of the pipes and we slowly edged it out and lifted it down.  The shelf underneath almost crumbled, luckily there are a couple of steel supports!   We foraged around down in the garage and found suitable shelving replacement in some of the old kitchen units and set to sawing them to shape.  Yes the carpet had gone down just the day before so several drop clothes were used, doors were closed and the mess was contained the best we could.

Meanwhile I relocated myself inside the cupboards and started scraping, sanding then painting the internal walls and ceilings – that was cosy!

Mark cleaned out the tank managing to remove all the lime scale, replaced the ball valve, fitted the new shelves and when the paint was dry we put everything back together and he plumbed it all again.  Then I painted the hot water cylinder – changing it from a nasty mustard colour to white, and to finish things off I carpeted both cupboards.   Every single surface has now been freshly painted and what a difference it has all made.

But Does It All Work??

With just 10 days until our flight back to Balvenie in Grenada we moved into the flat to test all the systems.  We had been staying the whole time with Marks Mum who has been a wonderful hostess, looking after us well and going back to hot showers, a clean and tidy environment and home cooked meals every night has been priceless.   But we thought it best to move in and check everything was operational for ourselves, we do not want emails in a month telling us this or that isn’t working.  So we borrowed Marks brothers airbed mattress and “camped” in the flat for a week. 

We spent the week finishing off little jobs, we bought a blind for the kitchen and fitted it, Mark tweaked a couple of light fittings that weren’t working, we installed a shower curtain and rail as our very nice looking and expensive glass shower screen did not stop water splashing on the floor.  We organised removal of all the rubbish accumulated in the garage, I cut and hand hemmed curtains for the lounge that had been given to us by our friends Helen and David and we fitted extra shelves in the wardrobe.  Then there were door bottoms to shave as the new carpet was too high, fresh paint needed to be scraped off a couple of door frames as the doors would now not close and a thinner coat reapplied, slowly the list was diminishing.  Oh and the big news was that we rented the flat immediately, with a young couple moving in in October.  All our efforts have resulted in an extra £300 a month rent, greatly needed to reimburse very empty coffers. 

Time Off For Good Behaviour & Hard Work

In between we managed a trip over to Helen and David in Teddington for dinner and to return their workbench and tools which have been invaluable.  Then we had a day up in London as tourists riding the new double-decker Routemaster buses through the City and East End,.  We visited the spectacular display of over 888,000 ceramic poppies “planted” in the moat at the Tower of London to commemorate all the British lives lost in the First World War.  It is an outstanding display and will keep “growing” until November. 

We watched as iconic London Bridge opened and traffic was ground to a halt for quite some time waiting for a mini cruise ship to free its lines and exit downriver on the tide.  A traditional wooden boat was in hot pursuit, slipping through as the bridge lowered.  We enjoyed the Riverside Walk and weaved our way along before meeting our good friend Lesley on the South Bank of the Thames for dinner, the area has undergone a remarkable transformation over the years and is now a fabulous, vibrant, scenic area, full of museums, art galleries and restaurants with the Thames lapping its shores day and night.

There Is Nothing Left On The List ~ Our Work Here Is Done