No sooner had we published the February blog we were contacted by Carl who is going to do the serious structural work.  We can start next Monday!!!  Yes, oh yes, that’s serious progress at last.  We were excited and apprehensive as this was the start of living in a construction site with all the dust, noise and mess that goes with it.  Still, it’ll only be for a short while we thought………

You will all know by now why we thought wrong, and we won’t dwell on it here.  Suffice to say that we hope you are all keeping well and safe during these exceptional times.  Maybe some non Covid news will be a welcome escape.  Read on to see what we got up to in the most  extraordinary month we have experienced.

Before we could get the walls down we had to get the major plumbing work finished.  Matt arrived and swiftly removed the old boiler and that meant no heating and hot water for a week while the new boiler and radiators were fitted.  Of course we chose a really chilly week but managed well with the log burner in the study.  Our new boiler aka ‘big boy’ is great and the house is significantly warmer where the newer bigger radiators have been fitted.  We’re still a few short as these can’t be hung until the wall reconstruction is done.  Matt worked so hard and found the existing plumbing in the house something of a challenge.  Cheryl escaped to the Gym and after almost a week without a boiler Neil stayed in the shower for days! 

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The garden is bursting into life and so is Phileas.  We spotted a hen perched on the fence and soon saw Phileas trying his best to impress her strutting his stuff and doing his sexy dance but unfortunately we don’t think he was successful as she hasn’t been seen since. 

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The first weekend of March brings a major event to Seaton.  It’s Grizzly by name and Grizzly by nature. The 20 mile Grizzly and the 9 mile Cub races present tough challenges over a multi-terrain route including bogs, streams, pebble beaches, clifftops and ascents/descents up/down steep hills.  We took part in the fundraising quiz at the Gateway on the Friday, and our team won – yay! We’re not quite up to taking part but did our bit to support the runners by watching and cheering the start and finish on the esplanade.  Sadly, but not surprisingly, there were a number of casualties as the weather both before and during was horrid.

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Progress at last

It didn’t take long to prepare for the builders.  We quickly moved what was left of the kitchen into the study, along with a small table & chairs and sofa.  It was a little cramped but a lot more space than we used to have in the caravan.  All furniture, apart from the sofas, was cleared from the living room and the carpet was carefully peeled back and placed over the top to cover them up.  The dining room was also cleared just leaving the glass top tables stacked in the corner.  Not having very much in the way of furniture and the usual household clutter was turning out to be a real bonus.

We were under no illusion about the potential dust & mess but the wonderful crew who arrived were incredibly conscientious about keeping the mess and noise to a minimum.  They put up plastic sheeting and gaffer taped the door frames leading to the hallway which was really effective.  The last day included the final removal of walls for double doors into the hallway so on that day we found ourselves sealed in with a taped door for a few hours.  We had one mishap when the guys sliced through a pipe hidden in the wall and our walls turned out to be a little more complicated than they had thought so the 3 to 4 day job turned into 6 and straddled a weekend.  We got used to living in our one room during the day with a good long walk along the beach to keep us from going stir crazy.  Looking back, it was good training for what was going to come.

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Neil’s sister June and husband Roy had planned a visit to us for the weekend of 21^st March and we had booked tickets for a 60s & 70s band, The Zoots, at the Gateway.  The building work was starting to overrun and with no kitchen and the extent of the mess and dust we were starting to have second thoughts as to whether we should postpone.  People were starting to talk about what was happening in Italy and Spain and the news was filling up with cases of Corona Virus in the UK.  Normal life was still continuing and Cheryl met up with Diane for a film & picnic night at the Gateway to watch The Personal Life of David Copperfield on Friday 14^th March.  On Monday 16^th Boris Johnson advised against non-essential travel and suggested people should not go to pubs, theatres and restaurants.  There was also a suggestion that those over 70 would be asked to stay at home.

The builders finished work on Tuesday 17^th and we finally could see the full extent of the destruction.  The result was worth the dust and mess.  The space has been opened up, the light level in the kitchen has vastly improved and we can see the beautiful garden from every angle.  Wow – it’s still a long, long way from being finished with exposed brick and broken plaster and cables hanging out of the walls but to us it looked wonderful and we were so excited to get things started.

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Next day the scaffold for fixing the leaky chimneys arrived and we soon had two large erections either side of the house (oooer missus!). 

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To make the most of the cost of the scaffolding, which stays in place for a minimum of 4 weeks, we got a quote to drop a flue lining into the living room chimney for a log burner (to be installed next year) and to put in a flue for the existing burner in the study.   Ah, nearly forgot that the original fireplace had been bricked up and diverted when the previous owners shifted it. Just managed to get another builder lined up to deal with it and went ahead with the deposit for the flues so they could start work two weeks into the scaffold hire.  First of all the chimneys had to be cleaned, repointed and painted with ‘Storm Dry’ a freakishly expensive waterproof coating used on lighthouses and guaranteed for 25 years.  Work on that was starting on Monday 23^rd March.   Everything was starting to come together at a really good pace.

Wednesday 18^th March and the Gateway announced that the events planned for the weekend had been postponed.  We had a phone call with June & Roy and decided that we should postpone their visit until later in the year.  We realise now that was definitely the right thing to do.

Friday 20^th March Jules from Howdens came round to check measure the kitchen following the work to remove the dividing wall and lose the arch wall.  We talked about putting in some display units either side of the dining room double doors and checked lengths of worktop & upstand as these were being ordered from a separate source.  Just needed the kitchen fitter to confirm the depths required and all that could be ordered with a lead time of 10-14 days.  That left getting the walls finished off and we were good to go.

At 5pm that same day Boris Johnson ordered all bars and restaurants to close at midnight. Things were beginning to change but the enormity of what we were facing was still not sinking in.

First thing Monday morning Dacks & Sons turned up to start work on the chimneys and we tackled stripping wallpaper from what remained of the kitchen walls to get the finishing off underway.  The worktop order was placed and we thought about getting the Howdens order set up but decided to wait for the revised quote to include the additional units.

Monday 23^rd March at 8pm normal life in the UK came to an abrupt halt

Our house is in a mess but it doesn’t matter.  We were getting close to having a proper kitchen but that’s not going to happen in the foreseeable future.  The worktop factory has closed and Howdens has shut down.  However, we had the oven & hob delivered.  The chippy started work on constructing door frames and the electrician also arrived to do the first fix.  The builder lined up to remove the bricks from the fireplace called off.  The chimney repair is on hold as the company has decided to stop work.  The scaffold firm have suspended all work and have assured us the scaffold will stay in place as long as we need to complete the work.  We had just paid £1000 deposit for the chimney flues and were amazed when the stove company returned it immediately. We also think we are probably the last people in the country to have our phone line reactivated so we now have broadband which we think we are really going to need in the coming months.

The first week has been interesting.  It’s funny how you get used to things after a while.  The first days of not being able to go out unless it’s for food or exercise felt really strange.  People are getting better at social distancing and Tesco’s has calmed down a little.  We may moan about the hold up to our renovations but we are well aware that we are truly fortunate.  We are so lucky to live in a beautiful part of the country in a small town beside the sea.  We have plenty of space in our house, garden and in the town, especially the glorious expanse of beach and sea.  On top of that the sun has been shining for almost a week non-stop.  We realise life has not been easy for a lot of people and have nothing but admiration for all those working in the NHS and all key workers who are keeping things going for all of us.

Well what a month this has been.  We were really excited about posting this blog two weeks ago as we wanted to share the progress on the house.  Now as we write it all seems so unimportant and trivial in the midst of what we face now.  That said, we have seen a number of positives emerge as people seem to be communicating from afar with more frequency than before.

To cap it all Gary at The Hat is doing his best to stay afloat.  He’s offering a home delivery service of his finest beers and ciders.  Needless to say we are going to do our best to help him stay in business and to be there for us when this whole mess is finished.  We also vowed to have 2 takeaways a week to help the restaurants to get over the crisis.  Many started to offer but new restrictions and regulations mean that there are only one or two offering home delivery. 

So, the world is totally stuffed, we’re living in a building site and it’s all going to get worse before it gets better.  However, we’re counting our blessings.  So far our family is fit and well, we have a large beautiful house to live in, the garden is blossoming, our friends stuck overseas are so far OK, we’re not self-isolating in a tiny rented flat in a big city and this morning we noticed that Phileas had a new girl-friend. 

Life goes on – just not as we know it!  Stay safe.

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