Taking Breath after the First Week

One of my aims in doing this project was to do it at my own speed.  There is no point, I reasoned, in having a tight timescale and creating stress for myself if I'm actually in no particular hurry to get the house finished.  I want to take the time and enjoy this, I thought in my innocence.  We've now owned the house for eight days, and I've never been busier!  Clearly it is not going as I expected.

The plan this week was to get the electrical supply protected on Monday, so that we could safely erect scaffolding on Tuesday and commence roof work on Wednesday.  Unknown to me the roofer knew the track record of the electricity supplier and so arranged the scaffolding for Wednesday instead - wise man!  Due to van failure, the electrical work did not happen on Monday and on Tuesday when I phoned it became clear that Monday's work had not been rescheduled...  After a few pleading phone calls, the emergency team came out late on Tuesday - dark and raining - and kindly did it.

While the scaffolding was going up on Wednesday, I had a call from a chimney sweep company who will check and sweep two of our chimneys so that I can light a fire or two to warm the house up.   The scaffolding finished early on Thursday, so the roofers started and by the end of Friday the former roof lay on the ground in the garden building site, with the naked rafters now covered with tarpaulin.  As work progressed I continued the removal of the ivy which was now possible using the scaffolding, although annoyingly there is still some ivy remaining just below the working platform twenty feet up.  Barry the carpenter ("chippy") visited on Friday and will be happy to do other work on the house.  He also surprised me by saying that he would come on Saturday and Sunday to do the soffits and fascia.  This caused me to have to turn up on Saturday to finish removal of the ivy in the region of the electrical supply bracket, as well as being able to tidy up when the old soffits and fascia were removed.

The chippy removed the fascia and soffit except where there was still ivy, where he left the soffit for me.  The power cables (ours and next door's) came away from the rotten fascia very easily but the real issue was where these cables disappeared into the ivy and emerged at the bracket two feet lower.  Gradually I removed the soffit and the dead ivy stems from both sides of the corner bracket and was down to the last three feet when there was a bang and a flash - the supply for next door had some bare cable!  That was enough for me - time to call the electricity supplier again - this time as an emergency.  (Anyone remember the Flanders and Swann song "The gasman cometh"?)

I forgot to mention that the roofing contractor's mate called Chris asked if I had a plasterer, as his brother in law was a plasterer called Phil who lived just along the road...  (Is there a slang term for a plasterer?)  So Phil came along on Saturday morning and seemed very keen and capable - another contractor found.  Then Phil asked if I had an electrician or a plumber, and to my surprise while I was waiting for the electricity lineman at 4.30pm, Neil the Sparky turned up to have a look - another contractor found.  Eventually the electricity lineman and his mate arrived; it turned out they were the ones who should have done the job on Monday!  They condemned the existing supply cables as dangerous (for both houses) and connected a temporary supply, leaving the way clear for the ivy removal, and departed at 6.45pm.

Thus it was that I have just spent nine hours working at the house on a Saturday.  This week has seen far more progress than I would have dared to expect even on a tight timescale, never mind my relaxed approach.  At this rate the roof will be done in a week and we are off to a flying start, with several contractors lined up, but I am shattered.