Friends and flooring

Wednesday 23rd April

Today started too early. Matt had to work all day, which was a shock in itself - and in the office, which is going to take some adjusting to, after having him just upstairs working for the past two years. So the boy and I started the morning very slowly, and wonderfully, with sitting in the garden - him on the swings (left by previous owners, and in reasonably good condition - they have been a real blessing, and a help with the boy adjusting to a new house!), and me enjoying the sunshine in a camp chair for an hour or so, feeling very decadent and lazy.
Then a friend turned up to help with removing the laminate from upstairs, both from the floor, and from the house, as he has a room where he wants to put it - win-win in my book, as most of you know how much I hate seeing things go to waste!  We removed FIVE layers of flooring from the landing - laminate flooring, chipboard (1cm high), underlay, another layer of chipboard, and, in some places, a further layer of paper.  We removed the wood panelling from the walls, and, once we remove it from the ceiling, it's all going to feel rather more spacious!
In removing the flooring,however, we discovered wet pathces, which implies the there is a leak from the shower room. This means that it will all have to be dismantled, rather than just taking out the bits we were going to replace with a bath. Hey ho, time to sit down and plan a bathroom layout...

One of the other discoveries of the day, as a result of taking time in the garden, was the realisation that the extra toilet in the house was connected to the guttering downpipe, and fed into the storm drains. As we also discovered a set of plumbers rods in the garden, we're not certain just how effective this plumbing endeavour might have been! We will find out, I reckon, before long!

It was very satisfying taking out all the flooring, and discovering what was underneath. It's mostly good quality floorboards, which we will get sanded and sealed.  Some need repairing, so hopefully we will get that sorted before we move in, and get the most important floors done immediately too. The rest will be done as and when there is time for them.

The best job of the day, however, was taking the boy to the shops, so we could buy thank you presents for the lovely people who lent us so many bits and pieces which made the last week so much easier to cope with. A very special thank you goes to the people who lent the boy all their wooden train track for the week.
The days have been finishing very early this week, as we've been shattered. This last evening of 'camping', saw us all snuggled up in the same room, on the boy's request, and me fast asleep by 7:30pm, although I did still wake up during the night, due to unfamiliar noises in the house, and very early in the morning, due to a brain full of list to do lists!