Ceiling Time and an Adjustable Bed

They have gone. It is the next morning. My son and his wife came around last night and complained that the door to the boiler housing is the wrong size - too short and too wide. I must say I did not notice this when it was being fitted. There are a few other bits and pieces to do, but at least the major job has been done. My son and his wife cleared the sitting room for me after we had eaten a curry and watched TV for a bit. I still have stuff all over the place and the ceiling men are coming today. I think this is going to be the worst thing ever for dust and chaos, but it needs to be done.

The two guys are here: cups of tea and coffee first! At preliminary investigation the bulge in the ceiling was found to be dangling four inches below the joists. Most of the ceiling is down. It has been patched with plaster and in different places with plasterboard and just nails holding it on. The room is full of dust, the guys are covered in dust, the window has clouds of dust coming out, but fortunately they have hung 'curtains' over the doorway to minimise the amount of dust. There is a ceiling light wire which they will thread through so I can have a central light which is much needed in that room. I will need to change the switches so I can have the central one on or the wall lights separately.

They have just carried out about fifteen huge sacks of ceiling.It seems to have been patched up in ten places so it is just as well to change it. They have left the wall mouldings and they are going to patch into them.

My neighbour is complaining about dust all over his bathroom and hinting that my soundproofing might be less good with the new ceiling. If he only knew how terribly noisy he was, always running around upstairs. I have decided he does this instead of going to the gym, as it does not seem entirely normal. Mind you, I am so slow that any running is out of the question.

Escaped for lunch with my colleague. After lunch, we managed to find a wonderful adjustable bed for a client, and it is actually being delivered by the manufacturing firm tomorrow!

It is 5pm and they have had to put the central light fitting back into the ceiling since the wires have been cut off somewhere in the walls and we cannot therefore easily connect it. The room is almost ready for skimming the ceiling which is the final step. What I thought would take two days has taken only one. The main guy said it would have taken two if he had only had a young lad instead of an experienced helper.

I still have to stay at home tomorrow awaiting the gas man before I can use my hob again. They are now starting to skim the ceiling. Apparently this is really hard work. The plaster looks brownish but is apparently pink so the whole place will look revolting until redecorated. Maybe I should get the floor done soon. Very soon even.

Kitchens and Ceilings

IKEA are mailing me forms about customer satisfaction before the work is finished! My son points out that the loose wires they left on top of the cupboard are a definite fire hazard if they became disconnected. I have already pointed this out to the man in charge of the last fitting, but could not find a ladder for him to inspect them. I must remember to take the ladder down to the kitchen today for this to be done.

I am nervously awaiting the workmen this morning. I have just realised my framed Gilbert & George poster has not been taken down.

They have arrived and one said the current bad join in the kitchen is 'as good as you get' and seemed to think the bubbles at the edge on the other side were normal. All a bit worrying. They came back saying they had wrongly scratched the parking permit I gave them and asked for another. Because I have needed so many these are becoming very expensive at twenty odd quid for a pack of ten, and I cannot get any more this year apparently, so hopefully they won't take too long.They are not interested in the loose wires on top of the cupboard.

They are now trying to get the old worktop out. There is cellulose sealer everywhere except in the joint which had bubbled up, which would explain why that happened. So far they have removed half of one of the worktops. It seems that I may have to have a complete new ceiling in the sitting room. They have rung the plasterer and I am now waiting for a verdict and a price.

They have just managed to get the old worktop out. Bits are everywhere. They have put the old worktop into the van and they have gone off to make some calls and have a break. There was an incredible amount of silicon which had to be scraped out by hand and they have had to remove one of the door lintels, because the previous tops were put in before the tiles and now there is less space.

Well it seems that I do need a new ceiling and will remove the television, tables and chairs tonight. I shall expect a room full of rubble and a hellish couple of days. They are now coming (two of them) tomorrow, so we shall see. A good thing I estimated three days for all the work and arranged to take time off work. I have to take a party to the Geffrye Museum on Thursday morning, so it had better be finished by then.

One new worktop has been cut to size and is in the process of being put in. It looks quite nice. Kitchen finished with minimal tile damage. Gas man coming Wednesday to reconnect. One of the kitchen guys may be willing to do the floor in the sitting room and will quote for this.

Work and Space

Friday 13th is apparently the arrival day for the IKEA worktops. I had already been told this, but again IKEA rang to say this would happen. When I reminded them about the cupboard door (due in November) they knew nothing about it. It is supposed to arrive with the worktop, so we shall see.


Several emails back and forth about the fitters and they are in fact coming on Monday 16th. Also the man who is going to pin up my sitting room ceiling. I asked what i should do about emptying cupboards to put the worktops on and the head fitter told me not to worry until the guys are here.

I think I shall have to take the Tuesday off as I can't imagine all this work being finished in one day.

I am looking around the sitting room despondently at all the shelves, table, windowsill, mantelpiece, telly top, all stuffed with bowls, vases, flowers, candlesticks, clocks, jewellery, books, lamps etc. and the thought of moving all these, plus the curtains, two floor rugs, three mirrors and six pictures and finding somewhere to put it all, oh, and the table, sofa, three chairs and TV, is a bit depressing. The kitchen tops equally are totally overladen.

Why can't I be minimalist? It is not just stuff acquired over years, it is stuff bought as 'essential' at the time, then just taking up space later.

I really need to eat my credit cards and permanently lose my purse. I do constantly 'declutter' and give things away to people on my local forum and others.

Maybe it is a security blanket kind of thing, apart from the gratification of receiving items through the post or bringing them home, like presents, I maybe have some need to be surrounded by piles and piles of stuff. Oh well. I must just be a top consumer: eat too much, and just buy too much - all the time. Probably lucky that my flat is a small one.