Mistakes & Disasters

I’ve made a lot of mistakes and there’s been the odd disaster.

They say you should do nothing to a new house until you’ve lived there for a year. They are right. I’ve made several big mistakes. The bathroom is freezing. I should have put a bigger towel rail in when I replaced it. In fact I should have insulated the walls. I sold the bags of smokeless coal in the garage. I didn’t realise the “log” burner is in fact a multi-fuel burner. Now I going to have to buy some more. I’ve been using board game sprunes for kindling.

Mistakes are expensive. They usually involve you not doing things in the right order. I try to think through every decision carefully. I learned to always measure everything. I think the shelf I chose for the spare bedroom is too deep. I should have chosen a slightly narrower shelf.

I think the biggest mistake, certainly in terms of cost, was the handrail up the front steps. It’s not the elegant feature I hopped it would be. Although as least it’s functional.

I paid a ridiculous amount to get an arial installed. I should have got other quote. It’s cost £520 although the going rate was £350. Basically I got ripped off because I let on that I wanted it done quickly. I tried ringing round a few suppliers but no one else came back to me.

I am no also not impressed by how my cobbles were laid. I don’t think they were built with a deep enough base. Plus the builder mixed the cement on my new drive. I’ve yet to find a reputable garden landscaper.

Another rookie mistake was the planter. I am actually going to dig out the Leriopes and replant them. The soil has sunk and you can now barely see them above the top of the planter. I hate having to do things twice.

The Perspex windows on the loft of the Out House blew out. It wasn’t even particularly windy. It’s funny because I knew they were on the way out. I’d even got a quote to replace them. The carpenter commented on how flimsy they were. Then they blew out leaning my valuable Lego collection exposed to the elements. I temporarily propped a heavy piece of wooden over the opening. It hard to know when things need replacing. I was actually walking back from the post box when I noticed.

The biggest disaster when a leaking stop cock. It ruined one of the kitchen cupboards blowing the mdf. Of course I got the Stop Cock mended as soon as I could but even so the damage was done.

Yesterday evening I struggled to get Basil in. It was boiling hot and all the windows were open. He has really enjoying himself exploring the connected roofs around mine and next doors houses. Their roof is still slate whereas mine is ugly concrete. I know there is a water feature in their garden so I put down the noise of pouring water to that. But a realised when I leaned out the window, to see where Basil was, the water was coming from the overflow pipe. I was pouring out and down the wall, splashing on the tiles below.

I had noticed a damp smell in one of the Kitchen cupboards and assumed it was coming from the blocked up Chimney behind it but when I looked at the position I realised it was the cupboard under the leak. I tried knocking in next doors door but there was no answer, so I wrote a hasty note and pushed it through their door. Anyway I came home from work today and the pipe is no longer leaking. Further more the wall and tiles seemed to have dried out completely. Although there’s a white stain on the wall. Note to self I need to get the kitchen chimney capped off.