Skips and scaffolding as far as the eye can see. That’s our patch of South London right now. Oh, and blocked-off roads and leaks pouring down the road thanks to Thames Water, too. Must be autumn – everyone frantically trying to get building projects under way and watertight before the season tips over into winter, including us. It’s also the season of Grand Designs disasters on TV too: art holds the mirror up to nature, of course.
Ok, let’s not be too negative about it all: doing a loft is nowhere near as bad as the downstairs extension. We have a functioning kitchen and bathroom, the worst of the noise and dust is away from the ‘living’ part of the house, and we aren’t shut off from the garden – those are all big pluses.
The down side has been the stop-start nature of it – again, much worse with the extension, but the delays there were more of a problem at the end, when we were nearly there. This time, we got stuck right at the beginning – no roof on the house in for most of July and August, (just a tarpaulin) and a couple of horrendous downpours meant that we have ceilings ruined all over the first floor from leaks. The builders then disappeared for a couple of weeks in August and we had simply no idea what was going on.
The flapping tarpaulins over window gaps made a terrible noise, and we were constantly on edge that there might be more leaks. When the builders did finally get back to work, we’ve had a few stresses and issues over details – for a while, it seemed every extra task or request we had put in, details like doors and bannisters and wiring – just didn’t get passed on or noted. Things we’d mentioned over and over again, they had no record of. This has been seriously frustrating!
We’d also ordered all the bathroom goods based on the timescale we were given, only for them to sit in the garage unused for weeks – there’s barely room to squeeze in there to get at bikes or anything else.
We felt like we needed a lucky break, by this point, and thankfully a much drier spell in September and a new lead person on the builders team meant that things began to speed up. Now, at the end of September, we are close to having the roof finished and windows in, so the space is (near enough) watertight.
With the main west-facing French windows finally in, the tarpaulins are off and we can see the view we’ve been waiting for. The actual view of the far horizon is a smidge rather than a panorama – but we have tree canopies, gardens and rooftops, and the big big sky to look at. There will be many sunsets, and fireworks, I hope.
We have the Velux windows at the front, too – north facing, we get a glimpse of the London Eye and the Shard, and to the south and east, my beloved Crystal Palace and Beulah Hill transmitters. It’s going to be glorious. Just got to get on with the next stage now: plasterers, second fix of electrics and plumbing, and all the other little fiddly details. Will it all be done by Christmas? I am sure we’ll have a usable room by then, but probably there will still be lots of little final issues to iron out. And while we wait, I can still go upstairs every night to enjoy my sunsets. That’s got to be worth a lot of dust, banging and scaffolding.
ladymissalbertine 