8 weeks and counting

Well it's now more than 8 weeks since the deluge and there's still no end in sight.
We went to see Warren at Total Interiors last Friday to choose kitchen colours - in a way this was a bad idea as it's made us more impatient to see the amazing kitchen he's going to create.
ChemDry have been back a couple of times and the house is now starting to dry out but some areas are not there yet.
We've decided that since Kumari's room is going to be decorated we might as well go the whole hog and have decided to replace the sink and vanity unit. We contacted a plumber and the sink has been removed ready to be replaced once the room is decorated.
We thought of replacing the sink in the spare room but it has a certain poignancy as this was the room of the young man immortalised in the Stereophonics number 'Local Boy in the Photograph' - I know this is true as I contacted Kelly Jones to ask after reading internet rumours and he confirmed it - the sink in there is the only thing left of the original room so I think we'll keep it. BTW - went to see the Stereophonics in the MEN in Manchester Sunday night - amazing.

Catch up time

Yet another week has passed. We're now living in John & Penny's cottage for the next few weeks. This is ideal as it is literally across the road from our house and we can pop across to be with the dogs more often. Sucha is now starting to play up and be naughty (Millie has been naughty since the day we got her). Sucha has always punished us if we've gone away on holiday eg peeing in the house - now she is starting to be disobedient so we know we are in trouble!
After the plaster disaster of last weekend we are waiting for the next calamity.
The man from ChemDry came back on Wednesday and put in even more machinery - the house is incredibly noisy now. He says the spare room is almost dry but the brickwork on the stairs, now visible after the plaster came off, is sopping wet. He estimates that it will take at least another month before the house may be dry - this will be 3 months after the flood!
Thursday - Rob from B&W came to check out the damage uncovered - he was quite reassuring and says they will completely replaster the hall and it will be 'as good as new'.
I had a call from Wayne, the kitchen designer to ask if we have chosen tiles for the hall floor yet - I tell him that, as we have no idea of when we will get the drying certificate I haven't even thought of interior decoration yet. We agree that I will call him next week to arrange to look at colours etc.

Another week nearly over

The decorators have finally finished stripping the wallpaper - the hall ceiling and the dining room ceiling still have paper but they say they're not sure if they're supposed to strip those - we'll have to see what ChemDry say.
The dogs are starting to get in their sulky mode now - hopefully after tomorrow we'll be able to spend more time with them.
I'm really tired at the moment - it would help if we had any idea when the house will be finished but when I asked one of the decorators how long he thought it would be he said 'How long's a piece of string?'

Another week begins...........

Monday - go to the house after work - 2 decorators there today - the dining room has now been completely stripped of paper but the spare room is proving difficult - still some of the paper on the walls, determined to hang on.
I am finding all this living out of suitcases difficult - it's always a lot easier when the suitcases have been packed for a holiday in some sunny spot, rather than a forced sojourn to temporary lodgings. All the valuables have now been put safely into storage but the dogs are still living at home so this means visiting several times a day so they don't get too lonely. This would be a lot more pleasant if the house was a bit warmer - yesterday the decorator said he'd left the front door open while he was working to let a bit of warmer air in from outside!

Latest news

Another week has gone by, but what a week!

Monday 1 February - took contract in to B&W Builders - discovered that they are going to be decorating Kumari's room as well - they say it will have to be completely cleared. Louis phoned ChemDry to arrange for them to collect her furniture. Frantically packed all her stuff.
Wednesday 3 February- an assessor came to view the damaged carpets - they will issue a voucher for replacements.
Thursday - a skip (organised by ChemDry) was delivered.
Friday 5 February - met kitchen designer and talked over ideas for the new kitchen. Went off to work and left the builders ripping out the kichen. Came back from work to find a completely empty room where my kitchen used to be! The house is also freezing cold as the radiators have been removed from the kitchen, dining room and hall so the central heating system is off. Just what we need in this cold weather!
Saturday - spent the day at the house trying to sort out a few things - wearing plenty of layers but still freezing.
Busy week - rushing between the holiday cottage, home and work. The poor dogs don't know what's going on but I try and take them for a walk at least once a day.
Thursday 11 February - the decorators arrived to start stripping paper - not an easy job as we found out when we originally stripped Kumari's room.
Friday - bit of a shock when I got to the house - no kitchen ceiling! The decorators tell me it's one of the worst jobs they've had - the paper won't come off easily and the plaster is crumbling underneath. One of them is coming back tomorrow (Saturday) to try and finish off.
Saturday - came to the house early as our time at the cottage is over - the decorator was already at work. Sat in lounge watching TV with Kumari - heard what sounded like rubble falling from the hall - whan I have the nerve to look I find it was indeed what it sounded like! A whole section of plaster has come off the wall - the decorator said 'that doesn't usually happen when I put the steamer on'. That's reassuring.
When he removed the paper from the wall between the drawing room and lounge a huge crack was revealed - much worse than we feared. He advised me to speak to the builders on Monday as he thinks we need to get a surveyor in to assess it - what more can go wrong?

Catch up

Not had much chance to write on here lately. Anyway, the new laptop arrived - delivered to work for safety.
Thursday night - call at 5.30pm to say someone from ChemDry would be coming 9am Saturday morning to take some of our furniture into storage. Bit of a shock as we had no warning. Realised we need somewhere to stay when the work gets too much - found a holiday cottage for 2 weeks.
Spent Friday evening after work frantically packing books etc.
Saturday 30 January - ChemDry turned up with a tiny van - don't see how they're going to fit much in there. Anyway they got to work and also checked the drying process - still very wet. They tell me that the kitchen needs to be ripped out as soon as possible! I had to take our dog Sucha to be clipped so I left briefly to take her - when I got back the desk in the hall was gone - unfortunately I hadn't got round to emptying the drawers - but luckily I had moved the box with the keys to the garage etc the night before or we'd have been stuffed!
After they left I started emptying the kitchen cupboards - a major job.
More later...........................

Wednesday

While driving to work my mobile rang. When I pulled over and checked messages there was a voicemail from Bevalue, the company who will arrange to replace the electrical items. They left a message to call back. Unfortunately they gave the wrong number. Texted Carol Roberts to get the correct number. Then I phoned Bevalue, who told me they couldn't discuss it with me as they 'could only discuss matters with the policy holder' - I pointed out it was a joint policy but the woman refused to discuss matters. I texted Louis and asked him to call them as I have had enough.
Later in the day I got a call from Julie, who works with Louis (Louis was with a client) - she gave me details of the laptop which they were going to send as we had to approve it before accepting. I looked it up on the internet - it was certainly better than the one that was damaged so I phoned Bevalue and arranged for it to be delivered tomorrow - watch this space! They also gave me details of portable TV's to replace the damaged ones - I have to check on them and give my approval (which I am sure I will as the damaged ones were really old anyway).

Tuesday

Faxed the list of books and estimate for the bed to Crawfords. Phoned them later - after a long wait while they looked around they said they couldn't find the list. They also said they had not received the report from the loss adjustor - Carol Roberts.
I got an email address and emailed my list - I asked them to acknowledge receipt of the list - will see how long that takes. I also left a message on the loss adjustor's phone.

Sunday & Monday

Started compiling a list of the books ruined in the dining room - unfortunately that's where the bookcase full of computer books was - the list totalled over £400! Then looked up prices for a replacement bed for the spare room - the equivalent bed is £850.

2 weeks and counting

Worked the Saturday clinic at the surgery then rushed home as the loss adjustor from Crawfords (contents) was due some time between 12 and 4. I could have hitched a lift on the back of a snail - phone call at 4.10 to say she'd be another hour or two. In the meantime I started clearing all my craft and card making stuff from under the stairs - came across several things I had forgotten about, as well as plenty of cobwebs and several disgruntled spiders.
She eventually turned up at 5.45pm - 2weeks and 14 hours after the flood. I had to sit and tell the story of the great deluge yet again and yet again walk around and point out all the damage.
We agreed a figure for some of the damaged articles - some will be replaced directly by a supply company - I have to get an estimate for a new bed and count up the cost of the books ruined so they can give the money for those as well.
At last we can get rid of the smelly carpets, though we've got to keep a sample of each for yet another inspection to 'assess the quality'. Too tired to think about ripping up carpets now so it's left for tomorrow.
Go out shopping in the evening - a major item on the list was washing capsules - I've gone through a whole month's supply in less than a week after having to wash all the sheets and things soaked in the flood.

Catch up

Wednesday, Thursday & Friday blur into each other. Busy, busy, busy. Wednesday: back to rugby training after work, same on Thursday. Tried to move things but quite honestly I'm feeling really exhausted these past few days and wake up every morning feeling as if I've run a marathon.
Friday I decide to get a grip and decide to move Louis' beloved Encyclopaedia Brittanica - this is not the small PC disc version but a whole length-of-the-wall set of heavy leather bound books. Boy, did I feel tired after that! They took up 3 very large boxes. Ironically the study wasn't affected by the flood but, because the loft access hatch is in there, and the loft flooring needs to be replaced, we've got to clear the room - easier said than done I can assure you.

Tuesday

Woke up feeling really tired. I never seem to stop since the great deluge - when I'm not at work I am clearing up or packing stuff away, as well as worrying about the next few months.
The loss adjustor for the building insurance (Davies) came this morning. Still waiting for the loss adjustor for contents (Crawfords).
Mike asked me about the flood and then we walked around the house. He wrote down lots of details and said the next step is for Chemdry to come back and dry the place out before any rebuilding work can start. It looks like I am going to get a new kitchen!!! As they say, every cloud has a silver lining. I wish Mum was still alive to see the finished article - she always used to say it was a shame we couldn't afford to get the kitchen done up properly. I think she was looking down on us when the water came down - the doll's house and Kumari's special books were all on the landing but just missed getting wet.
Mike also said that we should just rip up the carpets in the dining room and on the landing and stairs and throw them out into the garden. I told him that Crawfords had told us not to do anything until they had seen the damage - he said in that case they should have come sooner! He said the wet carpets were holding up the drying process and so he would speak to Crawfords if they gave us any trouble. I like this man.
He asked if we had anywhere to go during the worst of the work - I explained the somewhat complicated arrangements we were making in order to make life easier for the dogs and enable us tolook after the ducks and chickens also. He said to keep in touch and contact him if we needed anything. It's nice to feel that we have someone to turn to for advice.

Looking for stuff

As I mentioned earlier we have to remember where we put stuff - Kumari is coaching rugby after school tomorrow so needs training gear - took us ages to find her stuff (still can't find the right training bottoms though).

Monday

Came home from work to meet guy from building firm that has been asked to look at work. He had a good look round and took photos, measured rooms etc. He said there's not too much structural damage but lots of cosmetic work to be done but they can't do anything until:
a) the loss adjustor gives the go ahead
b) Chemdry issue a certificate to say the house is dry
Meeting the loss adjustor from Davies (building) tomorrow.

Sunday

Not much to report. Carried on packing books etc into boxes to clear the landing and dining room. Starting to run out of space to move things to. Also got to keep in mind where we put things as we may need some of the things we are moving in the near future.

Slight hitch -Penny popped over to say that they have a booking for the half term weekend. She offered Kumari the use of an en-suite bedroom in the main house whenever she needs it when we can't use the cottage - it's great to have such caring neighbours. Richard later phones and offers us rooms at his place as well.
Packed away some more books from the landing - luckily the great deluge just missed the bookcase with Kumari's favourite books. I am sure we have more books than the local library.

Saturday

Had a lie in - bit of a difference to last Saturday! House is still smelly even though I am burning incense sticks all over the place. Made emergency trip to Staples last night to buy boxes. Moved all the files from the filing cabinets into a plastic box. Even though the house is trashed and loads of stuff has been ruined it could have been a lot worse. All the papers in the filing cabinet were dry.
Went over the road to speak to John and Penny - insurance man we spoke to last night said we can arrange somewhere to stay and they will sort out money. The cottage is available (their son Tony is staying there temporarily but he will move into the chapel with John and Penny - he's only staying there until his flat is decorated) so this means we can sleep there when necessary and still look after the animals plus the dogs won't have to go into kennels. This is a great relief.

Friday

Sometimes I feel like SCREAMING. The people from Crawfords are the most annoying, condescending, unhelpful and rude people I am currently dealing with. After waiting for phone calls ('we'll get back to you within the hour') that never came, I speak to a really irritating woman who, when I tell her that we are living in dire conditions and I am worried about my daughter's health, says 'that's not my problem'. Louis phones from work and I tell him (between tears of frustration) what is (or not) happening. He has had enough and phones our insurance broker Joan to say we wish to complain about Crawfords. She's appalled and promises to look into matters. Louis soon gets a call from Zurich, who are the actual insurers for the building and they promise to give the go-ahead for the work - apparently the person who took the initial call mistakenly put it down as a small leak! They have just been informed by the Chemdry man that it is a major problem that needs sorting asap. I then receive three phone calls within an hour with the promise of action. We are given the go-ahead to find alternative accommodation when we need it. If only Crawfords were so efficient.

Thursday

Get home from work to find Chemdry there (Louis had got home before me to meet them). There are two of them and one is walking round with a little gadget to detect moisture (plenty of that here). He does not look too happy. He checks every room. It is worse than we thought - one wall in Kumari's bedroom is 'soaking wet'. He goes up into the loft (not a place for the faint hearted) and it gets worse. He tells us that the boards in the loft will have to be taken up so the lagging can be removed and replaced. He says the ceiling will probably have to come down, maybe the plaster from the walls and most of the woodwork has been damaged. He says this is a major job and asks if anyone knows how bad this is. We tell him of our efforts to get help and he tells us he has taken photographs and a video to confirm the amount of damage. He also points out that there will be asbestos in the ceilings as it is such an old house and the fact that we have had mouse poison in the loft in the past also makes it a health hazard.
He says that when they have the go-ahead they will have to come in with drying equipment to try and dry out the walls - they will have to strip the paper for this. They put a dehumidifier on the landing to try and reduce the humidity - currently 74% - it needs to get to 28%.
We mention Kumari has asthma - they tell us that she cannot stay in the house while the drying is going on - this is not something that we had thought of, but apparently the drying process and dust (and there is always plenty of that at the best of times here - I'm not a natural housewife) will affect her asthma.
After they leave I feel really depressed - up till now I have naively imagined that all we would need would be a decorator and some new carpets and furniture, not major re-building.

Wednesday

Snow has melted but there's still a cold chill in our house. At work my mobile phone was kept busy with me trying to ring both the loss adjustors for the contents - Crawfords and for the building - Davies. After several heated conversations about the lack of progress Crawfords say they will appoint a drying company - the same drying company - Chemdry - who Davies have appointed. They will arrive on tomorrow.
Carried on moving books from the dining room. Discover that most of my best IT books are soaked. Plus my collection of National Enquirers are decidely soggy. Not a good day.

Tuesday

As if life wasn't stressful enough it started snowing again. Went to work. Was expecting to meet loss adjustor for contents from Crawfords at 11am. However she phoned to say she was snowed in and her office would make another appointment. I asked what we were supposed to do in the meantime - she suggested that we take the bed and carpets out ourselves! Pointed out that this was not an option for us as the carpets involved covered the landing, stairs and dining room and there was furniture in all these areas to be moved. I don't think she realises the scale of the problem - she keeps referring to a 'leak' and I keep telling her that the word she is looking for is 'flood' - I feel she is less than sympathetic.
Spend the evening moving part of my vast cookery book collection - mainly safe but one casualty is my copy of Jam Making by the Women's Institute - how ever will I cope without it?

Monday

After taking Kumari to school I hurried home to wait for the electrician (guaranteed to arrive between 8 and 1pm). I waited and waited and waited and then I waited some more. Half past eleven I got a phone call from British Gas to say he was held up and would be arriving between 1 and 5. Ten to five I got a bit nervous so phoned BG - I'm sure the lady who recorded 'your call is very important to us, please hold' is a very nice lady but if I ever meet her I will be sorely tempted..............
Eventually (27 minutes, I counted) I was told that for some unknown reason my appointment had been cancelled! Needless to say I was not very happy and made this quite plain. To be fair the woman I spoke to did agree that this situation was unreasonable and told me that she would put us on the list for an emergency call out. I also got a call from one of the Customer Services Managers who apologised - I know it was not his fault but I did point out that I had taken a days holiday from work for no good reason. The electrician finally arrived at 7pm. He checked everything out and turned the power back on - surprising how much fun we had from turning lights off and on.

Sunday

After church I carried on cleaning and washing - readers: never, ever keep ALL your spare bed sheets, blankets etc in the same place. My poor washing machine is nearly worn out. Plus my super quick drying area (the landing) is now one of the wettest places in Llanddulas so all the damp washing is spread over the other spare bedroom.
After qualifying to run a laundrette I go to bed looking forward to having the electricity turned on tomorrow - candlelight may be considered romantic but I do miss having instant light when I flick a switch.

Saturday

We tried to get some sleep downstairs, covered in what blankets we could find in the dark. It was still freezing and I couldn't sleep for more than a few minutes at a time because I was thinking of all the things that might be ruined.
Louis had been booked to work the Saturday so he had to leave at 8.30. I had a look around in the light - the hall, stairs and landing were completely soaked. The small spare room had had the worst of it - the bed was soaked through - through the mattress, divan base and into the drawers underneath - all the spare bed linen I kept there was literally dripping wet. By a miracle the boxes of special things from when Kumari was a baby that were kept on top of the wardrobe in there were dry - the water had missed the spot by 6". I suddenly realised my wedding dress was stored in one of the drawers under the bed - I was almost too scared to look. I couldn't believe it - I had stuffed a blanket in the drawer the week before as I had nowhere else to store it and it had absorbed all the water and the dress bag was dry!
There had been so much water coming from the loft that it had run through the floor on the landing and in the spare room and soaked the hallway and the dining room underneath - there was at least 2" water on the dining room floor.
Kumari and I had a very miserable day - no water, power or heating on one of the coldest days of the year. The gas hob in the kitchen was covered in mucky water - for some reason the water had run down the cooker hood. We mopped up as much as possible and managed to light one of the rings - luckily we had some soup in the larder so at least we could eat.
3pm - the electrician arrived. I was sitting in my car charging my mobile phone - I was reluctant to get out as it was a damn sight warmer than the house. He was stunned when he saw the damage - he was expecting a drip from the ceiling with a bucket underneath, not a disaster zone. He had to phone his office for advice. He said it was too dangerous to put the power back on to the whole house but after checking around he put power to a sockets in the lounge, playroom (Kumari's sitting room - always known as the playroom since she was little) and the drawing room as those rooms were not affected by water damage. As the boiler was out in the utility area he said we could turn the heating on when the plumber gave the go ahead. He arranged for an electrician to return on Monday to see if full power could be restored.
As he was leaving the plumber arrived - a jolly chap. However he stopped whistling when he saw the damage. He climbed into the loft and I heard him swear under his breath - I said 'what's wrong' and he said (very unconvincingly) 'Oh, nothing'.
He turned the water on to see where the leaks were and said 'it's like a bloody fountain' - there were 2 separate burst pipes apparently. In 20 minutes both were fixed and he bade a cheery goodbye. I put the heating on and got very excited to feel heat.
Kumari decided to sleep in the playroom as there was no power upstairs and the carpets were so wet. Louis and I decided to sleep in the bedroom but every sound made us jump - at one point we heard water dripping and panicked then realised that the small fridge upstairs was defrosting!

The story so far..........

Thursday 7 January 2010 - dreadful weather - snow and absolutely freezing conditions. As has happened before in such weather our water supply cut out. In the past this has been due to the outside tap on the rear patio freezing so we added extra lagging to see if this would help.
Friday 8 Jan - still no water. Using bottled water to drink and cook but no water to shower or wash dishes - both me and the kitchen looking bad now.
11pm - good news - water seems to be back on! Celebrated by having a midnight shower. Went to bed feeling happy (and clean).
4am (Saturday 9 Jan) - Louis wakes me up - 'What's that noise?'
I reach for the light switch for the bedside lamp - 'We've had a power cut - have you got a torch?'
Louis gets up to investigate, while I turn over to go back to sleep.
'Quick, get up and get Kumari up - water's pouring through the ceilings!'
I rush out on to the landing - he wasn't kidding - it's like being under a waterfall - a cold, scary waterfall. I wake Kumari up and tell her to put her school folders and laptop in a plastic bag and get some warm clothes on. We put these and the cameras, handbag and anything else we can grab in my car outside (by this time I was paranoid that the ceilings would collapse as they did in my Mum & Dad's bungalow when that flooded a week after Mum's funeral). 10 minutes later Kumari asks if I've locked the car - 'My whole life is in there!'
In the meantime Louis has rushed outside to turn the water off at the mains - we've never in the 12 years we've been here managed to find a stopcock in the house) - bear in mind here that it is 4.10am and snowing outside and he's wearing his dressing gown.
By torchlight I frantically search for the British Gas insurance papers - at last the money I pay every month will be put to good use. When I phone however I hear the first of many recorded messages - 'Due to the severe weather conditions all our operators are busy. You are in a queue. Please hold'. Louis in the meantime manages to get through to the house insurance people - Zurich. They say they will arrange an emergency plumber. I later arrange for an electrician to come out on my British Gas insurance.
There's nothing we can do but wait. The house is freezing, dark and wet.
More later........