Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Time to make lemonade

Current work: revisions (still!)
Listening to: Corelli
Reading: Ariana Franklin, Relics of the Dead (great pacing – absolute PTQ)

Yesterday was a really stressy day. Two years ago, we had a problem with a leak that involved months of having a dehumidifier running, my new (and expensive) kitchen floor ripped up, and eventually the floor dug up and replaced (because it just wouldn’t dry). The plaster dust and disruption and noise were unbelievable. I hated living with bare concrete floors for months. Add in the rainy season and a dog – and the fact we couldn’t wash the concrete because we were trying to get moisture out, not in… (Am just glad he didn’t do what he did the other day!) I hated having such unhygienic living conditions.

So. Yesterday morning, I noticed that the flooring in the downstairs loo had gone all bubbly – just like it did two years ago when we discovered the leak. And in exactly the same place. Was this another leak making its presence known? Or was the floor (or the latex covering over the concrete) not properly dry before the vinyl flooring was laid, despite the dehumidifiers and the drying certificate? Rang insurance company: please can someone come out to take a look and tell me if there’s a leak? The engineer was a really lovely guy; he checked the water meter and listened for leaks, and there was no sign of one. His view was that the floor probably wasn’t dry (and the amount of glue used probably wasn’t helpful either – hmm, didn’t think you were supposed to glue vinyl because it needs to move, and we discovered that this was incredibly glued down). Anyway, the main thing is that there isn’t a leak or any kind of moisture there, so I can stop panicking that we’re going to have a repeat of 2008. Just a matter of taking up the vinyl and talking to someone about new vinyl (probably to the people who did our carpets, because we were pleased with the job they did and they were nice).

There are a few other things stacking up at the moment; however, they’re not fixable, so am not going to drone on about it. (Those of you to whom I have droned on... thank you for listening!) Time, methinks, to make lemonade.

4 comments:

Jan Jones said...

Fingers crossed, Kate!

Unknown said...

I can't believe it is 2 years since you had that problem. It's scary where time goes. So glad this is not a repeat.

Nell Dixon said...

Sending you a big hug

Lacey Devlin said...

Sooo glad there wasn't another leak. I was getting panicky myself. I can't say I'd take having to put down new vinyl so soon as well as you have though :)