A wall half-finished, a gable end not completed but you have a roof? How does that work I wonder… My running partner needed an extension and chose someone who was recommended. It turned out this, ‘all-round tradesman’ had learned a little brickwork while serving a prison sentence for fraud and so the nightmare began.
After completing half the extension walls he put the roof on. In between time he started digging out the patio, ripped out the bathroom, commenced the loft conversion, removed windows, doors and started replacing drainage. I’m not a gifted intellectual but I do wonder where the plan was. She got rid of him! Enter, Chris and Del two great lads who started on the interior.
But what to do with the exterior walls? We got a quote from two head shaking experts who informed her, ‘the roof has to come off! And it’ll cost £2,400’ So, Charlie had a word with good old Andy, bricklaying lecturer at college and he said. ‘I’ll do it for some beer money.’ two days later it was all done and guess what? We didn’t take the roof off.
He even built a step
Two of her daughters chose a laminate floor, (this is my bit) Lurv fitting those floors, lol.
Of course, you then have the issue of daughter number three who is left with a plain wooden floor and wants something akin to her sisters haha. Well give me some old emulsion paint, a marker pen to imitate the joints and some floor varnish and I am away. I wouldn’t recommend it though. Two days of ‘cutting in’ does kinda get to your shoulders. But the smile on a littles girl’s face was probably worth it 😉
Hurrah now all we need to do is change the neighbour’s garden from a building site to a garden! Did I mention, I quite like laying patios too 😉
So, my dear friends if you book a builder I wouldn’t just take the recommendation of his wife even if she is a work colleague. My running partner (and her three daughters) are happy again. By the way, that is why I missed a blog post last week. x
ek doosare ke prati dayaalu rahen. aap sabhee ko pyaar.
Hey, Charlie, well done! Looks like your running partner made a good choice in you. It feels good to help someone out, doesn’t it?
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It really does, Barbara 😀
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Work looks great.. well done.. 😉
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Thanks, Lisa it’s coming along 😀
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Oh wow! What a great job you did. That floor that’s drawn in. That could be the next big thing.
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Thank you, Angel, think I’ll let someone else take the reins on that haha. Hope your keeping well. 😀
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I wish I could borrow you.
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Haha, I’d like to see the tax man’s face when I put that mileage claim in! 😘
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Very true.
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I’m with Susie.. Do you travel??? Patio needs doing and am sure I could find more little jobs to do; honest…
Hahaha… so good to do something really satisfying; you are definitely excused for causing a little alarm – you are a creature of habit, you know. However, all is well and everyone is happy. Aaaah, life is good, Charlie. Life is good.
Love your postscript –
Be kind to each other. Love you all
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Maybe I could do a world tour? And the Princess is feeling like the cobblers child. But she’s willing to package me up if someone pays the freight 😂😘
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Haha… Great job, Charlie. You’re one in a million..
🤗👏👍
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Nice! You speak Hindi?
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Haha, no it’s just a little tribute via Google translate 😉😀
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Heh. You sly dog.
Jack leg contractors are a menace. I was a personal assistant to a handyman for about a year and my ex-Marine was a carpenter on the side. I’ve seen some incredible messes. Some people should have their hammers taken away.
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Or even remove their ‘tools’ 😂 I popped into college this week to borrow some hole diggers and was telling one of my colleagues and he said, “Don’t touch him the guy is a complete nightmare, we took an apprentice away from him 2 years ago as he was so incompetent.”
But as the song goes, ‘Don’t look, Ethel but it was too late, she’d already got an eyeful.’ 😂😂😂
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LOL!
Oh my lord…did a Yorkshireman just quote Ray Stevens?
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😂😂 there he goes- Boogedan, boogedan 😉
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And, he ain’t wearin’ no clothes…🤣
Awesome! I can hear the whistle, now. 😁
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😂😂
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Great work Charlie-boy! There’s some good karma coming your way.
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Thank you, Pete. I hope so but my back isn’t feeling it 😂😂
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Yikes, what a bloody headache. You did good getting this all sorted, and cheers to the helpful guy that sorted the problem without removing the roof, all for beer money. Amazing job with the flooring too. You know, I hate the carpet in my bedroom and have always wanted laminate. Fancy doing mine by any chance? 😉
We had a bad experience last year with some plumbers who buggered up what I thought was a super simple job of replacing a bathroom sink tap. Took me months of complaints then dealings with the bank to get the money back. After digging, and linking this guy to a dodgy outfit, I uncovered we weren’t the only ones who’d been mucked around. It pays to investigate a little more before hiring someone but it’s not always that simple, especially when someone comes recommended. I hope this delightful moron gets another prison stint soon to remind him not to be such an arsehole!
Caz xx
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Haha, laminate floors are easy, Caz. If I had the time I would 😉
No, offence to plumbers but I’m not keen on them haha. How do you bugger up a sink tap change?
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Easily apparently. Water didn’t flow out when you turned it on, they said they would come back out to rectify it.. three days of saying they’d turn up and not, they eventually call and speak to my mother and say “it’s not our fucking problem, it’s your tap”. Took me months of complaints then doing a chargeback through Barclays to get the money back. Turns out the company has different names and has featured on the BBC before for being dodgy! This is why I always check who we use beforehand, but this was the one time my folks called them out of the blue when I was in hospital, so I didn’t have the chance to stop them! 😂
So it’s just a matter of you not having the time… okay, I can wait for me new laminate floors, Charlie!
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Unbelievable!! Your poor parents, I wish there was a way of banning these people from ever working in construction. The last time I did any work in a girl’s bedroom, I married her 😂😂🙏
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Well done man. You owe a salute 😍
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Thank you, Jimmy
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Great job Charlie.
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This is so well written!❣❣
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Thank you 😀
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Well done. I used to have a mate who did all our odd jobs but since he retired we haven’t been able to find anyone. They either don’t want the small jobs or they want an arm and a leg. One of us, not saying who, took on someone to do a job using oner of those websites which promises reliable tradesmen. She paid him up front, he did a shoddy job which he didn’t quite finish and he disappeared. I pointed out that if she’d waited for me to do it I could have done a shoddy job that wasn’t quite finished and it would have been free of charge. 🙂
I blame the education system – too many media degrees and not enough City & Guilds.
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You do have a unique way of telling a story of woe with great humour, love it. Yes they did go through a stage after Thatcher and Blair when they started encouraging kids to not go to Uni. Now they’re encouraging apprenticeships but by offering employers money?? In schools they’ve stopped metal work and wood work to do Technology which is basically glueing MDF together. Huh! 😂
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My kids did quite a lot of work on a course called IT. I thought they would be taught to build websites, but it was all about adjusting your seat and avoiding RSI.
For that they had to cut history out.
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What a disaster and you and your friends sorted it! Well done. You can never know with builders etc unless its a really personal recommendation and you’ve seen the work!
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Wonderful job ,well done !
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Thank you, there’s more to come lol 😀
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Ahh, this must of been frustrating in the beginning. Looks like everything ended much better.
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Yes, thank you. Now we wait to see what Trading Standards come with 😉
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