An Absolute Nightmare. And A Blessing In Disguise?
Step into my parlour.. and please don’t forget to wipe your feet.
The sand blasting man is back. To take the black paint off the beams and the fireplace and the red paint off the floor.
Yesterday did not start well. Not when, even before breakfast, one is faced with a choice between two equally undesirable scenarios. The dust and airborne sand created by the blasting has to be expelled from the room so the man’s eyes, already compromised by his heavy protective helmet, can penetrate the gloom and focus on the task at hand. So, do we point his extractor fan out of the sitting door and plunge the hedychium, the turk’s cap lilies (freshly in bloom) and all else on the terraces into the maelstrom from hell? Or do we position it adjacent to the side window and line up the crosshairs on Acer ‘Ozakasuki’? There may have been words which, given that you’ll possibly be reading this ahead of the 9.00 p.m. watershed, really don’t bear repeating.
With a heavy heart, even heavier than will likely result from a certain leadership election later on today, I opted for the Acer. On the basis that it was just that little bit farther away. Perhaps far enough to dissipate some of the force.
The sand hopper. Which also, conveniently, expels air under pressure. Mike’s makeshift defences protect the face of the bank from the imminent onslaught.
So could the day get any worse? Well of course it could.
The gardener, the somewhat Grumpy Gardener by this point it has to be said, retreats to the weeding on the Precipitous Bank. After less than a minute she is forced to relocate her position having been overcome by dust even though she was around the corner and some way back from the blasted blasting man’s fan.
Footsteps on the path. The blasting man has emerged from the sitting room and now has his head buried deep within the workings of his air compressor. Mike, being as we know fascinated by anything mechanical, goes to assist. The blasting man’s head is first to emerge. “Looks like she’s overheating.. we’d better let ‘er cool down a bit.” I don’t think he was referring to me.
A layer of fine sand settles quietly across the valley and for a blissful moment all is calm.
Until…
“FIRE…!!!!!”
The blasting man grabs the first useful thing to hand.. my two gallon watering can. Mike unravels the hose as I run with the business end of it up the path, past the sand hopper and onwards toward the compressor parked some distance away on the drive. Flames flicker up from inside the machine. Seconds later, mercifully, the fire is out. The watering can was enough. But that marks the end of sand blasting for the day.
After the gathering together of hoses and other assorted bits of kit it is some minutes before we can venture back inside the house. Later still to go upstairs to the bedroom, the room directly above blasting ground zero. Of course we knew the bedroom was vulnerable. The spaces between the floorboards are up to a centimetre wide. In places in the sitting room the ceiling has been removed although the builders had done their best to cover the gaps with hardboard. We’d laid heavy duty dust sheets on the bedroom floor and weighed them down as best we could. It wasn’t enough.
The sand has found its way through. In places the spray pattern up the bedroom wall reaches two feet or more above the boards.
The unexpected hiatus in proceedings may have turned out to be a godsend. He’d only been blasting half an hour or so before the compressor met its demise. I can scarcely imagine what would have happened if it had carried on all day. As it turned out we’ve had a bed for the night and the opportunity for another trip to B&Q. Defences have been bolstered. There may now be a national shortage of masking tape. Better import more before the trade barriers go up. That and dust sheets..
And so it all resumes later on today. With the benefit of a new compressor.
Wish us luck.
Oh crikey. That IS drastic, and a situation that would have reduced me to tears – poor plants, and poor you!! I hope that the second onslaught sees the job finished. Good luck! x
Well the job is done but, oh my, the mess. We have spent most of today shovelling sand!
Oh my goodness! And in this heat. Good luck – I hope your strengthened defences hold up. (I think today might be one of Those Days in history. I can’t help but feel an impending sense of doom…)
It hasn’t been as hot down here as for you but it still couldn’t have been that pleasant inside the protective helmet. Not a job I would have liked one bit.
Perhaps there is a B&B nearby? Better yet, a hotel with a/c? No, I know. Just another expense. You poor dears…in more ways than one. Best of luck on today’s blasting. Have the fire hose nearby.
It nearly came to the B&B. It would have done if the mess in the bedroom had been any worse.
Oh crikey! Had to laugh at your description – I think the heat made me a grumpy old woman (plus lack of sleep from noisy early bird clanking in the kitchen at 5am) so I really understood you so well! There is light at the end of the tunnel – we won’t mention gaps oops too late! Breathe girl, breathe! It will look fantastic – keep the dream in focus! xx
I am hoping with this job done we have started to turn a corner. The builders had more or less got as far as they could pre blasting. So now, hopefully, we can get on to the next phase.
Oh my goodness that all sounds very stressful. Hope you get sorted and blasting man can continue to create dust and mayhem.
It’s not been the easiest couple of days but it feels good to get it done. Even if it has left us with a whole house under a layer of dust. And there was me thinking this project, two interconnecting rooms with a separate ‘builders’ entrance’ would be self contained. Dream on girl.
Our bit of a bathroom update seems east peasy compared to all this.
Bathrooms are always the worst. I still haven’t forgotten the trauma of doing ours. I don’t envy you one bit.
Oh my, that sounds just unbearable. You are deep in the middle of this renovation so all there is , is to go forward. I do hope you are staying somewhere else??
No, we’re still living in the house. Although it did get close on Monday. If he hadn’t stopped when he did it would likely have been a B&B for the night.
I’ve been following your latest developments and I hope you get sorted soon. It all sounds horrendous especially the sand and overheating machine – a good thing that you had a water source standing by. We’ve had our fair share of similar projects and I thought Mr P was slowing down. However, he has another garden layout project on the go now that he’s back from Italy! Thankfully grandson is on hand at the moment to help out again. It’s extremely hot here today so
ready with plenty of iced water and a bottle of home made white wine in the fridge for Mr P for when they need a break from gardening.Take care, especially if doing a retreat onto the Precipitous Bank!
A bottle of home made wine sounds like a very special treat! We were sitting outside last night as it got dark with a much needed glass and watching the bats flitting around. It was very pleasant indeed and just what we needed. Please take care tomorrow, I gather it is going to be even warmer. The heavy work can always wait a day, neither of you need overdo it.
Well I think that I’ve got problems but they are absolutely minuscule in comparison with yours. Good luck and may the force be with you both.
Ha! I could certainly do with a little of that force at the moment and not the sort that comes out of a sand blaster.
Making me think twice about my dream of refurbing an ancient home one day! 🙁 I’m sorry you’re facing such a struggle!
It got worse before it got better, I don’t think I will ever look at sand in quite the same way again. But it’s done. Onwards!
One day it will be finished…. honestly! X
I can’t wait!
Oh my. How on earth do you keep going through all this? I know your vision of what it will be when finished but the route has been a messy one to put it mildly!
Hopefully some rain tonight will wash the dust from your plants, but presumably sand blasting will have to start again some time.
The bank on the sitting room side of the house has turned white. We had some rain last night but now need more because the dust has gone all streaky. The black phormium is now variegated!
Oh my, more challenges, not sure how you are keeping sane with all that is going on.
That’s probably the biggest challenge!
Okay, you just helped put things in perspective for me! My dust and collateral plant damage have nothing on yours. This weekend I accepted that large sections of my back garden may need to be replanted when all the work is done – if I’m very, very lucky that’ll be during our cool season, the safest time to plant. See, I’m learning from you to look for the positive angles. Best wishes on your mission to corner the market on masking tape.
It was far worse than I’d anticipated by the time the job was done. I walked into Mike’s study at one point during the proceedings and didn’t just see dust in the air, there were literally clouds of dust in the air. We thought the carpet in there would provide enough of a barrier from the blasting beneath. But no chance.
I’m sorry to hear about the replanting. It is of course an ideal excuse for the retail therapy that you’ll be needing in abundance by the time we get into winter. But seeing your long term favourites squashed or smothered is no joke at all. That I know only too well.
Oh no Jessica! Think that a very large g and t is required! Camping in your own house is only fun for so long…on the other hand, fabulous time to host an impromptu party invite everyone and basically put out packets of crisps and cold beers and wine. No one can possibly expect your house to be pristine or indeed for you to prep anything under these circumstances and your hospitality bank account will be full for months. (People might even turn up with care packages for you afterwards – never turn down a gift lasagne).
What an excellent idea! Although when guests see the amount of sand we currently have occupying the premises it might be a gift camel. I’m wondering if I could possibly bottle the sand and sell it..
Dear Lord!!!! You have my heartfelt sympathies….hopefully the blasting man is done and you are brushing, hoovering, mopping up! And here’s me thinking my life is complicated. Hang on in there….soon all will be well, and btw, only nightmarish stories last the test of time. This renovation will be re-told many a time…..down the line!!!xxx
Brushing, hoovering and mopping up for England! The nightmarish stories are also the ones which remain around to haunt you for ever and a day. I am wondering at this point if I can ever do a renovation project again. Each one is worse than the last.
Good luck for next time …
Thank you. It was much needed!
Wish I lived closer. I’d bring you ice cream…make that gin.
Gin. Definitely the gin.
Sending hearty sympathy – I would have been finished off at step 1! Hope the next round goes better!
It would be foolhardy to say that we’re over the worst but this is something of a turning point. Just one bit of demolition left (the ceilings) before we can start putting everything back together again.
Oh my. The chaos continues. At least the new bathroom is safe. It’s safe, right?
Good Luck!
It is safe. So far. Somehow the dust got in. How/where I have no idea because it’s fully tiled? I was on my hands and knees at 9.00 p.m. last night cleaning it sufficiently to have a shower this morning.
We used to sand blast all of the structural steel work, and pretty much everything else, before painting when I worked on a mine in Namibia. The thought of having that in my house makes the blood run cold. it is incredibly noisy, dusty and chaotic. In my day the sand blaster had an assistant who shovelled the sand into the hopper to keep things running. Is this now automatic or was their an appi (apprentice to you) frantically shovelling sand and ignoring the conflagration?
Possibly if you bought two fence posts, hammered them in and then used some chipboard as a defensive shield you could protect the acer?
Anyway it is jolly hot and I am off to Wells market to see if there are any mackerel for the bar-b-q.
Having seen the rooms after the blasting was finished my first thought was Kolmanskop.
Yes, blasting is all of those things and the dust gets into every nook and cranny, even the ones you thought impenetrable. It will be months before it’s all gone. The next job is to take down the rest of the ceilings and no doubt even more sand will come down along with those.
No appi. The chap just took a break every hour or so and refilled the hopper with bags of sand. Presumably no shortage of sand in the Namib.
Enjoy the mackerel. And a nice glass of something to go with it.
Honestly, you couldn’t make it up, could you?
Truth is stranger than fiction, isn’t that what they say? Something in that.
I do wish you luck. Failing that, would you like to borrow our new Dyson?
I wouldn’t dream of it, especially given the state I’d have to hand it back in. I’m not even daring to use my old in the tooth Dyson. I fear it would take one look at the scale of the challenge, turn up its motorised brush head and drop dead on the spot.
I have only had a wall knocked down between two rooms and the dust was unbelievable then and managed to escape our valiant attempts to contain it to cover everything within a two mile radius (ok maybe thats slight exaggeration but thats what it felt like at the time!) so I feel your pain and then some! Not to mention your heavy heart and the ridiculous vote result last night too. We are doomed and I don’t think a watering can of water will fix this fine mess!
That doesn’t feel like a slight exaggeration at all. It feels pretty much spot on!
I was afraid the fire was in the house, so I am relieved on that score. I thought I’d had dust during remodeling projects, but nothing like this. Nothing to do but weed and zone out.
Wait till you see the next post.. it will take months to rid ourselves of the dust.
And the bank has turned white. With the addition of a sprinkling of rain last night it’s all now streaked and I have variegated plants whether I like it or not!
Heavens! I”m surprised the “fire” wasn’t you self-combusting!! Thank goodness it didn’t set foliage alight! (Got to look on the bright side …. !) I think you two deserve a holiday – a cruise, where everything is done for you. You certainly have a mammoth undertaking there.
It come close to self combustion I can tell you. This project has been the worst so far, without a doubt. And that’s without the landscaping work, of which more next week.
What a lot of drama you are having ….dust and now rain, and now new prime minister…what a week!
The decision to push on and get a few projects done in one go may have been a little optimistic. Any one of them would be taxing enough on its own. Plenty to distract the mind from the ramifications of this new Prime Minister.
Terrifying. Oh goodness, I couldn’t cope with all that dust. It makes me feel wheezy just reading about it.
It got worse. Much, much worse.. Sand blasting is something you should never ever do while living in a house.
Thank goodness for small mercies, and knackered sandblasters.
As for the dust, the sad truth of renovations, rebuilding or whatever we’re mad enough to decide to do on the house, there is no stopping it, ever.
The new neighbours who bought Danny’s house lived on the drive for six months in their motorhome whilst the entire house was gutted and refurbished. I know it was hard for them but this sounds much harder on you. xx
If you have a motorhome that is undoubtedly the best way to do it. As is gutting the house and doing the renovation all in one go. I probably wouldn’t do it this way again but at the time we couldn’t afford to rent and do the renovation on this place, hence the decision to live in it and do it room by room. The trouble now is that we risk damaging what we have already done with each new project.
You didn’t expect it to be straight forward, did you…? 😉
Such is the way of the eternal optimist. Hope over experience, every time.