At least, when the plumber had finished there was a WC, bath and wash basin, and a rickety trestle table with a plumbed-in kitchen sink.
On day 3 I was told the radiators would be removed....oh, no, the electrician would be coming to rewire...oh, no. The rewiring and radiator replacement were postponed until next week. This is the stage I'm dreading. Already, stuff that normally sits in draws and cupboards has been piled up wherever it could go. Now I'll have to move the entire contents of the flat away from the walls and radiators so the workers can get access. My big question is where to....
There'll be additions to this post as the work continues so that other tenants can get an idea of the noise, dust and disruption. If you have any questions about the work (I'm in for the full works - kitchen, bathroom, toilet, radiators, rewiring) and how it's likely to progress, please comment below or email the blog.
All I can say is the amount of chaos and the feeling of being squeezed into the smallest remaining space is far beyond anything I'd imagined. You have been warned...
Week 2:
A plumber turned up to put new radiators in today but he had the wrong size radiator for the bedroom. And he couldn't touch the boiler because the flue housing was asbestos so the asbestos team would have to be flown in. Of course, it isn't asbestos but that's the way it goes - they're not going to touch it. So, one radiator down, one boiler down, one flue and flue casing to be replaced. Tomorrow for the asbestos team, Wednesday for the right radiator. And when they signed off, there was no heating or hot water. I had to go down and back up the 67 stairs to find someone in the Mitie office to send the plumber back. Who arrived and found the airlock that was stopping it from working. Curious, really. You'd think they'd check the heating and water before leaving for the day, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you check whether it worked?
Coming up for week 3
Almost finished? Not quite. The walls have been plastered and that's about it, really. The electrician, who disappeared at some point on his first day, has not been seen since. The radiator guy got another electrician to set the rheostat, which doesn't work. I've had to switch the heating off entirely because even set to the lowest temperature the boiler pumps hot water around the flat non-stop. The missing radiator has not been installed.
17/6
Oh, that reassurance they will reconnect the oven at the end of the day. They do, they do, they do, and then they don't. By which time they've all disappeared. Total lack of respect.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGuess we should all be grateful, but you're right about communications. No one told me they'd be doing rewiring and radiators as well. And I'd like to know why they chose to do all the works at once so that your flat is a bombsite for almost a month. Guess all the plumbing is linked so they couldn't do your kitchen one month and your toilet the next etc?
ReplyDeleteAt the moment they're working on six flats at once on one side of my block, and the noise is unbearable. I hear some people have refused to have the work done. Didn't know you could do that.
Haha censored.... I only asked if you were in any way grateful for the work being done.. seems like that's not allowed lol so I guess the answer is a no then .... ? Go on just a smidgeon of positivity to leaven the glum moaning?
ReplyDeleteAnd don't get me wrong I'll be moaning like a trooper when they do mine...And my sleeps already bugged by nine o'clock hammering. But hey... nice new kitchen yay lol see it's easy
You were censored because you were just too darned censorious yourself. Glad to hear you have finally found empathy.
DeleteHow ungrateful. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteWhat still? Only Leaseholders could be jealous of the 10 figure sums being spent on individual flats here.
DeleteAnonymous, you can only be grateful for being a council house tenant when the government is doing its best to abolish social housing. Being in receipt of such a priviledge doesn't mean you can't complain when you're treated like shit.
ReplyDeleteI doubt you've really been treated like shit. Think about all the people who actually don't have anywhere to sleep and would kill for a flat on your wannabe something-that-it-isnt estate. Jesus wept. When decent homes happened on my estate it was messy, dusty, and yes at times full of tension but the end product was surprise surprise a decent home. If you thought yours was of a decent standard then why not refuse the works.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever come home to find that a Mitie employee found himself in need of an extension lead so instead of getting his own one, takes my one and leaves the fridge freezer, now in the living room, and phone unplugged? Then returns it covered in wet plaster. As I had no access to phone, kitchen, internet, etc. I had to go out to eat. Coming back, I found an official letter on the public balcony outside when it had been in the living room. When I asked what the fuck it was doing outside, it appears that the same twunt had needed my address for a boiler flue test and, instead of returning it to the living room, left it out on the balcony. Had casual racism addressed to me by a workman about his own colleagues.
DeleteNow, apart from the legality of removing someone else's post from inside their flat, the dumping it outside was a mark of total disrespect for the tenant. Would you let a twunt like that into your flat again?
First of all, Anonymous, this is a blog. Not an official record, but a means to record human feelings and reactions to stuff happening to them that they have no recourse to otherwise.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, this is property owned by a landlord, in this case, Lewisham Homes aka Lewisham Council. There is indeed great advantage for the tenant to have their home refurbished to decent standards, as long as those tenants continue to live here. Those standards are not luxury BTW but whatever is best lo-cost, and any improvements tenants might have made to their homes to make them their own have to go if they choose to upgrade (and many don't even know they have a choice).
But mainly, the refurbishment increases the value of the STOCK that the council owns, just as any home owner knows their property is worth more if they've upgraded it.
This is STOCK that Lewisham Council plans to sell off to a new version of Lewisham Homes that will operate completely independently of the Council, so that it can borrow more money than it otherwise could to build more homes. Unfortunately this is waste of money, as long as the government can encourage those in their new homes to buy them after five years at a £100K discount.
This is what the government are doing now, two flyers through the door in one week from the Department for Communities and Local Government. BUY YOUR FLAT. Of course the irony is that anyone who can afford to buy their flat at £80K (assuming the additional and full £100K discount) shouldn't be in council housing. The story is much more complex than your response imagines.
The blogger above has been living here for over 30 years in a flat that was once hard to let. That was when it was possible to just find a "roof over your head", if you knew where to go. Crossfields served as a roof over the head for some years before it was refurbished 17 years ago.
Marmoset has shared his home over this time but now finds himself alone, subjected to Bedroom Tax, having arrived at an age that is pre-pension but beyond employment. So all the improvements made to his flat are not for him, since he will have to MOVE OUT.
They are about maintaining the STOCK.
DO YOU GET IT?
So criticism isn't allowed on this blog? Interesting....
ReplyDeleteTake that up with the person who deleted it. Or speak to me and I'll explain in person.
DeleteEmail Katie.macleod@mitie.com to complain. Nothing will happen of course but you'll feel in control for an afternoon.
ReplyDeleteIs it finished yet? Maybe you'll be happier when you have a nice new everything? Lets hope so.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's now finished. Though the last time the central heating was tested it flooded the toilet and hallway, but it's hardly the time of year to be testing it again.
DeleteThe principle feeling is one of immense relief that my home is no longer a free-for-all zone for strangers. I can now shut my door and keep it shut.