I've cried and cried today - please tell me I've reached the nadir and the only way is up...

[Dottydot]

OK, furniture being moved into our new house on Monday afternoon.

We've spent 5 months having structural work done on it, living with my Mum and about a month of sanding/filling/painting non stop in shifts as the whole place was gutted. We're exhausted and tonight/tomorrow is the last push to complete.

But, we still have no electricity downstairs due to BASTARD ELECTRICIAN who we foolishly paid up front (first mistake - lesson learned), so therefore no fridge, no anything downstairs.

We also have no gas due to gas leak discovered today by lovely plumber who had come to test it all.

Lovely plumber had tested it 2 weeks ago and it was fine, so we reckon the BASTARD ELECTRICIAN must have damaged a bit of a pipe. So lovely plumber needs to come back this week to fix.

So no gas hob, hot water and it's a good job it's summer.

Lovely plumber also discovered no-one has put a waste pipe to the washing machine, so no washing machine - not that that matters at the moment, as no electricity.

Aaaaarrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhhh...

It was all supposed to be finished by today - we were supposed to be relaxing/doing final cleaning tomorrow. Instead we're wondering when we'll ever be able to move in.

Phew! Good to type all that out. e-tears!

[Dottydot]

Awwww - we have wonderful, wonderful friends. I had arranged for our friends + 7 children to come round tomorrow afternoon (this was when it was all supposed to have been done) to help put Ikea furniture together and have a generally good time.

Now am depressed and everything's rubbish - phoned friends and one of them's having ds's for the afternoon and lending me her dh The other one is sending her dh to the other friend's with their children and she's coming to help

They're fab and it means tomorrow afternoon there'll be 3 of us putting stuff together and getting the house a bit more ship shape.

And who needs electricity and gas?!

[Wassup]

omg poor you!

nearly there now!

(we are having stuff done to the house and it's bloody stressful so I sympathise hugely! Also the cost )

[Dottydot]

I know - didn't dare ask the plumber today how much it'll cost to fit a new gas pipe, re-test it etc... Hadn't factored that in at all and we're down to pennies now. Blardy nightmare.

[Wassup]

I think it's the stuff at the end (where you are now) that is so frustrating. You just want it DONE and it takes so much organising etc.

[Dottydot]

Yes - and I feel we've put all our energies into it (literally - we're walking zombies at the moment) and the people we're paying to work on the house are treating us like crap - not turning up, not letting us know, not finishing jobs Am running out of time/energy/sense of humour

[Wassup]

I don't think you should underestimate the stress of it tbh!

someone sat me down last week because I was v v v stressed and pointed out to me that I had minimised the impact of the building work on me and dh - it is very traumatic. All the workmen in the house, never getting any peace and quiet, never feeling like you're settled because there's always stuff to do... and on and on and on....

I hope you can find an electrician. Are you in London by any chance? We have a good one but I don't know if he travels (can ask).

[Dottydot]

awww - thanks, but we're in Manchester!

Yes, it's been a lot more stressful than we imagined. If everything had gone to plan it would have been fine (famous last words) but having no experience of renovating a house, I'd completely underestimated how many things can go wrong and how easy people seem to find it to let you down...

Still, will never do it again - will live and die in this house

[Wassup]

lol dotty

now in a year's time when you're browsing property sites and asking on mumsnet about different areas, I shall remember that post

[Dottydot]

Never!!! If we ever have any money there's enough space to have an extension - and if we don't (way more likely!) it's kind of big enough to do us forever - as long as the boys share a room until they move out

I might take some photos of it tomorrow to cheer myself up - it really does look amazing compared to when we bought it - all orange swirly carpets and patterned wallpaper has been removed and we've knocked through the back two rooms to create big family room.

It'll be lovely once we can live in it.....

[Wassup]

yes, you must take photos.

I think you've done very well doing it right at the start. We made the mistake of moving in and then both of us going back to work and we've lived in this shithole house for about 5 years. It really was in a dreadful state with carpet in the bathroom and woodchip wallpaper and bare plastered walls with holes that went back to the brick. I have photos of what it looked like before and can't wait to take some of it done up nicely. However, we still haven't done any of the floors and they all need to be done. I told dh yesterday that we should get them done right now while all the furniture is stacked up but all four of us are sleeping on a mattress on the floor at the moment (as painters in the other bedroom) and I'm not sure how much longer we can do that!!

Sounds like you should get a lot done tomorrow. Take some piccies and put them on here!

[Wassup]

I think a big family room is divine too. Does it go out onto the garden/yard?

[JackieNo]

Oh Dottydot - poor you. Sounds very stressful, but glad your friends have rallied round to help. Hope it all gets sorted soon.

[Dottydot]

Thanks - it's good to get some of it out!

No, at the moment there's a side door, but the plan is to start saving and hopefully get french doors out onto the garden next year. The main reason we bought the house was because it's got a huge big wonderful garden - over 100ft long with trees and lots of beautiful bushes and plants - it really is gorgeous and where we are, not many houses have gardens that big. But the house was a wreck!!

So, next year, with french windows, it'll be perfect!

Still, it has huge big windows overlooking it and a tiny concreted (not posh enough to be a patio!) bit where we've put a table and chairs so we can have tea outside.

And it's South facing

[Dottydot]

Wassup - how are you managing all being on a mattress on the floor ?? You poor thing.

Dp and I have been on a 3/4 bed settee for 5 months, in a corner of a v small room and it's been driving me BONKERS. We've put blankets and sleeping bags under the v. thin mattress but our backs are knackered in

Can't wait to s t r e a c h out on our queen size bed later this week (plumber and electrician willing...).

[Amphibimum]

oh dotty, i have huge amounts of em,pathy.
this time last year, my dad and brothers and cousin (all builders and plumbers) were camping in the garden (in non-stop torrential rain) while working 7 days a week for 9 weeks to try to rectify the mistakes of and finish the job of the cowboy builder who we entrusted 18months, all my heart and soul, and about 300% of the original budget to, to do the job. badly.

damn near sent both dp and i over the edge. so HUGE sympathies from me

[Shitemum]

Can sympathise as we have waited 4.5 years to get planning permission to do up our house and suffered over a year of major building work. We were hoping to move in this month but there is still endless paperwork to be done and no glass in windows yet...or toilets in place.

At least we havent been living in it while the work was being done...in fact we haven't been able to live in it since we bought it in 2002 and have been paying rent and mortgage all that time. It's cost us so much to do up that the building loan plus the mortgage is going to be more than the combined rent and mortgage up to now. Am seriously worried we will not be able to meet the payments this winter.

What is the point? What have we let ourselves in for?

[Wassup]

thankfully, the mattress is very good. And the kids absolutely love being in with us (grrr)! I often wake up to find an arm poking me in the head. Dh is very annoyed by it all though, mainly because we have less opportunity to err get up to any jiggy jiggy with the kids right next to us so he's getting frustrated. I must admit (shhh) I've quite liked having the children so close, especially as I'm at work all day so don't see them much though I CAN'T WAIT to have my own room back. The bedrooms should be sorted by the end of this weekend (though not with the floors being done, sigh!).

You see, we've only been like this (all together on the floor) for about 2 weeks. 5 months like that dotty and I think there may have been murders!

[Dottydot]

God we're all in the crap aren't we?! And I know it's awful but I'm taking some heart from the fact that I'm not the only one

Just can't get over what gits eletricians/builders/plasterers are. They take on a job, start it and then bugger off...

Anyway, will try to take photos and report back tomorrow - thanks all for the support, comfort and gin (how did you know it's my favourite tipple??!)

[Amphibimum]

you just strike me as a gin kinda girl

chin up, stay strong (or stoned) and it wall all be a distant nightmare slowly being obliterated from memory in a year from now.

[Blu]

Dot - I am so pleased tht you got your house, anyway - last time I was on one of your house moving threads i think you were agonising over whether you would lose it!

Gin - and a camping stove for the tea and coffee (and an eye of newt fo cursing the useless thieving workmen). You'll be grand!

Good luck tmorrow!

[Dottydot]

sigh. So of course the FECKING ELECTRICIAN didn't come this morning. How ridiculous of me to think he would.

Really are running out of time now.

Don't suppose there's anything we can do legally as we paid him up front? Would love to threaten him with us 'seeking legal advice' or the small claims court or something...

Wonderful friends are coming round at 2pm though to put furniture together.

[Dottydot]

Well, I just wanted to say that I'm completely and utterly and all's well that ends well.

We moved in 5 days ago and I've never felt so happy in a house - it's our proper home and I love it.

No hot water downstairs, dodgy boiler and electrics not quite finished but we're all so flipping happy!

Ds's and I sat eating our tea outside (in their first garden) while it was lightly drizzling and ds1 keeps asking is it all a dream! We explored the garden properly at the weekend and found 3 raspberry bushes and a bee's nest Plus we've got 3 apple trees all producing apples which ds1 thinks are there to hone his football skills...

Ds2 got mildly panicked at the weekend and asked what if a viewer comes to the house and buys it - we'd had viewers coming to our last house for over a year of his life so he assumed that just carried on and we might have to move again - bless...!

Anyway, am just so glad we bought this wreck of a house and spent 5 months living in 2 rooms at my Mum's - all worth it!

[LyraSilvertongue]

Really pleased Dottydot
We're about to buy our 'forever house' if all goes well. It also needs doing up so we'll be in the same situation you were in. But I'm sure it will be worth it.