I’ve ruined the floor and feel so stupid

[Thedramalama]

This morning our long awaited amtico flooring fitters arrived to prepare the floor. They spent hours levelling the floor with a special cement-like compound. They told me repeatedly not to walk on it and I fully understood. They then left and I continued with my work (currently working from home). I made myself a cup of tea ten minutes later and drank it whist speaking to a colleague on the phone....I think you can guess what’s coming.

Absorbed in the content of the call I (stupidly and absent mindedly) wandered over the hall to go and sit in the lounge as I often do when talking at length... slipped on the wet screed and collapsed in a heap on the edge of the stairs - in the process managing to cover the stair carpet and my clothes in the cement whilst throwing hot tea all over the freshly screened floor... not only did this happen, in my panic I tried to ‘fix’ it with a cake smoother- so now it looks absolutely atrocious...I cried - a lot. I have a lot going on at work at the moment but I have clearly fucked up massively and this is inexcusably dumb.

So what happened next you may wonder? A blubbing call to my husband who broke the news to the carpet fitters and bless them they are coming back tomorrow to assess and fix the damage. I can only imagine what they have said about me

Here’s the thing though...I can’t face them. I literally am so embarrassed at how stupid I’ve been. I just know they will think I’m a complete twat and I just can’t face them tomorrow or next week. Please make me feel better and tell me what you would do. How do I face two men that literally told me not to walk on their work

Our new floor, no bees.

Oh thanks Beety and sunny - good to know it is potentially not too tricky to fix

1990s - oh but the shame of it 😂 will I ever live it down?

Definitely blame "Simone" your new absent-minded friend!

I'm sure they get this ALL the time, hence told you multiple times not to go in that room. What do you honestly think they will say to you to be so embarrassed?

TBH- I'm surprised they don't put plastic warning strips across the door way, to prevent people going in! Like the ones warning around a dangerous hole etc. Could you do that yourself or lock those doors?

You are lucky you didn't break your coccyx or worse if you slipped on a hard floor!

Elouera - good idea! I’ll stick some tape across tomorrow to save a repeat of today’s fun and games. I’m just embarrassed I guess about having to greet them, knowing deep down that whilst I know they will be professional will be thinking I’m a complete loon

Also embarrassed about my little ‘cake smoother fix’...

You are human, you have a lot on and while distracted you did what would normally do, please be a bit kinder to yourself

I was concreting a foundation once ( trench ) and needed to get something from the other side, without thinking I stepped on the wet concrete and sunk down to my hip 🙂

Tell them they should have used marine ply instead - so not your fault!.

Sorry to laugh but this is really funny. Hope it's easily sortable.

Thank you bloodywhite ❤️

Chumley - oh my gosh 😂 ok now I feel better

My boss didn't tell me he'd painted the garage floor and I went in to get something, a few steps in I realised and reversed out on the footprints, so it looked like someone had gone in and vanished 🤣

Dh did something similar with the window sills which had just been painted. He was under instructions not to let the cats in the room, but one escaped and walked on the new paint. He then found a dry paintbrush and tried to smooth it out, wrinkling all the gloss which was dry by the time I got back from work.

Hey, OP. Who cares what they think?! You're the paying customer, they're doing the job. Face them tomorrow with your head held high!
I do, however recommend that you put some sort of physical barrier in the way next time, so you avoid repeating what happened - and to remind you where the no-go area is!

When we had our floor levelled with screed, the dog and the cat ran through it and left their footprints we left them there under the floor

I’m sure they’ll have had it happen before and will probably just have a laugh about it.

I’ve told this story on here before but might make you feel better. When I first moved in with DP he had a giant TV hanging on the wall above a sideboard. We were having friends over that night so I lit a candle on the sideboard and then went into the kitchen to prepare the food. Came back into the lounge to the most horrendous smell, the candle had melted the TV!
Next day, I go to Curry’s and buy a replacement. Get home, we set it all up, DP is very happy and loves the new TV. That night I light the same fucking candle under the new TV. As I’m sitting there watching it, a huge burn mark from the smoke appears on screen I have no idea what possessed me to be so bloody stupid twice!
Needless to say I was back at Curry’s the next day.

OP, you’ve reminded me of the time I was having underfloor heating and floor tiles installed in the kitchen. The fitter screeded the floor with cement and told me not to walk on it until the next morning.
Fine. But when I came home at 10pm from my bridge club, my key got jammed in the front door.
The only other way in was …. through the kitchen. I debated. Spend the night freezing in my car, or walk all over the forbidden cement?
I went round the back in the dark. And collided with a six foot high compost heap which had toppled onto the path in the gale, completely blocking it!

I fought my way through the branches, thorns, and rotting vegetation. My shoes were now plastered with stinking mess.
I opened the kitchen door and contemplated my options. Tread rotting veg into the wet concrete, or remove shoes and ruin my socks, potentially getting stuck to the floor, with cement burns to my skin?
I tiptoed across in my filthy shoes, and spent the night wondering what to tell the fitter in the morning!

Fizzypink - oh I’m laughing so hard at this 😂 oh I feel less silly now you guys thank you 😊

poor you, but this made me laugh. My builder built a whole complex ramp thing so we could get in and out of house with buggy. It was to go over the top of fresh concrete on the path to the house (which was due to be tiled). Decided to go out, got buggy down ramp all safe. Then my 4 year old followed me out and excitedly jumped off the ramp and into the fresh concrete, leaving a nice pre-schooler shaped dent. Marvellous. They fixed it, I apologised a lot and bought extra biscuits! X

Husband and I also speak a whole day putting sealer and varnish on our wooden floor. Went out that night very pleased with ourselves, got drunk and walked straight on the wet varnish when we got home. There were footprints in it until the day we left!

For various reasons I feel really low today. This thread has just made me smile. I'm sorry about your floor OP, this is exactly the type of thing I would do. Just you own it tomorrow. Biscuits and cake, a big smile and a laugh. We all need that right now!

I once called a locksmith when I locked myself out... then called him again before he'd reached the end of the road because I did it again. I was mortified but he laughed it off and made a joke of making sure I was in the house with my key in my hand before leaving.

Oh brokengate - I hope it has lifted your spirits, they do say things happen for a reason! Hearing all of these funny stories has really helped me calm down

Adifferentstory and mildura 😂 brilliant