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Original poster

I’ve ruined the floor and feel so stupid

194 replies

Thedramalama · 13/05/2021 13:52

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 Blush

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 Confused

OP posts:
Foresttheout · 13/05/2021 16:14

I did similar op, had concrete laid in the kitchen. My weird house layout meant i needed to do a tiny little jump across to access the bathroom. So tiny a child could do it, just after the builders left i jumped slipped and slammed my foot down into the concrete not only disturbing the floor but collapsing thr carefully constructed concrete step Blush

Eyesofdisarray · 13/05/2021 16:19

We had a cat trot over our newly laid concrete path 😺😺 the paw prints are still there
Hope you're not hurt OP other than your pride! Glad you can laugh 😁

FasterthanBolt · 13/05/2021 16:22

Dh screeds lots of floors and this happens way way way more often than you think. But you'd think he'd know not to walk on his own floor when it's been screened wouldn't you? Nope, he's walked across it TWICE!

HamAndCheeseToastie5032 · 13/05/2021 16:24

My office is attached to a factory, and there is a really long footpath from the car park to the building. A few years ago, they were re-concreting the path so set up a temporary walkway on the other side of the road.. Anyway, someone must have finished their night shift and completely missed the diversion- the next morning there was a trail of perfectly formed footprints - really small, women's heeled shoes leading all the way down the brand new path. The funniest thing was around the middle you can see where they've realised and kind of swivelled round to assess the situation- and then obviously decided to go the whole hog and carried on to the car park.

They didn't re-cover it. I often wonder if that person cringes every time they walk into work Grin

GodolphinHorne · 13/05/2021 16:25

So easily done when you are absorbed in a job! I once had a job as a cleaner in a pub. There was a delivery going on so the trap door to the cellar was open... the landlord and delivery guys said to watch out, so of course I spent all morning being careful and working round it.

At the very end of my shift I spotted a smudge on the mirror across the room, dashed across to wipe it off and fell straight through the gaping hole in the floor. Comedy gold for everyone but me. I was lucky to only have a few bruises, but the shame lived long!

LyndaSnellsSniff · 13/05/2021 16:26

I just managed to ruin a beautifully newly plastered room by buggering up the mist coat and now have a rubbish paint finish on the walls. I could weep.

Just think though, they’ll sort it out and soon you’ll have a beautiful floor and a funny story to tell.

honeybuns007 · 13/05/2021 16:27

Please show them the cake smoother. We all need a laugh right now. You will make their day!

spiderlight · 13/05/2021 16:34

It could be worse....

www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/hn4l7o/a_driveway_crew_was_pouring_concrete_at_a_new/

The cake smoother attempt was genius, though - hats off to you for that!!

If it's any consolation, we had our hall floor sanded and re-varnished a little while back and the guy who did it took off some crappy old edging/beading I'd put along the longest wall. After he'd gone, I npoticed that he'd got a tiny bit of varnish on our white skirting. I tried to paint over it with a dab of gloss and got a massive blob of white paint on the edge of the newly finished floor. I then managed to smear it over three times the area while trying to wipe it up, and had to stick the crappy old beading back on to hide it from DH. I convinced him that it looked more 'finished' with the beading, and luckily he bought it because I'd superglued it on!

Dogman2020 · 13/05/2021 16:35

Oh OP honestly it'll be fine - to make you feel so much better when we were renovating our house we'd just had the downstairs hall ceiling plastered ready to be painted.

I was upstairs in the box room showing he electrician something while he was running wires through under the floorboards. there was only 2 floorboards removed in the entire room and somehow I managed to put my foot right through it - causing the freshly plastered ceiling also to be broken and thrown everywhere.

the guy was lovely and came back to redo it again the week after.
I was 6 months pregnant this particular week and my brother had come round to help dp move stuff into the box room, we were all laughing and joking at how id even managed to fall through the only 2 missing floorboards, haha how we joked and dp said just dont do it again - you know what I did not 1 minute later Blush. I couldnt even face calling the same plasterer again and got a different one in.

to this day they both tell that story every family meal so at least theres the entertainment value.

Roselilly36 · 13/05/2021 16:38

Sending you a hug, just the sort of thing I would do, don’t worry it will be sorted out.

DonLewis · 13/05/2021 16:52

Am I the only one wondering if this should be in classics?

It's cheered me right up. You ought to frame your cake scraper!

Shikamiri · 13/05/2021 16:53

It was the cake smoother that did me in Grin

brokengate · 13/05/2021 16:59

No @DonLewis I was thinking the same. The photo of the sock is absolutely amazing Grin

Been thinking about this all afternoon. When I was a teenager I worked in a large country hotel sat on a river bank. They had painters in and we were getting ready for a huge wedding. The painter left and told me he had left the windows open but to close them later. I forgot. It was made worse by the fact that the lights were on, and it was August. When housekeeping went in the next morning there were about a million moths stuck to the fresh paint. What a mess.

SunshineCake · 13/05/2021 17:02

Stop stressing. These are strangers. No need to care what strangers think of you. It will be fixed. Don't worry Flowers.

FartleBarfle · 13/05/2021 17:07

I have a story to tell that might make you feel better. Same situation - plumber doing some work outside on the pipes, DO NOT USE THE TOILET!

Half an hour later I forgot completely and went for a big dump. Flushed the toilet and thought no more off it until I heard a van engine starting up by the side of the house and drive off. Came downstairs and saw the kitchen window was covered in water despite it being sunny. Went outside to find the garden below the toilet covered in loo roll and poo. There was a ladder up the side of the house by the pipe. It must have caught him. 😱😱 Never been so embarrassed in my life and yes, I hid away forever until he was gone.

vera99 · 13/05/2021 17:08

In t'olden days you may have been thrashed by your husband. (oops have two windows opened nearly posted on a Covid thread ! )Shock

Mrsorganmorgan · 13/05/2021 17:10

I once unblocked a sink. Yes I tipped the dirty water back down the sink, without putting the "thing" back first and made a horrible mess, on the floor and on myself. Don't worry, they will put it right.

Knittedfairies · 13/05/2021 17:26

It'll be fine - nothing the fitters haven't seen before!

Many years ago I was sitting atop a scaffolding tower applying wood stain to a newly-installed ceiling. My new 2.5litre tin of woodstain fell off the tower, completely covering the new concrete floor and splashing halfway up the recently plastered walls. It was running off the glass and dripping from the windowsills. I sat on my tower with my mouth open for a good couple of minutes, like a cartoon character. It took ages to clear up too...

SunshineCake · 13/05/2021 17:39

@AnAwesomePossum

OP, you've had me cackling! The picture is just the icing on the top.
Iced with the cake smoother..Grin
CovidCorvid · 13/05/2021 17:44

I walked over a freshly laid cement path at work once. The workmen were actually there doing whatever they do to wet cement. They didn't half shout at me!

I shouted back - they hadn't put any signs or barriers up and I just didn't notice them!

stairgates · 13/05/2021 17:44

I once cleaned bird poo off my car with a scourer Grin

SunshineCake · 13/05/2021 17:46

That reminds me of when I was stood on a folding chair while I painted the wall. Yep, chair collapsed. I dropped the paint as I fell. The bruise I had was huge and lasted weeks. The carpet never recovered.

Original poster
Thedramalama · 13/05/2021 17:53

Oh my gosh I am laughing so so much at these stories 😂 the guys are back at 8am so I’ll let you know how it goes

OP posts:
Suzi888 · 13/05/2021 18:19

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 sorry OP!
Must happen all the time, just don’t do it again! At least you didn’t hurt yourself, (pride aside) and it can be fixed!

TheCrowening · 13/05/2021 19:32

@FartleBarfle

I have a story to tell that might make you feel better. Same situation - plumber doing some work outside on the pipes, DO NOT USE THE TOILET!

Half an hour later I forgot completely and went for a big dump. Flushed the toilet and thought no more off it until I heard a van engine starting up by the side of the house and drive off. Came downstairs and saw the kitchen window was covered in water despite it being sunny. Went outside to find the garden below the toilet covered in loo roll and poo. There was a ladder up the side of the house by the pipe. It must have caught him. 😱😱 Never been so embarrassed in my life and yes, I hid away forever until he was gone.

Oh nooooooo 🤦‍♀️