oh NOW we have a property topic. now im already driven past despair by the longest, most hapless building project in the world!!

[TranquilaManana]

its been going on over a year.
we have fired the builder.
now my dad is doing it.
its still weeks and weeks away.
and ive lost the will to live.
dp in same 'place' too, and we have nearly broken up under the stress.

on the upside, i have learned a lot so can dispense advice. if im not too grumpy/tranquilised to do it that is!!

[sympathetic]

[sympathy too]
Actually think I might start a thread on my own saga...............

oh do share.

god FINALLY an aibu type place i can be at home in...

we did a massive overhaul of our flat when dd was due... still snaggy things to be done and she's 18 months old.

sympathy H. must be due a new paint job by now, eh??

well, yes, in all honesty...

now you.

im sure ive grumbled in your ear(eye?)shot before...

am coz it turns out my lovely builder i got on so well with was really just winging it, knew not a bloody lot about building, even less about organising all the other trades or coordinating a large and complex project. but seems v adept at 'creative' accounting...

but, otoh, in reality, none of this is actually a problem. not by any measure i have had in my life previous to this one (ie dp and the kids). we are all well. we are housed. we are well fed and heeled. we even have domestic staff (seriously!)... so really, i cant grumble.

but i will if asked!!

'course you have, nappies. but it's always nice to hear from you...
i really, really like our builder but he's a shocking pisstaker. as i say, we've got things still not finished and the job started two years ago. otoh, if something goes wrong, he comes flying over to the flat to help us, so he's a bit of a treasure in that way. just not someone who you can boss about though. ie, a bloke.

pffffft. well if you're going to get all reasonable about it i'm not playing.

I think the house next door to me has it right

they bought the house and moved in the builders about 2 months ago .. still no sign of them living here yet though

oh to have that kind of money

oh goody.

i just want my house back!!!! its been going on for sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooo longgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg.

i thought about being an interior ponce, sorry, designer before/during this too... but right now i never want to see another builder or plumber or sparky or paintbrush or furniture sodding catalogue again!!!

Has Kevin McCloud been round and looked concerned yet?

[concerned]

actually, ive been hearing his skeptical amused-at-my-expense voice making faux-sympathetic commentry somewhere just behind my left ear for the past...ohh, six months??

are you kev?? could you come round and say it all looks wonderful in the end, despite all the incompetencies and setbacks and massive overspend?? please? you dont have to film it, but it would make me feel better

no, i'm doing my middlley commentary at the moment... the one accompanied by violins.
mr nappies and tranquila have perhaps been a little optimistic with the time-frame etc etc

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Watch out for Kevin - nearly every women he goes near is pregnant by the end of the show. Some of the retired ladies can be seen edging away from him, just in case...

im never getting pg again. never ever ever. pg for 3 yrs on the trot is too much for any woman.

A year is nothing. My dh extended our house all by himself (in his spare time ) & it took 2 1/2 years We couldnt get into the garden during the work & the neighbours were giving me hell over it. After the first year I decided I hated the place & we were selling up as soon as it was done. So 3 years after the start of the build we moved out of the house having never used the new extension. We actually lost money at the end of it. Im happy now though because we live in a much nicer area with much better schools for the dc`s. The house needs a shed load of work doing to it though, & I think dh has decided to go for the record of having the most unfinished DIY projects on the go at one time