The Story so Far........

Renovations at no. 40

The renovations were scheduled to begin originally on Tuesday 29th May this year, 2007, we had been given our three week then one week letters confirming this. The previous week, on Wednesday 21st we had reason to call down at the site office, wanting to know something but a workman passed by, drenched in strong deodorant/aftershave which triggered an asthma attack. The site manager – name with held - voiced his concerns about this. They were aware of my allergies to strong smells (– I had let their office know and had actually complained when someone had come to plan the kitchen several weeks before and it had caused me breathing difficulties. The chap doing the planning thought it amusing – sorry but I didn’t. I told the office that I would have face masks for when I was in the house because of the dust and would mainly be in the comfort home because of this. )

Site Manager said he would be in touch , and granted, he appeared that afternoon with the Councils Liaison Officer. By this time my husband and I had had a call from the Nursing Home his mother was in, she had been rushed into hospital. He went to be with his mother and I stayed at home to speak with the gentlemen. They had decided because of the severity of my allergies and asthma it was advisable to put our renovations to the very end of the phase – I was upset – but had to accept it. I was assured that every effort would be made to keep me posted as to what was going on and that we would be moved out of no 40 to no 27 the comfort house while this work was being done.

The following week, my mother-in-law passed away in the early hours of Wednesday 30th. We returned home, in shock, and I put a message on our front door for the neighbours as my mother-in-law used to live at no 42 for many years. Bear in mind we were NOT being renovated and that this was the day after we were due to have it started. Workers started drilling into the concrete of our path – just outside the kitchen to prepare the water pipes for the new kitchen. That was bad enough, we had actually thought it was at a neighbours so didn’t go outside to investigate. Then a workman just opened the door and walked into the house to rip out our kitchen, very embarrassing for us as the undertaker was here discussing the funeral arrangements. It was bad enough because we were sitting with about a dozen boxes of our belongings stacked in the living room at the time. We laughed that day about them coming to rip the kitchen out – grief causes you to react in odd ways, but the more we think about it the angrier we have become. There was an A4 sheet of card with my mil’s death announced on it, even if they WERE going to be doing the work, surely some respect like knocking on the door first would have been common decency. Since my mil had lived next door here the funeral was to leave from between the two houses and my husband and his brother were going to walk her out of the street for one last time. We let site manager know the date of the funeral and the time and he said that he would have the street cleared of vehicles for that (he did that and the workmen all stopped as the cortege left, for which we are very grateful – even to the extent of putting it in the notice in the Express the following week) BUT I asked if it was possible for the boxes to be stored in no 27 as we would be having people visiting our home to pay their respects. No problem we were told. The boxes were still there by the Friday and I asked YET AGAIN when they would move them for me. They were still there on the Monday morning so I was rather displeased, the funeral was the next day. Eventually they were moved on the Monday afternoon. This was all adding to the stress of the situation. The day of the funeral Tuesday 5th June as stated previously the street WAS cleared etc, but when we returned home a few of us were sitting outside, family and close family friends. The plasterers who were next door at no 38 were going about their work but swearing profusely all the time when they were outside – not very pleasant and very disrespectful.
As for the boxes, with them being in the Comfort House I was concerned for their safety as anyone could walk in or out of there but we had been assured that they were in a LOCKED ROOM – this was incorrect and it took a few weeks of asking for the door to have a lock put on it.
Fast forward a few weeks – I had rung and left over 20 messages on contractors Liaison Officers phone – and never had a single reply, so I went up to the comfort home and couldn’t go in because of the air freshener being used. My neighbour (from no 38) went in and switched on the extractor fan and opened the kitchen windows, but within minutes the chap who house sat there switched it off and closed the window, making it impossible for me to enter. Eventually I managed to catch hold of site manager and was told that it looked like the end of July would be when our work would be started. No letter arrived so I eventually found out it could be mid August – I wanted to know for sure as I was 50 on the 10th of that month and wanted to know which house I would be in. It came and went and still nothing – the end of August was mentioned, still nothing. Any time I tried to catch Martin he either headed off in the opposite direction or put his phone to his ear. There were several other ‘rough dates’ bandied about. Then I was told mid-September, then the end of the month. I have now been told that it will be October 16th – so by that premise we should have a three week letter by the end of this week or the start of next.

Two to three weeks ago I realised that the plans for the kitchen were wrong and I was missing a cupboard as they had drawn in a fridge freezer AND a freezer. I still couldn’t get hold of site manager – I cant go to the site office in case of aftershave smells and cant go to the comfort house because of the air freshener. I got so fed up about it I rang Contractors main office and they put me through to site managers mobile. I explained about the plans and he said that I had signed for them so that was it – fair enough but he knows what has been going off this year. I was aggrieved as I had been told by someone who hadn’t wanted a new kitchen fitted had changed their minds and were now going to get one, and also that another family were moving into the comfort house before us – delaying our work. He wasn’t interested in that and said I shouldn’t listen to gossip – yes that may well be the case but contractors haven’t helped by not letting people know what is going on. The total lack of communication from them is disgusting and the attitude towards residents is not acceptable in my view.

There have been several other incidents where they have upset me , but at the moment I am trying to keep healthy and not get too stressed out.

On Friday 7th Sept when I spoke to site manager on the phone I asked as well that before I moved into no 27 they stopped using the air freshener they were using, I even offered to give them stuff that I can cope with, but he said no the house had to be kept clean etc – yes I do understand that but surely using that same air freshener which affects my breathing is defeating the whole purpose of moving me out of this house for my own safety? His comment then was that the council could move me to a completely different area of town. This totally distressed me as I only know this area and the fear of being totally isolated in a place I don’t know is frightening. I also asked about our belongings being moved to 27 when we are to stay there and he said it was OUR responsibility. I spoke to council liaison officer just after that and he has reassured me that it will NOT be at our own expense. Site manager had also said at one stage during the summer that there would be a deep clean squad sent in to clear as much of the dust out of the house before we moved back in, but no more has been mentioned of that. I also mentioned to him that it was frustrating having most of our belonging packed in boxes in 27 and he said they could always be brought back down to no 40 – what good would that do – they would have to be moved again in a few weeks. Originally the contractors first Liaison officer told us that we wouldn’t need to move anything in the loft, but we have since been told that we probably would have to for the electrics being done. I have asked several times for contractors to send someone to look in our loft and tell us what has to be moved or not – there is a lot there as my late mother in laws stuff, my late mothers and my own from my previous home in Scotland and my husbands from 18 years of living here is there – we have cleared a lot out. ( We have also asked the chap that clears up for contractors if it was possible for it to be taken to the skip but were told that wasn’t their job, yet only last week he removed household rubbish from one of the privately owned houses on the street.) I was in tears of frustration during that call with Site Manager and had a severe asthma attack just after it, my husband had to come home from work to make sure I was going to be alright.

They have a new female Liaison officer at the moment (as holiday cover for two weeks) and I have spoken to her and so has my husband – she is the only one who has EVER come back to us. Even yet, when we try to catch hold of site manager he heads off in the opposite direction. It is very irritating not to say downright rude that he does not have the manners to speak to us face to face. He talks down to people when he does talk to them, we are not stupid, we are people with feelings and to be treated like a 2nd class citizen because of where we live is not acceptable.

I think that we have been very patient throughout this all, but patience is now wearing very thin.

Our greatest fear is that because of this complaint the work will be done in a very slapdash way and anything we leave here will not be treated with respect. It is also very stressful the thought of moving twice in a matter of weeks. If this works IS carried out mid October onwards it means that according to site manager it will be five weeks, which takes us to the end of November! During this time my daughter is due a baby so even more stress there. That means that because of the plaster work done decorating will not be able to be started until after the Christmas period. I also want to ensure that the extractor fan in the kitchen will NOT be placed too close to the gas boiler as has been discovered in several of my neighbours homes – this only came to light when the annual service of the gas central heating was being carried out in these properties.
Finally , we are grateful to council for all the work that will be done, I have been so looking forward to it for so long – but all the hassle that we have experienced is putting a damper on it. It has been extremely depressing living in limbo for so long. Things could have been so different IF contractors Liaison people actually did their job properly and there was communication from them.