Well this month has been mostly spent going backwards and forwards to the Civic Amenity Site (or the tip!) just round the corner from the project in Swansea. Thank God it’s only ½ a mile away because many of the journeys have been made with Mum squidged in the back seat under a ton of timber or with me struggling to get to the gear stick. I think that I was a bit naïve when I first completed on the house. As you will have seen in the before photos in the ‘Gallery’ section, the place was left relatively clear but I did inherit several freestanding wardrobes as well as an enormous built in unit in the bedrooms and a large dining room unit downstairs. These items alone have probably taken a couple of days to dismantle and account for about 7 trips to the aforementioned tip. However, I also then discovered a loft full of stuff and a shed brimming with damp, rotten bits and pieces. Although there were some unexpected gems in the loft such as two old-school rotary dial telephones (currently on sale via ebay – my seller ID is jonessa01!), and an amazing vinyl collection featuring the Grease soundtrack, Jason Donovan and Chesney Hawkes, I still feel somewhat stitched up with an entire family’s rubbish to dispose of.

Looking back I should have gone straight back to the estate agent and demanded that the vendor stick to the original fixtures and fittings list – one to note for next time!

In all, my little hatchback (a van raises suspicion of commercial waste dumping at the tip) has completed 18 fully loaded journeys and I have now completed stripped the house of everything including carpets, copious dark wood cladding and random schoolbooks. Much like Indiana Jones I have journeyed to the farthest corners of the cobweb-covered loft and have also unlocked the secrets of the most rotten shed that I’ve ever seen.

The house looks enormous and echoes as I walk round. It’s waiting for a builder to arrive. Our revised start date was supposed to be February 18th but I’ve just had a conversation that suggested March 3rd would be more realistic. Time will tell whether this will be another lesson to take to project number 2.

# posted by Gareth Jones @ 14:50