Granite – How Hard Can It Be

03 September 2010

This week we have been sanding, more sanding and oh, yes sanding some more. To get the right look downstairs we have decided to bring the existing oak floorboards back to what they were. Of course I figured this would have been a day or two at the most with a decent floor sander, but no...

It seems that everything that can be done to this floor has been. There is stuff spilled on it, sticky glue from where the carpets have been and huge scratches and dents. Trouble is, I am such a perfectionist that it isn't good enough for me to simply let the odd scuff mark go. It needed to be perfect. So we have gone over it several times but at last it’s right.

The kitchen floor is black slate which matches well with the oak flooring and the oak kitchen cupboards. Add to that the black granite worktop which we had installed this week and the downstairs flat is close to being ready.

Getting the granite installed had me really worried. They asked for a template which I supplied so they could cut it to size off-site. Now I knew I had checked this several times...it was right and I knew it. But the guys come in with three pieces of granite and try to fit it. Of course they don't fit do they? I was about to explode I was so cross. I was convinced they must have cut it wrong and they were convinced that I sent the wrong measurements. But it was hardly rocket science to sort it out. While they banged on about the last section being too small and my measurements being out, I spotted the error. There’s only three pieces yet they’d gone and put one piece in the wrong place with too much overhang at the end. Pieces two and three were very similar in size and shape I grant you, but not exactly the same. And this is their everyday job – makes me wonder...

It is just the dreaded painting which I have to get done. But I am leaving that until the top flats are done as well. I am still in two minds actually about whether it is worthwhile getting a painter in to do the bulk of it. When I look at it there seems to be so much to do. Loads of fiddly stuff around the sash windows and the staircases, which to be honest I can't be bothered with. I might spend this week searching out quotes and see what I can do. I had wanted to save that money, but really it isn't worth the hassle. And knowing me a disaster is bound to happen – as I have pointed out before, me and paint don't mix!

Home has been pretty calm since Claire and the kids got back from her Mums. I am making more effort to be home more often and she is looking forward to when the kids get back into their usual routine.

I can't believe the school holidays are nearly over and it feels as though I have hardly seen Chloe. She is about to start her second year at school and it seems like she only just started. Ethan is off to nursery a couple of mornings a week and Claire is talking about getting a job. Things really do change so quickly, it makes you wonder if all this rushing around we do is really a good idea.

It would be nice to be able to settle back and watch what is happening around you sometimes.

Still, enough of that because as much as I would love to sit on my backside, it doesn't bring the money in!