Harder Than It Looks

13 May 2011

I am officially exhausted and have been put on garden leave for two days this weekend. Clare has ordered me to take some time off and to be honest I am pleased. I felt that if I told her I needed a break she would start to panic about everything we haven't yet managed to do. But she says we need time to just chill out and spend some play time with the kids.

It is hardly surprising that I am so tired. I managed to install all of the windows this week at the little house. I did all of the upstairs on the weekend. To be fair this only meant three windows, but it was the first time I had done it and I was finding my feet. It is harder than it looks. It is getting the opening to the right size which I found the most difficult. I needed to be sure that there wouldn't be any cracks or openings and the last thing I wanted was loads of filler all around the edges.

I worked on the downstairs windows during the week which was easier. I haven't done the doors yet as I have the distinct feel that they will be much harder and I wanted to wait until the conservatory is built before the back patio doors are fitted. No point in putting them in only to ruin them with concrete and so on.

Anyway, the house looks much better from the outside and it really feels cosy and warm inside. Not that it matters right now, but come winter that house it going to be tight as a drum. It is already insulated up to its eyeballs. I sorted that out after I did the roof. 270mm of insulation all through the loft. I am considering wall cavity insulation as well, but I will have to look into it.

Apparently there is a scheme where landlords can get help with the cost of insulation and other energy saving measures. So I might just wait until the house is rented out and install the wall cavity insulation then if we think it needs it.

So what is on the agenda for this weekend? Well, I have recorded so many hours of TV I could sit in front of it for about 30 hours straight. I haven't even watched the Grand Prix from last weekend. Of course I know the result. Then there is the snooker which I missed and some strange new DIY shows which have been on lately.

I did catch one which is presented by an ex-big brother winner. Now the fact that Big Brother spawned a TV presenter should have said it all. But this show is just plain strange. The premise is that home-owners are taught how to do a job they had no experience with such as plastering and then they go home, do the job and are judged. The winner gets voucher for B&Q or something.

So these people head home, having had an afternoons worth of instruction, make a bodge of it and feel really pleased with themselves. The show doesn't follow them a few weeks later when they have had to pay for an expert to come in and sort out the mess they left...

Why oh why do these shows encourage people who have never lifted a hammer to attack these major DIY jobs? Are they asking to be sued? If not they should be!