A mammoth undertaking

When we moved into our Victorian cottage fifteen years ago or so, it needed complete refurbishment – re-wiring, re-carpeting, and decorating inside and out. But of course we didn’t have enough money to do the complete job, so the more urgent jobs got done first, with the rest following over the years as and when we could afford it.

Yesterday I finally got around to one of the nagging things that’s been on the To Do list for many years – I got an electrician in to fit an extractor fan in the main bathroom. The bathroom has a nice big double-glazed window looking out into the garden, and it’s pleasant to laze in the bath on a summer’s evening with the window open. But it’s far too cold to open the window at this time of year, and if I’ve got shirts or sweaters drip-drying over the bath it gets pretty muggy. So I thought it would be a good idea if I had an extractor fan fitted, making the room more usable all year round.

I thought it would be a fairly straightforward job, and took the day off work yesterday to be home for the electrician. Fortunately, I was paying him for the job, rather than by the hour, as it actually took him all day! Drilling a hole through the wall seemed to take all morning….. However, he seems to have done a good job, and although it was horribly messy at the time, he’s tidied it up well, and I won’t even need to redecorate the bathroom.

Unfortunately, it took him so long that he didn’t have time to do the second job I had lined up for him – to fix the extractor fan in the en suite shower room which has stopped working. He did diagnose the problem – power is getting through, but the fan unit has failed and simply needs replacing – but by then it was too late for him to go to the wholesalers and buy a replacement. I was a bit annoyed, as I had clearly told him I wanted both jobs done, and if he’d been a bit smarter about what order he did things in, they both could have been done in one day. As it is, I’ll have to take more time off in the New Year to get the second fan fixed.