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Asbestos wasn't 'banned' until 1999.
And yes, removing nailed down carpet grippers would damage any tiles - especially when the nails have gone rusty.
This is probably why the council didn't remove them :-| :-|
I expect they hoped I'd just move in, think the council were 'wonderful' to leave the carpet grippers, and I'd use them to lay a carpet, like any 'good' old biddy should.
But no, I complained about holes, rusty carpet grippers, and broken tiles.
The surveyor actually asked why I didn’t just lay carpet, then it would cover the broken tiles.
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Oh, my word. Someone has just phoned me from the Council.
He phoned about the photos I sent showing the state of the floor after the tiles had been removed.
Apparently, the council are talking about putting a latex covering over the floor.
'Normally', he said, 'It would take weeks to start something, but he had been told to ‘fast track’ it'. I think I was meant to be impressed.
'Oh', says I, 'You’re a bit late, it’s been screeded. Nice to know Winchester City Council has a ‘grip’ on what it’s doing. By the way, don’t think this has been fast-tracked', I said, 'I’ve been waiting in limbo for 6 weeks'.
Then, I’m afraid, the poor lad got an earful!
I even 'let slip' that, unlike most of the people in the planning department office, I'd actually worked in construction - and planning. Well, I was PA to the site manager during the extension of Sumburgh Airport. I was involved in the logistics of planning when works were to go ahead, and it was construction!
I did apologise for my rant, but asked why WCC’s left hand doesn’t know what their right hand is doing.
Then I asked when the floor would be tiled - apparently, it won't be. It's not an area of 'wetness'. so the 'feedback' letter I received yesterday was brought up.
According to this letter, on 6 January the job was: ‘To replace floor tiles in Lounge & entrance hall, asbestos tiles have been removed & make good’
6 January was when the rest of the asbestos tiles were removed. Why don't the council know what their job numbers refer to?
So, I asked why it's not being tiled, when the council obviously have it in their sights to tile it?
Poor thing is coming around tomorrow, to see the floor. I've just had a look.
It's not the best bit of screeding I've ever seen. Tiling on it won't be the easiest job in the world. The little 'waves' will need flattening.
I'll need to ask him how I clean it, as I don't intend putting any other flooring down - there's nothing in my tenancy agreement to say I have to. ;-)
Oh, and when will it be strong enough for me to drag my furniture across it, back to it's 'rightful' place?
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Should helpless little old ladies have uneven solid concrete floors to trip over in their carpet slippers?? Lawsuit coming....... :-)
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It appears, I can crack my head open on a level floor! :-D :-D :-D
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I could Maggie as I can trip over a fag paper ;-) :-D :-D :-D
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In that case Maggie you certainly can't be trusted with an uneven floor sober or otherwise :-D :-D
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I actually intend putting a waterproof membrane down, and laminate flooring on top, then rugs on top of that - same in my bedroom - but that's none of the council's business!! :-D
If the cement isn't waterproof, and someone put a carpet down, any spillages would stay in the cement and rot the carpet. At least, if tiles were on top, it would give the carpet a chance of drying out.
I also have a wet room that goes straight onto this cement. the threshold (new when I moved in) has been removed, as it was unsafe. It was partially 'floating' and actually had a shard of asbestos tile attached to it, on the hall side!
'Wet room' indicates a lot of water! Not too good for cement. :-D
I'm also waiting for someone to come and fix my boiler. It was serviced last Wednesday. So, that went well, didn't it?
As I'm sat in the kitchen, coat on, with nothing to do, I looked at how many times my boiler has been 'repaired'.
23 September
4 October
11 October
25 October
10 November
16 November - a young lady came this time, and renewed the valves on a couple of radiators, so they worked!
It was still working perfectly - until it was serviced :-|
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Well, the ‘young man’ has been.
He’s not so young. Agreed with me the floor was pants, and is sending out someone to fill in the gaps around the edges, and flatten the humps.
However he denied there was ever a a hole in the floor, so I showed him the picture.
Apparently, this wasn’t on the video sent to him. I then asked him why no-one from the Council bothered to visit void properties anymore, and pointed out, on a video, he wouldn’t have seen many things, wet walls being one of them, rusty carpet grippers, another, and anything the person taking the video didn't want him to see.
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I then showed him the wet wall under the window in the living room, and the new vent in the wall, that fell off after an hour.
He said the damp may be caused by old insulation. I then asked if this may also be the cause of the damp in my bedroom, pointing out that the previous idiot said it was because of condensation because I didn’t leave the window open, but when the heating wasn’t breaking down every week/fortnight, I didn’t have any condensation.
Transpires, he was the ‘idiot’ (whoops!), but If old insulation is the cause of damp in the front wall, chances are it’s what’s wrong with the back wall too!
I pointed out all the cement on the fairly newly decorated walls, doors, and my sofa cover (all the above are white!) My table, upside down, with a large chair on it, varnish side down, on drying concrete etc. He agreed it was a total mess.
They’re not going to tile the floor, apparently I can buy the flooring.
**I (again) pointed out that I was moved here because I was unemployed. I’m still unemployed, as it’s impossible working from home with constant interruptions. How was I meant to afford to cover a floor and hall? I also ‘mentioned’ that I’d been paying full rent for the privilege of living in a building site.
** I was working from October to December and have enough for flooring - but that's none of the council's business, and it is difficult working from home with tradespeople arriving all the time, and not knowing where I can work from.
I started off in the spare bedroom, now I can't get in there - then it was the living room, now I'm confined to the kitchen.
My laminate sample arrived today - it's lovely, but the wrong one. ;-) :-|
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