Life from my Wheelchair

The Bathroom Saga – Part 2

‘Twas on a Monday Morning……………..

This wonderful Flanders and Swann song seems to sum up everything that happened with actually getting my bathroom works completed!

I agreed with the contractor to have a Monday morning start as the work should only take three days. The bathroom was cleared of storage units, cleaning stuff and the cats litter tray.  I had woken early and although I wasn’t yet dressed, I was respectable enough for the contractors to arrive between 8 & 8.30am. By 9am I was feeling rather cross and phoned their office. I was told that I should have had a phone call on Friday. The Friday call should have explained that there had been a delay on a previous job and the workmen would not get to me till Tuesday. I was not happy. Later that day I was told the men would arrive ‘first thing’ on Wednesday. This was not looking good.

First thing on Wednesday morphed into lunch time. Eventually 2 men finally put in an  appearance. One spoke some English, the other very little. They began by laying a protective cover down over the walk-way into the bathroom. This was great for preventing dirt being traipsed everywhere. The cats however, were not impressed. Their paws stuck to the plastic. They spent the next few days walking around the edges. 

Soon the bathroom floor was ripped up and the preparation work began. Thursday morning started with the new radiator being installed. The cupboards were fixed to the wall. Finally my shower seat was moved and attached at the correct height. For some reason this last task turned out to be quite difficult. The adjustable legs were different lengths and one had to have a couple of inches sawn off. Eventually the seat was low enough for me to sit safely on it. 

The next job was sealing the holes between the floor and the skirting board. Then a special concrete-type underlay could put down. This stuff stank! The smell was very like that disgusting smell you get in male urinals when they have not been cleaned properly. Fresh air spray failed to get rid of the pungent aroma!

I landed up burning a heavily scented candle for several days. 

Whilst the underlay was being smoothed into place the loo had to be removed. Even after the loo was re-fixed we couldn’t use the bathroom until the floor had finished drying. Inconvenient to say the least!

The final task was the measuring of the floor area so that the flooring could be laid on Friday. When the sub-contractor arrived to fix the flooring in place, he told me that the previous days measurements were incorrect. What! How? He didn’t know – not his job!  The flooring he’d brought with him was not just not big enough to fit my bathroom. I was furious. Demanding, through clenched teeth, as to why he couldn’t just get some more that was the correct size? The answer to that was that the supplier was too far away for him to collect it. He was also booked into another job that afternoon. Also he didn’t work on weekends! I told him I expected him back first thing on Monday morning, to which he muttered something about a another booking. 

I tried to calm down before I phoned the main contractors. They did not understand why the subcontractor had left my flat. Thirty minutes later a very apologetic boss was on the phone to me. He was grovelling. He knew his firm had got things badly wrong. He told me there would be no charge for the radiator, which would save me some money. But also informed me that the fitter would not be back until Wednesday morning. I was glad about saving the money, but very annoyed I wouldn’t be having a shower until the following week.

I cannot easily have a stand-up wash, so had to resort to using baby wipes and dry shampoo to feel half decent. I chose not to go out anywhere either as I felt so self-conscious about not being able to have a shower.

I couldn’t wait for Wednesday to come! I was so relieved when the fitter arrived with the correct amount of flooring. Thankfully, the disgusting aroma had almost disappeared. The flooring was laid quickly and well. All I had to do now was wait 24 hours for the sealant to fully dry. 

When Thursday morning came, it was wonderful to be able to have a shower after 8 days without one! Having the warm water cascading over my body was bliss. Having clean hair was such a relief too. I was even able to shower alone, just needing help to get from the shower to my wheelchair. 

The other joy of getting the bathroom done was being able go get rid of the shower curtains I hated so much. I now have beautiful leafy curtains which tone well with the darker flecked flooring, deliberately chosen to reduce the visibility of marks or hair dye. Now that the flooring is correctly laid the shower water drains away quickly, longer leaving the floor like an ice rink. 

I’m so happy and relieved to have a beautiful almost new bathroom, which finally looks good and is safe to use.