4 new closet doors were purchased because the old ones were lost. They were in the sea can as it turns out. Who does that? A pipe in the underfloor heating burst in the middle of winter and flooded the basement of the bed and breakfast house. Because it was so cold outside, the condensation on the exterior walls and windows caused much damage upstairs. The insulation and drywall had to be removed for the first 2 to 4 feet almost throughout the entire house and all the flooring on the main had to go as well. So then the moldings had to go too and it was a landslide, but there has been progress, finally, though not as soon as I wished for, and the bed and breakfast should be up and running for October 1. I had planned to reopen June 1 and am quite behind, but better late than never. I have unpacked 70% of the contents now. There are quite a few losses due to improper handling, especially of the organic bedding.
The total hours spent unpacking and cleaning is currently 135 hours for me and I did hire help for moving large items and boxes, for a total of 12 hours for 2 people (each ). I have not unpacked any of the boxes of books, except a few, or material (for sewing). There are likely at least 40 boxes of books and 20 boxes of material. Most of the books are in my basement of the little house and I am trying to make room for the sewing and material as well, though the books were originally in the b n b house.
There is still unpacking and cleaning to do, though it is getting there.I have hired a cleaner for Tuesday to do the final windows and floors and wipe down. Bioclean is bringing the last load sometimes this week, I believe, but they did not give me a date. It is a small load with some boxes and the two large club chairs, the last two to leave. Some items took an inordinately long time to unpack due to being layered in plastic, first bubble wrap then shrink wrap and then tissue paper.
I have hired a carpenter to restore damage on many of the antiques. Pretty much every single piece was damaged, either the finish, the joints coming unglued or breakage, because they were left in the house and suffered from the high humidity. I will need to hire an electrician to take down and install the light fixtures yet.
The plumber picked up and installed the new washer. The repair person did not respond to my phone calls. He is the only person in our area who does appliance repairs and apparently he picks and chooses what he wants to do and my job was not one he cared for. At any rate, the new washer is in and up and running. I will have to hire someone to take the old washer to old washer heaven.
I am extremely disappointed in several things. My organic foam rubber Greensleep bed was left downstairs amidst the worst of the flood and suffered through the construction dust too. The antiques upstairs were left as well and each and every single one sustained damage to the finish, buckling in the veneers or came unglued at the seams. The antiques in the sea can also sustained damage. The legs were broken off from likely dragging the green sofa rather than lifting and carrying to the back of the sea can. A table had a piece broken right off, and so on. The organic bedding, blankets and towels were also washed and dried as per regular Walmart quality things and many are ruined. The silver mica shade lamps were also all left in the house. I am in awe that they did not delaminate because mica is a rock that is slivered then laminated to make the thin shade. Thus far they seem OK. The sideboard and huge mirror sustained finish damage.
Prescription medicines were removed from the medicine cabinet. In the event should the contents company should encounter prescriptions again, they must be immediately given to the owners. Although I do not take any drugs to save my life, such as nitro or insulin, the removal of such could have had drastic consequences in another instance.
There is a very musty odour in the upstairs bathroom and bedroom. I am hoping it can be alleviated. That is a premium room and I cannot have it smelling bad.
And lastly for tonight, I have to shake my head in wonder at whomever did the packing. A set of black and white dishes was placed in a box in the basket I had sorted them out in. They were unwrapped and many were broken. Yet, a plastic monkey sign was bubble wrapped and then shrink wrapped and packed in tissue. My mother’s china, which was packed in a box that had moved from Vancouver to here and not a piece was broken, was entirely repacked for some reason. Some boxes had ridiculous items in them, such as only some bags in one box, a large one at that and hangers half filling another box. I suspect the company is paid by the box as well as by the hour because the boxes were not very full in a lot of cases. Some items of very little value, like dollar store candle glass candle holders were better packed than the hand made pottery dishes, which were only lightly tissue wrapped. the value of the dishes is 100 times more than the cheap glass items. Oh well, I am glad it is coming to an end. Moving is considered a high stressor, but the aftermath of a flood beats it hands down.
The total hours spent unpacking and cleaning is currently 135 hours for me and I did hire help for moving large items and boxes, for a total of 12 hours for 2 people (each ). I have not unpacked any of the boxes of books, except a few, or material (for sewing). There are likely at least 40 boxes of books and 20 boxes of material. Most of the books are in my basement of the little house and I am trying to make room for the sewing and material as well, though the books were originally in the b n b house.
There is still unpacking and cleaning to do, though it is getting there.I have hired a cleaner for Tuesday to do the final windows and floors and wipe down. Bioclean is bringing the last load sometimes this week, I believe, but they did not give me a date. It is a small load with some boxes and the two large club chairs, the last two to leave. Some items took an inordinately long time to unpack due to being layered in plastic, first bubble wrap then shrink wrap and then tissue paper.
I have hired a carpenter to restore damage on many of the antiques. Pretty much every single piece was damaged, either the finish, the joints coming unglued or breakage, because they were left in the house and suffered from the high humidity. I will need to hire an electrician to take down and install the light fixtures yet.
The plumber picked up and installed the new washer. The repair person did not respond to my phone calls. He is the only person in our area who does appliance repairs and apparently he picks and chooses what he wants to do and my job was not one he cared for. At any rate, the new washer is in and up and running. I will have to hire someone to take the old washer to old washer heaven.
I am extremely disappointed in several things. My organic foam rubber Greensleep bed was left downstairs amidst the worst of the flood and suffered through the construction dust too. The antiques upstairs were left as well and each and every single one sustained damage to the finish, buckling in the veneers or came unglued at the seams. The antiques in the sea can also sustained damage. The legs were broken off from likely dragging the green sofa rather than lifting and carrying to the back of the sea can. A table had a piece broken right off, and so on. The organic bedding, blankets and towels were also washed and dried as per regular Walmart quality things and many are ruined. The silver mica shade lamps were also all left in the house. I am in awe that they did not delaminate because mica is a rock that is slivered then laminated to make the thin shade. Thus far they seem OK. The sideboard and huge mirror sustained finish damage.
Prescription medicines were removed from the medicine cabinet. In the event should the contents company should encounter prescriptions again, they must be immediately given to the owners. Although I do not take any drugs to save my life, such as nitro or insulin, the removal of such could have had drastic consequences in another instance.
There is a very musty odour in the upstairs bathroom and bedroom. I am hoping it can be alleviated. That is a premium room and I cannot have it smelling bad.
And lastly for tonight, I have to shake my head in wonder at whomever did the packing. A set of black and white dishes was placed in a box in the basket I had sorted them out in. They were unwrapped and many were broken. Yet, a plastic monkey sign was bubble wrapped and then shrink wrapped and packed in tissue. My mother’s china, which was packed in a box that had moved from Vancouver to here and not a piece was broken, was entirely repacked for some reason. Some boxes had ridiculous items in them, such as only some bags in one box, a large one at that and hangers half filling another box. I suspect the company is paid by the box as well as by the hour because the boxes were not very full in a lot of cases. Some items of very little value, like dollar store candle glass candle holders were better packed than the hand made pottery dishes, which were only lightly tissue wrapped. the value of the dishes is 100 times more than the cheap glass items. Oh well, I am glad it is coming to an end. Moving is considered a high stressor, but the aftermath of a flood beats it hands down.
the new washer is kaput. The computer in it was damaged from the water.
about a dozen pairs of 100% wool socks, many hand knitted from hand spun wool, were thrown in the washer and dryer as per normal clothing. Now they are size 2!
There were several organic Merino wool blankets washed and ruined and these three formerly fantastic Under the Nile organic cotton made in Egypt blankets. Ruined! Boo Hoo!
I guess the folks managing the contents did not read the instructions.
RSS Feed