Another job done

A classic before and after for your perusal. This is the lacquer on the concrete counter top. Not long after we started to use it, the lacquer began to peel and lift and as you can see after 18 months of usage looks pretty rough.

The quote we had to sand it back and reseal it was astonishing - and that's when we finally found a company who would consider doing it. Apparently concrete companies are of the belief that if they didn't install the concrete, they won't do any maintenance.

Fortunately, the guy who did it in the first place came back from his holiday and was only to happy to swing by and sort it out for the cost of hiring all the bits and bobs, plus a very reasonable day rate (thank you Isaac!). He ended up coming round on three consecutive days and the sanding created the mother of all dust storms in the house, but hey ho, check out the 'after' photo below.

While concrete looks the business I'm pretty sure I'd get Corian next time. It's just too painful to get concrete fixed when it starts to look shabby, and inevitably, it will look shabby.

Next step is to get the glass company to show up to sort out the kitchen splashback. It's been 8+ days of fairly continuous phone calls to remind them to show up...

Splashback and dull concrete

Ages ago I mentioned I'd photograph all the outstanding things in the house. But after a few photos I got a bit despondent. It feels like it'll be a year before all the little niggling things are taken care of, and that's before phase two gets a look in. Anyway, here are two of the most noticeable.

At top is the kitchen wall without a splashback. It's in a pretty strong shade of green - I forget the details (Lime? Chartreuse?) but I've definitely gotten used to it. It's meant to be covered with glass, which would be terrific given how many messy meals and explosive espresso accidents I've endured in the last year.

The holdup has been because of our concrete counter top, pictured below. The finish has peeled in places and looks really dull in others. The whole lot needs sanding back and refinished with a stronger lacquer which will make it look super glossy again. Once this has been done we can do the splashback - if we did it the other way around the glass might crack when the concrete is being sanded.

The guy who did it orignally is back from touring with his band and says he should be able to do it in a couple of weeks. It's been virtually impossible to get a concrete specialist to quote for this job in the last year as most won't touch surfaces they didn't install themselves, as they can't - or won't - guarantee the workmanship. Catch 22 anyone?

The war cabinet

So the week has drawn to a close and no, Teia and Isaac didn't make it back this week, or return any calls. So there is still no splashback, remedied counter top surface, yada yada yada. My patience has officially worn thin. It's been nearly a year for petesake, and the job so far should have taken around four months. Five tops.

The reason we're waiting on Teia to do the work is because we've already paid him for the materials and would be £600 out of pocket if we let him off the hook. Isaac on the other hand is responsible for the concrete counter top, and unfortunately it didn't seal properly so his return visit is effectively correcting work from before.

The other bit of work that Teia had included in his costings was the construction and installation of a bespoke wall cabinet. The original purpose of which was to house this ugly boiler, but would also provide storage and a fold-out bar (as per mid century storage designs by Pierre Koenig). I'm thinking a high gloss finish on MDF should do the trick so if you know of any cabinet makers near London please leave a comment with their details.

Interior products catalogue

Jeepers, doesn't time fly? Two weeks since a blog update and a year since we were getting the building quotes in. Teia and Isaac are back next week (in between gigging with their band) to do the splashback and re-surface the concrete counter top.

In the meantime, I've been perusing products in the new Wallpaper* House - a directory of over 200 items selected by the team. Yes it's a work plug but entirely relevant, or rather it would be if we had unlimited funds available to furnish the house properly...

A little bit of snagging

On Saturday morning we were heading off to Berkshire to test drive a boutique hotel for Mr&Mrs Smith. Hey, someone has to do it. (Fortunately great friends Kate and Tom, who live in Henley, took the girls overnight and even though the clocks went forward the kids slept in until 10am. Result.) As we were loading up the car to leave London, the guy who did our concrete counter top showed up to see if he could fix our cracks and sort the lacquer which has lost its sheen in places. Fortunately it looks like he can remedy the worst of it and we'll have to live with some crack "scars" which is part of the charm of concrete.

When we got back - after a hard night of drinking various elixirs and a morning of retching into a very stylish Duravit basin - we were delighted to see that Teia had fixed the bottom two drawers in the kitchen below the hob (pictured). Because of the pipes from the top floor bathroom these drawers couldn't slide open, as there wasn't enough space to house the runners once the pipes had been boxed in. The solution was to put the doors on strong spring-loaded hinges. They work a treat, and I've now moved the heavy Le Creuset cookware to the bottom 'drawers' which has freed up the top shelf in one of the cupboards for tall bottles of vodka and what not. They'll remain there for a the foreseeable future as I can't seem to get excited about mixing cocktails right now...

Lacquered counter top

Ta da! The concrete has been lacquered to within an inch of its life and check that hi shine effect. There's only two more days till we move in and we're about halfway done with the packing. We're running out of boxes but I'm told more will be delivered tomorrow morning.

The burglar alarm is being fitted early next week, the phone's been connected and the broadband should be sorted the day we move in. We've redirected our mail which was more difficult than you'd expect: The Royal Mail website wouldn't take payment online, and the wait in an actual Post Office took 20 long minutes and involved a conversation with a teller who seemed to model her customer service on the Little Britain character whose line is "Computer says no".

On the upside, the glass manufacturers phoned this morning to say the provisional installation date for our extension is... December the 16th! It might even be sooner depending on the production process and transportation from Germany. I can't believe it, I'd convinced myself we'd be camping out until January and now it looks like three or four weeks tops, hooray!

Cracking up

The inevitable cracking kicked off with the fitting of the hob. I'm told it can be sealed and buffed and we won't even know it was there. Anthony-the-Architect has polished concrete floors in his office and they're riddled with cracks. They actually add to the appeal. My concern with cracks on a counter top is from a hygiene perspective, so let's hope it really can be mended...