The cash we have left will probably be directed to 'the cellar of doom'. It's not immediately obvious on the photos above but the cellar keeps flooding. We thought the wet was due to the previous owner stealing all the yorkshire stone flags from the floor and in doing so he had broken some kind of seal meaning water was leaking up from below. This was also the view of a surveyor and an experienced builder. It seems that they all missed the fact it was coming through the walls! Which amazes me as you can both see and hear the water coming through....We have been monitoring the cellar water problem since we moved in as we were concerned that it was water run off from the hill which would mean trying to find someway of redirecting the rain (which is quite plentiful in the North West) and this seemed like a job that was too big for my head to handle but it now seems there wasn't a lot of correlation between the rain and the wetness of the cellar! However, the problem did seem to get worse whenever we used the washing machine. A friend of ours (hi Rick!) assisted in the rather grotty job of clearing the internal cellar outlet drain . He stuck his hand down it with no idea what could be there and fished out all sorts of silty yuck (apparently, I declined being involved in this particular project) Must have been a little like that bit with Peter Duncan and the poisonous creature infested log in Flash Gordon!!
Not only did he show that kind of selfless bravery, he also helped dig a trench (which I like to call the brook- it's more romantic) from the leaking wall to near the cellar drain and a collection hole for the water to gather for easy emptying into the drain. Now all I need are a few reeds, pond life and a heron and I have my own ecosystem.
Anyway I digress. So the cellar fills when the washing machine is on It seems that now we have the small matter of dealing with problem drains....as I am not a very practical person this seems like a big deal whereas t'husband seems to think that it's better knowing what is wrong and to fix it all we need to do is dig up the back yard and have a look. Easier said than done when you have yorkshire stone flags atop a thick slab of concrete before you get to the drains. Not the kind of work that appeals to me really....
Anyway, a very nice man turned up today to have a look at the drains. We had already had one guy who thought that the water was overflowing the drain and then making its way into the cellar. He put an elbow on the pipe and off he went. Needless to say the brook in the cellar has not run dry so they came back again today. No messing with bits of pipe today. It was all heavy duty drills and cameras! Have a look...
Anyway, after thinking that the problem was just the initial bit of pipe that was broken, further investigation has shown that all the joins in the pipes are cracked and leaking. The easiest way to sort this (digging up the back is not the easiest option as the pipe goes under the backyard wall which would need to be dismantled and rebuilt) is to insert a waterproof membrane sleeve inside the pipe to stop the water leaking out. All fine and dandy I thought and seems easy enough but...the cost is rather prohibitive. £400 per metre prohibitive....do you know what kind of curtains you can buy for £400 per metre. Gold curtains that's what...with diamonds embroidered into them!Anyhoo, they are coming back tonight (to do what I am not sure, I think my brain stopped processing after the £400 per metre mention) so I guess I will know more then...
The other job we still have to allow funds for is the civil engineering work to monitor whether indeed our house is moving. There were some cracks under the front right bay that showed up on the survey which could be signs of movement. Now, although the house has been there for a few hundred years (I think it was built in 1833), these cracks were raised as an issue for further investigation by the surveyor and caused us all kinds of hoo hah trying to get buildings insurance prior to us completing (I still shudder thinking about those few days). So, annoyingly, we need to keep some cash to put a few studs in the wall and then triangulate and measure them over the next 12 - 24 months. Although I know it is important I don't want to spend cash on these things when we are without carpets and curtains but needs must...
So all in all, I am not happy with the house at the moment.
I think it is like having a naughty child. Although you can't not love it (especially when prettiness like the above appear in the back yard) , sometimes you really want to shut the door and no longer hear about all the problems it is having and instead wish it would just grow up and sort itself out already. Saying that, I daresay if it is a sunny day tomorrow, it will win me round again by shining all that beautiful light in and showing me a potential glimpse of the grown up and together house that it could be. Church View, despite everything, you had me at hello!
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