It's been one year

One whole year since I moved into my new house. When I got to be 50 and then over 50 I thought the time had come to demolish my old house and build a new one.

 

I had planned to put a picture of the old house here and the new one lower down, but the add photo function is not working! Sorry.

Houses are like relationships and just about everything else in life. They need work. I bought the original house about 25 years ago and had always intended to demolish it and build a new one. Because of this, I didn't do the work or maintenance on it that I should have. In the end I had to knock it down - only one hotplate on the cooktop worked, the hot water system broke for the third time in as many months (I didn't bother fixing it up in the end), the plumbago in the front yard had invaded the roof tiles and there was a big hole in the ceiling in one of the rooms! Clearly, a very unloved house.

 

So, it was time to start again. I had been designing a new house in my head for just about all of the 25 years before I demolished the old one, so I took this to a designer who turned it into something really good. Then I found a builder, built the house and moved in one year ago today.

 

Moving in doesn't mean it is finished. There are still quite a few things to do, for example, put vents in the roof to let all the hot air out and to connect the airconditioner up properly. I just have to keep on at the builder to make sure he finishes. I have heard that builders often forgo their last payment, because it is not worth finishing for them.

 

Back to relationships - I have made sure that I have a very good relationship with my builder so that he actually WILL finish, although things have been moving at glacial pace since I moved in. He keeps on saying he will do things, but keeps on putting them off.

 

I think now is the time to start ringing him every few days to keep him on task, but then again I have to do that while not losing his good will. I know he likes me and likes to meet, so that is one way to keep him on task. Then again, maybe he keeps drawing it out so we can meet more often!