My mom jokes a lot that we will have everything finished by Christmas. That goes for everything, for all activities, whether repairs, projects or chores, and it goes for their home but also for ours. Her joke has intensified in the last two or three months whenever we talk on the phone and I tell her how we are doing with our home renovations. Of course, we always add with a laugh that everything will be fine and done by that holiday - but that the year is not set. It can happen at any Christmas.
That always helps, because through humour work and issues don't seem so difficult and we see them from a different perspective. We help ourselves to overcome some things more easily. Well, you see, Christmas is approaching in my home and the chores I wanted to finish... may not be done this year.
Our latest adventures related to smaller bathroom changes are currently in the spotlight, the only question is whether it will be finished by this Christmas or some other in the upcoming years.
We wanted to change the semicircular shower tray and the corresponding shower screen for the same tray for a new, more modern one. The shower tray was decent, not the newest and had some signs of use but it could be used perfectly for more years, but the shower screen already had imperfections and the lime that stuck to it no longer gave it a nice appearance. The doors of it were not the best either so it was on the list of things to change in some near future.
After a few weeks of investigating what we would like to have and in which size, colour and design we ordered everything we needed (rectangular shower tray, rectangular glass shower screens with two sliding doors, tiles, tap with shower...) but we had to find a person who knew how to make all these changes. That is, a bricklayer to remove the old tiles and put new ones around the new shower tray, and a plumber to change the pipes if needed, install the new tray and set up the new shower screen.
The search for the right person has been quite a complicated task because we couldn't find anyone, and when we found someone they weren't available on these dates. In the end, through a recommendation, I found a plumber who was able to come with his bricklayer colleague and give us a detailed description of the work and the price of his labour. They were punctual, kind and precise. Perfect, we agreed.
Feel free to skip the following paragraph, it is actually not relevant to the point where I want to get.
In the meantime, the shower tray arrived on time as we ordered, but the screen arrived late. It's a story with the delivery company that contacted us to say that the screen would arrive on Thursday, 5th of December, so my husband could be at home and wait for it. The whole day went by and they didn't show up, and when my husband looked at the app it said that they had already delivered the screen on Tuesday. What? We already thought that they had stolen the package hahaha. There was no way to contact them and ask them what was going on... The screen package arrived on Monday of the following week. Only four days later than scheduled.
All good, the craftsmen came on the agreed day, this Saturday and the work started. I guess the neighbours didn't expect this kind of waking up at 8 am, with such a noise that a bathroom renovation can entail. 😆
The bricklayer and the plumber were nice and did their work, we didn't want to bother them a lot but they always asked about our opinion of how we wanted some details to look. Everything went as planned; they installed the new shower tray and the tiles around it and as the last stage it was time to set up the shower screen. Four screens actually, two fixed parts and two sliding doors.
Yes, that is my hand opening the sliding door of the shower screen. Everyone can do that... but hey, look at this. A magic trick - a Hiver putting her hand through the glass shower screen!
It seems we arrived at the point of my post 😂
We are missing one of the fixed screens because the plumber accidentally dropped (or hit) it while fixing it to the frame. It shattered into little pieces (it is made of tempered glass) in no time. It was an accident, nobody imagined that this routine job would end with a broken screen. Everything has a solution, so don't worry, the plumber will fix this part by the end of this week. He said that he would pay the cost of the new part because it was his fault that it broke, but since the screen was the most expensive part of this whole story, I feel very sorry for him because he will lose a huge part of what he earned with this work. When he was leaving on Saturday he said something like no worries, sometimes we win and sometimes we lose.
I keep feeling sorry for him and this situation. He and his colleague worked for almost six hours in our home and because of this accident, his profit will be considerably reduced. His reaction was surprising as he stayed calm and even continued to whistle some tunes as they finished their work. However, I am constantly asking myself if is it really the craftsman's part to pay for the broken shower screen, or should we contribute to it, even though it was his job to install it and not break it?; if I wanted to risk breaking the glass screen, then we would try to install it ourselves, right? So these are my doubts now.
How would you feel if you were in my place? Or how would you feel if you were this plumber? Have you found yourself in a similar situation?
