Floods on the First Floor

You guys, I've found this wonderfully relaxing hobby called "renovating".

You should all try it.

I went into this process with the mantra that everything would probably take a bit longer and cost a bit extra than I predicted.

It has, and that's cool. That's renovating.

It's been relatively OK living away from home at my parents' house - they're always generous, and due to my work and play commitments keeping me busy, it hardly even feels like I'm there much. 

I even went to Kingaroy the other weekend for a work visit. Look, here's proof:

What has been interesting is the two types of renovation crises that seem to occur.

The first is Human Error.

We had an example of this just last Friday. I returned to the flat to have a look at the living room painting that had been going on. 

We'd tested a few samples and decided on a Dulux colour called "Peplum White" because it seemed the brightest, and we wanted a light living area. 

So I was very surprised, when I opened the door,  to discover a distinct tint to our walls. 

"It's.... purple," I said aloud, to no one.

"Purple," I repeated, as if saying it again would make it stop being true.

An hour or so, The Wah confirmed the diagnosis, although his declaration was for "lavender", which is quite specific for a colour-blind person.

Frantic calls to builders were made, notes were wedged in doors, Saturday morning scrambling was arranged to rejig the colour scheme. 

The tradies were very understanding of my decision to repaint - but I was frustrated with myself. I could understand why the sample, that had looked completely fine as a sample, turned out so differently.

As soon as I walked up to the Dulux bank of colours and started looking at the white options again, it became obviously, painfully clear:

I'd tested out the Peplum White Quarter Strength, but had forgotten about the "Quarter Strength" part.

So there's some more cash - entirely my own fault for not double-checking the sample pot.

If there is a bright side, it's that knowing now that Peplum has a purple undertone, we've decided to go with another white option. Even a lighter shade of purple undertone may still clash with our colour scheme, so we're hoping the repaint will avoid that. 

It's been a lesson in just how many versions of "white" there are out there, I can tell you.

The second type of crisis is the Unpredictable Disaster.

This happened to us just yesterday.

Not long after I arrived at work, I got a call from The Wah. He'd been called by one of our neighbours. Another neighbour had woken to discover water in his flat - coming from ours above.

I called the builder and he scrambled and reached the flat a few minutes before The Wah did.

There was over an inch of water across our new tiles, seeping into the carpet in our bedrooms - which are currently being used as storerooms for our furniture, clothes, bedding, books and other miscellaneous items.

The Wah, our neighbours and our builders worked like champions to stem the tide.

Feeling a bit helpless at work, I started the ball rolling on an insurance claim.

By the time I got home, there were damp carpets and a whole lot of water-logged stuff, but the indoor swimming pool had been drained.

The plumber has confirmed that our new fridge was defective, resulting in some sort of breakdown that caused the flood.

So now we begin the process of assessing that damage and sorting through our possessions to check what can be salvaged.

Ironically, due to my human error with the paint, the flat had still been set up with protective canvases over the floors. Those canvases got water-logged - quite possibly slowing the flow of water into the bedrooms.

So if it wasn't for my Human Error, the Unpredictable Disaster could've been much worse.

Well, that's my story anyway, and I'm sticking to it.

Have you got any good renovation stories?