Up at 6.30am this morning to receive the kitchen strippers at 7.30. The first sounds of hammering shook the house before 8am. MWNN and I felt very sad as we listened to our 45-year-old, solid-wood units, being ripped from the walls.
The noise of tiles being removed from walls and ceiling was even louder.
Then the electrician arrived and began chasing channels in the remaining plaster, into which a new wiring circuit was laid.
We were without electricity and water, for a while, as Richard re-routed some water pipes, so that the ones remaining visible can be boxed in.
The soldering of new joints set off the fire alarm, which he could not hear above the noise of the electrician's drills.
By 3.30pm the workmen had gone. We had power and water restored to every room except the kitchen. MWNN spotted that the gas boiler was not firing as we had no electricity to the controls or pump. A phone call to the electrician brought him back from Wellingborough, a good hour's drive away.
Tomorrow, we expect a plasterer to begin the restoration of the ceiling, and plaster to all the walls,
The new kitchen units will be delivered on the 12th and fitted during the week of 14th -18th. A template for the Corian worktop will then be taken and should be fitted by 24th. After that, the splashback glass template will be taken and the splashback installed a week later,
