HEADLINE - Australian woman sent crazy by renovations!

Ah yes, it's been a fun few weeks. I told you that the tile removal had started at a, well, not exactly cracking pace. And so it continued for 2 weeks, the worker spending at least as much time resting as working. In his defence it was heavy work smashing up the tiles and lugging them downstairs to dump them. I asked repeatedly for assistance for him, but it never eventuated, and I think he preferred to drag it out and get paid for 10 days instead of 4.

Fine for him, but I was getting very frustrated being captive at home, missing yoga classes I'd already paid for. Every time I asked for a morning off I got the puppy dog face and was told that he'd have to work somewhere else in the morning otherwise he wouldn't get the whole day's pay. I held my tongue instead of saying Not My Problem. My bedroom was the worst of all, with more than half the tiles drummy. By the Friday afternoon, he had started to relay them and it looked like the work would be finished on Monday.

I set the alarm to ensure I was ready to let him in at 8.30, but 9am came, 9.30, and around 10 the supervisor Martin arrived with another man. Apparently the 1st guy said he wasn't coming back, demanding to be paid for food, travel and accommodation, so this guy had to lay about 20 tiles, grout and cleanup. Martin showed him where to start, the door was closed and work continued. The painter was also there that day repainting all the ceilings and every time I sat down he seemed to want to work right there, so I let them both work. There did seem to be a lot of dust, but it's been an ongoing dust battle for more than 2 weeks, so I didn't think more of it. A bit after 5, the supervisor returned, went into the bedroom and told the worker to clean up, they left shortly after.

I went in to have a look, feeling relief that it was all over. I opened the door and was hit with a cloud of red dust. EVERYTHING in the room was covered in red dust! The tiler had decided to be lazy and had cut all the tiles with an electric cutter, inside the bedroom instead of going outside as he should have. This is my own bedroom where all my clothes and personal items not to mention my linen  - everything coated in a film of red dust. I looked up - the ceiling fan, the air con, even the light globes had a layer of dust.

But, incredibly it got worse when I looked down. The tiles had been laid crooked, there were large grout gaps on one side and then nothing on the other, and at least half had been relaid still hollow! At this point I went ballistic and phoned Martin to tell him I would NOT accept this work, and he'd better get someone who KNEW what he was doing to fix up this mess, and I wanted the room totally repainted and cleaned.

The next day, when I'm still coughing dust, he brings what he calls the "technico". He checks it out, they get new tiles and he and his assistant get to work. Within 6 hours they had removed all the tiles, relaid them and grouted them and cleaned up ready to go! Had Martin brought these guys at the start it would have taken 2 days to do the whole house instead of 2 1/2 weeks! Ay Ay Ay!
The painter returned the next day and repainted the bedroom, he washed the walls too and then helped me carry the bed back there. On the surface it looked good, but as soon as I started the ceiling fan another film of dust descended.
By this time I was coughing a lot and had a sore throat so I toddled off to the doctor. He listened to my lungs and was concerned, he said it was infected. He gave me antibiotics, something for the lungs, an anti-histamine and a pain killer, and told me to come back in 4 days.
I told Martin that I was sick because of all the dust, and that the work needed to be suspended for the time being until I had recovered.
In the meantime I continued cleaning - remove the light bulbs to clean the dust, wipe over all the closet shelves and floor, the top of the air con, clean the filters. I had to wash each one of my shoes, and everything in my jewellery box. I woke regularly every hour at night to cough and blow my nose.
I returned to the doctor on Friday, feeling a bit better, and that was his diagnosis too - I find you a little better. But he asked me to return again on Monday and thinks I will need more antibiotics. I had my first full night sleep without coughing last night so I think I'm finally on the mend.