Our tenement flat was built in 1890, and most of the time that is fantastic, it means we have large rooms, high ceilings and lovely features but sometimes it's not so great. This weekend all the less great things combined ....
Firstly we woke up on Saturday morning to more rain, which is something we have really got used to this summer. But this was heavy and this was coming in through our livingroom window.
I don't think it's clear in the picture but there was water flowing down the walls and windows, and as the stonework had become saturated it was also coming in through the walls. The walls that we only painted a few months ago and which now will need to be painted again.
Downstairs are also having trouble, we think the problem is the guttering has become blocked and instead of water running down the downpipe and into the sewers it is running down the side of the building. Unfortunately no roofing company will get up on our 4 storey roof whilst the weather is as miserable as it has been, its just too dangerous. Since the rain has eased up a bit it has stopped dripping but it's not going to be fixed until we get the guttering cleared. Really made me miss our rental days when we could call our landlord and leave all responsibility with him.
Then we had a lot of trouble getting our pantry doors to the right size, if we owned a newer building this would have been an easy task, we could have just popped to B&Q.
But the worst most horrible aspect of living in an old building ran across my foot on Sunday night as I was taking pictures for the Summer Pinterest Challenge post.
That's right a mouse ran over my foot, eurgh!! I screamed so loud Rodney thought something was seriously wrong. It's not uncommon to find mice in Edinburgh Tenements, they are everywhere and the old buildings are full of holes so even if you keep your flat spotless they will come in for a nosy and to get out of the rain. But I really can't handle them, they go so fast they always give me such a fright. Last time we saw any was at Christmas when Rodney caught one sneaking a bite out of the gingerbread cookies hanging from our tree.
I can tell you an even worse story than that though, a friend of mine lived in a shared flat and her flatmate went to heat up the oven to cook a pizza and when he came back to put it in there was a crispy chargrilled mouse in there as well. EEEEEEK!!!
This coming weekend will be spent filling any mouse sized holes to try and get them to stay out!!
Any unexpected guests or drips in your house? Are you like me and can't handle mice or is it creepy crawlies that freak you out.
I have only interacted with mice a few times in my life, but whenever I see one I always jump to the nearest table/chair/bed/surface that isn't the floor. Sorry to hear about your windows. They are beautiful even though they aren't doing their job by keeping on the rain!
ReplyDeleteMe too, Rodney came through and found me standing on a chair!! xox
DeleteOh no that's terrible! Water damage is the worst... (although furry friends are pretty high on my list, too). I hope you're able to fix it!
ReplyDeleteThanks - Hopefully it should be ok, if we can clear the gutters so it doesn't keep happening it will dry out xox
DeleteWhen we had mice in London I (in the advice of the Internet) left loads of peppermint essential oil on cotton wool balls around the place and mixed the rest of the bottle into the spray we used on the countertops. They never came back but it may have been coincidence! X
ReplyDeleteOooh, thats an idea I will give it a go. We usually find giving everything a good wipe down with bleach keeps them away for a good few months but this sounds like a more long term plan. xox
DeleteWe had a leak coming from the upstairs apartment, but thankfully our landlord fixed it all up (he just needs to patch the ceiling). We get ants in the back bedroom, but that's manageable. My office has mice (we saw one the other day running all over the place) and they make me scream, too!
ReplyDeleteHopefully the gutter is the only problem and it's an easy fix!
Oh the joys of still having a landlord, I miss that our old one was fab!!xox
DeleteOh.My.Gosh! I would totally freak out if I saw a mouse in our house! I hope you get the gutter/water issue fixed soon!
ReplyDeleteThanks!! Yup I don't do well with mice, when I saw my first one in my student flat I called my Dad 500 miles away at 11.30pm he was like "nothing I can do about it let me go back to sleep" and i went to sleep at a friends house!! xox
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