The drip. (No, literally)

Yes I had not been blogging for a loooong time now. Seriously! And its already 2011! Oh how time flies!

Anyways, I have moved out from Grove Lane, a house that I have loved very much. It was a very difficult decision for me but after a year and a half I have come to realize that its time to give up on the dream that UEL will be relocated to somewhere central. And therefore the most logical way for me to cut the travelling time is for me to move to Beckton, wiithin the perimeter of my university.

Well I then sorted out to finding a place near uni. And found a room in a female house share that is reasonable priced and really close to uni, 10minutes walk. And I immediately said yes after the viewing.

Haa thats the tricky part. You must be wondering why I did not do more viewings and decided straight away to take the house. Well I had been doing a lot of viewing to rent a house with a friend. And yada yada yada after a tiring few weeks looking for a house, the person bailed out and that left me to be a homeless person in two weeks time. That was why I straight away said yes after viewing the room near uni, I was just sick of searching.

Well I might have overlooked a few things. Nope, the house was perfectly located near my uni. I can see the roof of the library building from my house, thats how close it is. Walking to the uni means I am saving a hell lot of money on transportation, a thing that Im just so glad because apparently the monthly travel card price had soared no thanks to the new VAT hike.

The room size was very reasonable. It is originally a double bedroom but because the bed used in the room is a single bed, I will have ample space to put arrange my stuff.

Well yes, overall I am happy with my room. That's after I cleaned it ofcourse. I have to admit that I found it filthy at first as they had mouldings on the skirting boards and walls. And the carpet is a bit dirty I requested for it to be steam cleaned but they declined it saying the carpet is clean, well, to no surprise considering the staircase carpet was badly soiled and visually not pleasing.

When my boss helped me move into the house, I explained to him my situation. I would need the carpet to b steam cleaned and he said he will have a look at the room size. He helped me took my stuff into my room and he had to admit that the condition of the room is bad, well, hygienically. I had to agree. It looked allright at first but when you started to spend time in the room, there is no way you can just shut your eyes from seeing the dirt and moulding on the wall. And dont let me start on the carpet!

I managed with my room. I cleaned every bit of the skirting boards and the walls. And I get the carpets steam cleaned. I thought I had to dig out my own money but my boss had been so kind to do it for free for me. Yes Im blessed and after the hardwork in the room, I am happy with the standard of cleanliness achieved. Well, in the room anyways.

And yes the toilet, as it is a communal bathroom shared by 6 people in the house, you could not imagine how dirty it is. At first I just shut my eyes and avoid looking at spots where you can see thick mouldings at the corner of the floors. Hairs cover the floor tiling and the bath mat looks like it had not been washed in months!

I did not have to stay here 10 days to decide I had to bring in the cleaner. Well I spoke to the landlady and they seem to be a bit hesitant as they said they do clean it regularly. Although, I doubt it so much as sitting in the toilet looking around is enough to make me puke. It was not until I said I will pay the cleaner as long as the toilet is cleaned that they agree to let the cleaner come. And I asked the permission to wash the mats, they said they just washed them, 2 months ago!! FAINT!!!!!

SO on Saturday, 8th January 2011 Maxine, the company's cleaner came at 2.45pm and started straight away with the bathroom. I told her I only had money to pay her maximum 3 hours and I need her help in the kitchen too. (Yes! The kitchen too!!! Dont let me start with the stove and all. No wonder they have rat sticky mat to trap the rats. Have they ever looked at their kitchen cleanlines??!!) Urghhh I am just soooo stressed out.

I thought Maxine will take about an hour to do the bath. Then she can start doing the kitchen. But boy I was wrong! She took 2 hours 15mins just to do the bathroom. And she earned every little penny I paid her yesterday! It was a hard work and believe me I knew. I spent a good an hour in the bath helping her (yes, thats two person working on a bathroom. Add the time up, the total time needed to scrub down the bathroom is 3 hours and 15 mins! Crazy right!!!)

Indeed! But she did a great job. The bath and the tilings are all shiny and the smell of the bathroom! Aaahhh so fresh its just that nice bleach smell haha I dont care, it is the smell of a clean toilet. Well obviously the time left was not enough for her to do the kitchen so I asked her to clean my room and do the windows instead. Sometimes, we wonder how bad could you be in a room that the walls, skirting boards, the window sill and the windows were just so dirty. Messy is another thing because messy doesnt always have to be dirty but trust me the room was dirty and even after I cleaned it, Maxine still managed to clean it better. And she helped me hover the carpet too. Bless you Maxine!

Well thing about the bathroom is, the tiling work was bad at the bath tub area near the water tap. And while maxine was cleaning that area, I noticed water dripping down in the entrance lobby, directly below the bathroom. It must had been from the previous dripping as the ceiling seems to be a bit cracked. Well I thought was the crack caused by Maxine, hmm no its not at all possible. All she did was pouring water at that side to clean the tiles so there must had been leaking all this while that had eventualy caused the crack in the ceiling. Well it does look like the ceiling had been replastered over some possible work done in the past. And as soon as Maxine stopped working on that side, the dripping stopped. So yeah thank you Maxine for spilling water there otherwise they would not realized the structural crack in the bathroom.

Well sadly I did not have enough money to extend Maxine's hours. I would love her to start working on the kitchen straight away but I had to send her home instead. I took her to the kitchen for the opinion and she said she will need 4 hours to clean it. Well for such a small kitchen I would have said no, 2 hours tops. But with the condition of the kitchen, and having looked at her working in the bathroom, I just nod. I said well I need to gather some money first before I could call you back. And off she goes.

Attached are the pictures of the bathroom before and after. And also the crack on the ceiling. You are welcomed to be the judge!

I now have clean bathroom. :))