After the ceiling collapse saga, I had to fix the floor. After fixing the ceiling. I underestimated the damage and assumed that the space that required to be fixed would only require a few pieces of laminate tiles. I called my supplier to find out if the wood was in stock. Unfortunately they had run out. Then a light bulb moment illuminated my mind and I figured I could use the wood I had already laid out in the shoe room, seeing as it was independent of the bedrooms, then I would find another color for it. The shoe room is the first small room on your left after the master bedroom, before you get to my daughter’s bedroom. So I called the fundi and gave him instructions (on phone –Miss Telephone Builder at her very best). I asked him to remove all the wood from the “first small room on the left of the master bedroom and use it to repair the damaged section of the master bedroom. He assured me that he had perfectly understood my instructions, confirming that he would use the wood in the small room on the left had side of the master bedroom. I was happy that we were all on the same page and I asked him to start the work immediately. Turns out he understood the small room to mean my daughter’s room, which by all standards is not small at all. He began his job with all the zeal and zest of a fundi who was sure to be paid by end of day (by the Telephone Builder), because after all, wasn’t it a minor job? On and on he went removing the tiles from a room that otherwise didn’t have any issue at all! To fix a room that had a myriad of issues already. Creating one problem to fix another. SMH. He called me in the evening to inform me that he had completed the job. I asked him if the tiles fitted, and he said they did-in fact, there was plenty more left from where he had removed those. I asked him what? Wait a minute-that small room yielded more tiles than we could imagine and had some left over? He replied, yes! For a moment there I thought about Jesus, the 2 little fishes and the 5 loaves of bread. Then it hit me-could he have brought down the floor in my daughter’s room? I didn’t even have the courage to ask that question. I hung up, called my caretaker and asked him what was going on; he confirmed my worst fears. I sat down, sipped my cup of tea, and broke down yet again. Emotions at their very best!
Lesson #5: Always be on site when issuing new instructions to fundis. It isn’t always that they are to blame for the mistakes that they make.
NOTE: The main objective of this blog is to share advice and insights based on real life experiences, in order to encourage you and hopefully, make your construction journey easier, more meaningful and help you avoid the pitfalls that I walked into, because I didn’t know better. For more information, reach out to us on mjengochronicles@gmail.com.
Mjengo Chronicles 