Monday, September 7, 2009

It's Just A Little Niche For Goodness Sake!


I had trouble with the Builder over the weekend. In the bathroom of the shagadelic, psychedelic Townhouse in Norwood we leased for the year that we were searching for a Hills property, there were glass shelves in all the shower recesses. They jutted out from the tiled walls & held the obligatory shampoo/body wash & assorted paraphernalia. The Builder has a terrible habit of always dropping either the shampoo bottle or his razor in the shower. From the first shower he had at Norwood, the kids & I were subjected to the most terrible screams emanating from the bathroom. He's not exactly a slim, racing greyhound kinda guy, so every time he bent down to retrieve the fallen articles, he'd forget about the glass shelves & come up with a rush, only to crunch all manner of himself on the offending shelves.

So in our current bathroom reno. I thought I'd remove all possibility of having to revisit this again & put in a request for a tiled recess/niche in the new double shower. Well honestly, you would have thought I'd asked him to rebuild all the houses in our little country lane! He did nothing but argue, whinge, sulk & generally carry on about it all weekend. I eventually had to play my trump card 'OK then if you're going to be difficult about it I'll withhold your next progress payment'. I'm pleased to report that the niche has been built.

16 comments:

  1. Nice work Miss Millie!
    To make MOTH feel better, we put in three tiled-in shelves/niches... we each get one for our personal items (those are one on top of the other, on the opposite wall as the faucet) then to the right of the faucet we put in a smaller one that holds the hand soap! We were surprised when our tilers said they have never put in three before:O!! It's been the perfect fit for us! I even have to 'rent out' a wee bit of Dan's shelf!

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  2. Damn, now why didn't I think of that when my builder husband was building our bathroom. I wanted niches too - and how many did I get? ZILCH! I need to start taking lessons from you Millie - you're a very clever woman :)

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  3. I love a good niche. Very sensible. And at risk of being cynical about builders (great clients of mine) it is amazing the results you get when you threaten to withhold money. An oldie but a goodie.

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  4. Millie ~ You never fail to make me laugh when you write about MOTH's reaction to work that wasn't his idea. Hilarious. He'll be so happy with the nooks when he takes his first shower. Great idea. I have one pie-shaped piece of marble in the corner of my shower that's very handy for shampoo. ♥Rosemary

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  5. Well done Millie - I have also succeeded in getting this with my builder - have always wanted them as glass shelves or bottles on the floor just don't do it and a special little hole in the wall is so exciting! Enjoy

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  6. Oh way to go Millie! Standover tactic's have to be employed in dire situations.
    xoxo

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  7. Millie. I am learning some wonderful tips from you about how to deal with future tradespeople. My only worry is...you might need to define 'progress payment'. Have a great week. x Julie

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  8. You're doing a great job as 'Site Manager', Mills. Why is it, that when you ask for something to be done, THEY always come up with a reason why it can't be done. I get it all the time.Sounds as if progress is being made on the bathroom though...that's a plus....I have this picture in my head of naked man, bending over in shower. !!!!! 'nuff said. XXXX

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  9. Well done Millie, it is always good to know these tricks. I will file that one away for the future, just in case.
    xx

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  10. Niches are just the best invention ever. Well done on getting what you want - I salute you! ;)

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  11. My, my Millie you drive a hard bargain, but dear MOTH should remember - hell has no fury like a woman scorned or one that misses out on her niche! Leigh

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  12. Why do men have to be so darn stubborn & difficult? And you were only thinking of his safety...

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  13. Honestly Millie, you are an inspiration to us all. It's sort of sweet the way MOTH puts up a fight though. Meredy xo.

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  14. Lolol. Well done Millie. You go girl. He'll thank you for it when he realises he isn't injuring any part of his bod on bits that jut out!! :)

    p.s. I finally got around to asking mum about the type of lizard the bench/seat represented. It wasn't meant to be any particular lizard and could in fact be a dragon lizard. When I look at it again, I do think it does look a bit dragon-ish to me. So I think we can say that your eyes are fine and your brain is far from atrophying!

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  15. yeah Millie, so glad that you have your little niches.
    Neat to hear that the bathroom is coming on in leaps and bounds.

    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  16. Le Husband is a builder as well. I've changed my tactics to ESP. He only really wants to do something - if it's "HIS" idea. So now whenever I want a change in the construction plans - I just think about it over and over in his presence. In no time he will say "What do you think about doing this?" I reply "Brilliant!"

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And none will hear the postman's knock
Without a quickening of the heart.
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
~W.H. Auden

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