Drismal

Here we are and it’s Day 8 of our conservatory re-build and we have been really lucky with the weather since the works started. The only rain, so far, has had the decency to hold off until the end of the working day. Sprinkling while the guys have been packing up. Seems our luck has run out and this morning is starting out dull, with a light drizzle, a condition I like to describe as drismal. So it’s on with the jackets for Bob and Simon, the brickies, suitably fortified with a hot cup of tea.

So I have been pondering the economics of home construction work and have come to realise that an essential item has been missed from our costing.

Tea !!!

Or rather I should say Tea, Milk and Sugar. It seems the great british workman is fuelled by sweet tea.

During a normal week we consume perhaps 30 – 40 tea bags, 1 – 1.5 pints of milk and no sugar assuming no sweet toothed visitors.

However, consumption has ramped up significantly and seems to be running at around 64 tea bags, 3 pints of  milk and around 500 grams of sugar. This is just a rough guesstimate as the number of bods on site fluctuates. There is just the two of us but the workers vary from two to four and all but one drink their tea in the “white with two sugars” mix hence the sugar explosion.

And so I issue a word or two of advice to those considering a significant construction project on their own back door…..

If you want to keep them sweet, don’t forget to factor in the costs of providing regular teas to your workers.