With the bumper Easter bank holiday weekend now upon us, many of us will be turning our attention to home improvements, but has an animal or pet ever hindered your progress?
Last month, one of our Which? Trusted traders, South West Plumbing, tweeted (how apt) us to let us know there was a bit of a flap on – they’d received a call from an elderly customer, who said she could hear something behind her gas fire.
One of the company’s engineers, Tom Martin, discovered the noises were being made by a stricken bird, who’d got himself stuck behind the fire.
Fortunately, Tom was able to free him (shortly after naming him ‘Percy’) and release him into the back garden.
Always consider animals
Earlier today, this little guy was found stuck behind a gas fire
Well done to SW Plumbing's Tom for rescuing him 👏 pic.twitter.com/hDAn570Lqj
— Trusted Traders (@WhichTraders) March 14, 2017
Trainee business manager Jamie Stockbridge told us incidents like these aren’t too uncommon – South West Plumbing has itself rescued a number of other birds in the past couple of years – more often than not a result of clumsy critters sitting on chimneys without guards.
But with the Easter weekend heralding the start of the DIY season, and the likelihood that some of you will be spending some of it doing home improvements, a spot of spring cleaning or gardening, we’re wondering if a wild animal or even a pet has ever hampered your handiwork?
Nesting birds
With the recent warm weather, many of you will be eager to get on the garden.
But if you intend to cut back trees or trim your hedges, make sure you check for nesting birds first, as it’s an offence under Section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 to intentionally take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built.
Avoiding a cat-astrophe
When doing jobs around the house, always factor in your pets, keeping them out of harm’s away, especially if you’re using machinery.
Indeed, one colleague learnt this the hard way when a gas engineer had the floor boards up in her home to fit the pipes to a new boiler.
No sooner had the engineer left, she realised her housemate’s kitten was nowhere to be found.
After a frantic search, she heard him mewing from underneath the carpet and boards in one of the rooms where they’d been pulled up. Cue much upheaval to rescue him!
And if you have a trader in to do the job, make sure they consider your pets, too.
As Jamie from South West Plumbing says:
‘We have customers who ask us to make sure doors are always closed because their pets are domestic – we haven’t lost anyone’s moggy just yet!’
So, has an animal or pet hindered your home improvements? What happened?
Happy Easter!
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