Sorry, sorry, sorry.  I haven't finished the Saga of the Old House.  There's more to tell...
I know.  Downtown Abbey might run to fewer episodes yet.

To recap. The Old House had flooded as a result of burst pipes. Pipes that burst after I sold it (remember the mantra!). This is a house that no longer has ceilings or floors in the bedrooms. Or carpets or flooring on the ground floors for that matter. 
I had sold  it. 
But there was one problem;  I had left a £1,000 deposit with the builders to cover any snags they might find after they took over the property.

And I knew that there would be snags.  Even the most euphemistic of estate agents would have said the old house was quirky.  These quirks included a bathroom shower  so pathetic you had to dance in it to get wet.  Half the windows didn't open; and a couple didn't close properly either.  We were missing skirting boards in the hall way, and the shower in the en suite periodically stopped working until you put the shower head on the floor, turned off and turned on the shower.
Oh yes, and the gas fire in the living room had been condemned on an earlier gas inspection. The inspector had had to remove the connection between gas mains and my gas fire.

Mine was the only house in Scotland with a decorative fire.  Bless.

I didn't expect the full £1,000 back.  I was expecting some deductions for the dog damage to the windowsills, or the loose flooring upstairs, or the leaking radiator, or the hole in the cupboard door in the boy's bedroom.

But my new house has five bedrooms, and these bedrooms need curtains. 

And the time was up for them to confirm deductions or return my deposit.  Needs must. I phoned the property developer's office. I cleared my throat.  And I asked when they might be able to finish testing everything for snags.

Seeing's how everything downstairs is covered in soggy plaster and wood, and most stuff upstairs will be unreachable until they build floors,  this was a wee bit of a disingenuous question.

But the lady at the property company agreed that the flood wasn't a snag.
She said she'd get back to me.

And two days before Christmas I got my deposit returned in full.
No.  I did check.  The cheque was made out to me.
They haven't found any snags....