[John:] with it just there. Yes.
[Gill:] Oh have you got a pen? Oh I see.... Yeah carry on....
[John:] whoever listens to this first off anyway.... Right, we've done it.......
[J Marsden:] So erm
[John:] What what we've done is is is print our names in capital letters there.
[J Marsden:] So you you want my name printed there?
[John:] Yes please
[J Marsden:] Right.... thirty five
[John:] Of course yeah.
[J Marsden:] That's how old I am next week.
[Gill:] [LAUGHTER]
[John:] It's only a approximate estimate.
[Gill:] Well I'm only trying to find just a few more recordings for her because they're coming towards the end of the er of the contract and er
[John:] And you're welcome to keep that if you like. If that's of any interest to you. Yeah.
[J Marsden:] Erm yeah er that'd be quite interesting have a read through, thank you.
[John:] It's a fascinating project.... Now over to you.
[J Marsden:] And it was a vertical blind we were
[John:] That's right it's this window.
[Gill:] Yes it was for this window. Mm.
[J Marsden:] Right. Have you any particul particular colour in mind?
[Gill:] Well I would
[John:] We've never ever looked at vertical blinds before. Have we? White
[Gill:] I think white actually is the best colour because it Yeah, anything else I think is going to be.
[J Marsden:] Well this is the book.... And erm... all the different erm fabrics
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] are colour coordinated so as you can
[Gill:] Yeah yeah.
[J Marsden:] see, all the white one are at the front and they're
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] they're all classed as white but you can see some are
[Gill:] But some are more cream aren't they yeah. I think I want a really a as white a white as
[J Marsden:] Do you want to come up to the window where you can see?
[Gill:] as possible cos e everything in the background is white.
[John:] If I move this out of the way cos you'll need to get at Sorry.
[Gill:] The dogs.
[John:] poor dog can see the rabbit now. [LAUGHTER]
[Gill:] [LAUGHTER]
[J Marsden:] So erm in addition to these erm fabrics here, right at the back of the book
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] there's a couple more sections where erm we've got these are some of the later fabrics which were added on. As you can see th those are white probably look a
[Gill:] Aha.
[J Marsden:] bit more fancy that the the standard ones.
[Gill:] Yeah. Okay.
[J Marsden:] Can I leave you to erm have a browse at that while I measure the door?
[Gill:] Mm
[John:] Mm.
[Gill:] Yeah fine.
[John:] What we're really essentially interested in I think is keeping the sun which tends to be very strong from there
[J Marsden:] Yes.
[John:] when it's a nice sunny day, out. So what we're looking for is one that will ern go erm
[J Marsden:] Yes.
[John:] to that angle.
[J Marsden:] Right
[John:] And
[J Marsden:] so we we go through o er one hundred and eighty degrees.
[John:] Oh they go complete through.
[J Marsden:] So from
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] from being at this angle where you're looking directly
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] through it, they go all the way to the closed position that way
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] and the other way as well.
[John:] Ah.
[Gill:] Oh they do both? Oh th that's that's that's wonderful. Yes.
[John:] That's brilliant yes. As I say we know nothing about them at all, we've never ever owned one.
[J Marsden:] However I think erm y you're one the right track erm picking white out
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] because
[Gill:] It is going to reflect the
[J Marsden:] Yes.
[Gill:] the light yes.
[J Marsden:] I've got erm I'll show the type of thing I've got.
[Gill:] Yes.
[J Marsden:] It's not it's not actually in here but... I've got erm perhaps that kind of colour
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] with more more that sort of fabric.
[Gill:] A a a gen
[J Marsden:] Erm.
[Gill:] a thicker
[J Marsden:] Yes but a similar to that but a little bit darker.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] And in the middle of Summer, the blind itself does get
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] quite warm
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] and the heat from that then
[John:] we've got an old
[Gill:] Yeah.
[John:] roller blind outside which we use erm at an angle out on to the garden
[Gill:] Well it stops the heat.
[John:] in the Summer which stops the heat
[J Marsden:] Yeah.
[John:] because it just takes the sun off the window. On the outside but it doesn't stop the light
[Gill:] It doesn't actually stop the light it doesn't No.
[John:] of course and it's
[J Marsden:] Yes.
[John:] .
[J Marsden:] Well in the continent they th th they just put blinds up the outside don't they?
[John:] Put blinds on the outside or shutters.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] Yeah. I've seen er some nice ones in Germany, they had erm quite a very erm large sort of strong erm venetian blind
[John:] Mm.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] on the outside
[John:] Oh.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] And er th th they looked very nice.
[Gill:] Yeah.
[John:] Be be perfect round here wouldn't it. [LAUGHTER]
[Gill:] [LAUGHTER]
[J Marsden:] what we need more is
[Gill:] To keep the rain out.
[John:] Yeah,
[J Marsden:] Right I'll leave you to
[Gill:] Okay.
[J Marsden:] have a browse through that.
[Gill:] Thank you.
[J Marsden:] Oh one other thing I should point out at this stage, erm on the back of some of these
[Gill:] Yeah?
[J Marsden:] you'll see various stickers. Erm as you only want one blind
[Gill:] Mhm. Take no
[J Marsden:] take no notice of those.
[Gill:] That.
[John:] Unless you wanted to do something in the kitchen as well of course.
[J Marsden:] Yes.
[Gill:] Mm.
[John:] Which is a a thought.
[J Marsden:] This is the kind of thing you've got to be looking for and thirty three percent off
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] erm... fifty percent off. That that kind of thing.
[Gill:] Aha.
[J Marsden:] If you pick one of the ones without a discount sticker on it
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] You you might get quite a nasty shock.
[Gill:] Yeah I'm [LAUGHTER] sure I would yes []. Okay.
[J Marsden:] We're like a bit like M F I we've continually
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] got some sort of sale on
[John:] Right.
[J Marsden:] And i prices alter roughly with the seasons of the year.
[Gill:] Mm.
[John:] Yeah yeah.
[J Marsden:] And erm they tend to er
[John:] So thirty three percent off is off the price of one?
[J Marsden:] That is off that's off the price erm this this particular fabric,
[John:] Right.
[J Marsden:] on on on one blind. Or if you wanted
[John:] But where you sees two for the price of one, you're effectively gonna be getting a fifty percent
[J Marsden:] Erm
[Gill:] It would be it would be two for the Well it actually it actually tells you doesn't it?
[John:] Or fifty percent reduction. So it would be two for the price of the most expensive one wouldn't it, yeah. Or two for a hundred and fifty or
[Gill:] Presumably that's what it would mean. You would get
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] two for a
[J Marsden:] Yes.
[Gill:] two hundred and fifty pounds or
[J Marsden:] Wh what no matter what erm size.
[John:] So we'll suddenly find this window that's thirty foot long by seven foot high and
[Gill:] [LAUGHTER]
[J Marsden:] Well yes.
[Gill:] This is the biggest window we've got.
[John:] This is the biggest window in the house it's alright.
[J Marsden:] They're they're quite good deals if you've got er if you've
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] got sort of something like a couple of Yeah.
[John:] Floor floor to ceiling patio windows.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] I won't b Actually pr although patio windows have got the greatest erm are of glass,
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] they're not e when it comes to blinds they're not the most expensive
[John:] Ah.
[J Marsden:] blinds. The erm er width is far more important
[John:] Oh I see.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] pricing them up. Than than drop.
[Gill:] And they're not always so wide.
[J Marsden:] Erm for instance erm quite a I did one a couple of weeks ago erm on Avenue.
[Gill:] Aha.
[J Marsden:] And erm chap was quite surprised to find that the bedroom window worked out more than his patio.
[Gill:] Aha. Because of the width.
[J Marsden:] And it was simply because it was er
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] it was quite a long one.
[John:] Right.
[J Marsden:] And
[John:] And it's the track stuff is it the the basic machinery that's the
[J Marsden:] Yes it's far more number of levers.
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] You know and there's more part of the price is in in not so much on the materials. It's how much work
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] goes into making them up.
[Gill:] That's right.
[John:] Right.
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] And there's something else I I would just point out before I measure your window.
[Gill:] Mhm....
[John:] Cos it was you said there were two or three different kinds of
[J Marsden:] Yeah....
[John:] track systems.
[J Marsden:] Yeah we do two systems. The more common one being this one.
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] Erm the blind you've got two controls,
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] You've got a chain which when you pull that, can you see these
[Gill:] Yeah.
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] hooks? that's that's the tilting mechanism of the louvre. And then there's a cord as well
[John:] Which which draws them.
[J Marsden:] Yeah which draws them across.
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] Then of course there's a there's a chain which hangs on there to prevent this this c
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] kind of thing what you see now. Erm... this head rail in addition to white, it also comes in a silver or aluminium.
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] And also beige as well. This is the cheaper version which only comes in aluminium
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] and the other difference being, instead of having the the control at the side for for drawing the blinds, you've just got this simple er string.
[John:] Oh I see you just pull it along
[J Marsden:] Pull them along that way.
[Gill:] Yeah yeah.
[John:] So
[Gill:] Not quite so
[J Marsden:] No. The other one works out a bit more expensive.
[Gill:] Yeah.
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] And also there's erm there's er a price increase of colour as well.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] Erm look at this window roughly. I I can give you an accurate price in a few minutes but roughly you'd pay about five pounds more
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] if you wanted either white or beige
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] as opposed to the aluminium.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[John:] I should think white would be the best
[Gill:] Well white is the obvious isn't it I think for this one. finished decorating.
[J Marsden:] Well shall I fish this tape measure out and er measure the window.... Right let's have a look....
[John:] And it's got to be one of those whites.
[Gill:] Well it's gonna have to be the white.
[John:] Do you want a textured one or
[Gill:] I don't know. really what the main difference is I suppose....
[J Marsden:] Have you been in Southwell for long?
[John:] Seventeen years. Yeah.
[J Marsden:] So that's is that roughly when this house was built?
[John:] No no it was about twenty two.
[Gill:] Yeah.
[John:] A couple of years
[J Marsden:] I used to cut across this it used to be a field on the way home from
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] well it was from school when I was a lad.
[Gill:] You you you were there were you at school?
[J Marsden:] Yeah.
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] And er lived on Gardens.
[Gill:] Oh yeah.
[J Marsden:] Er so erm as I remember it erm... Drive was only half built
[John:] Right.
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] the houses on the other side.
[Gill:] Aha.
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] On the Road side, they were built erm quite a quite a while before they built the other side of the road.
[John:] Right.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] And it it was quite strange, it was just sort of a row of houses
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] And a road and then fields.
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] Just like that. But as i say it was like that for two or three years.
[John:] Mm.
[Gill:] Cos it was orchard land originally I think part of?
[J Marsden:] This was actually Yeah this was this this was a field here
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] erm erm that bit over there erm where Close is
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] that was an orchard.
[John:] Ah.
[J Marsden:] But the rest of it was just you know l you know erm
[Gill:] At the end, the back yes, yes.
[John:] Over the back
[J Marsden:] It was just all all like that you know a few tress but mainly grass.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[John:] Well we were told this was the lo about the la one of the last houses to be built on this close.
[Gill:] Yeah.
[John:] But er
[Gill:] Cos I know it was and a Yes the other side was built first too
[John:] Mm.
[Gill:] wasn't it? And down A little bit later.
[John:] Yes. Just one or two people who were who were here from the start so they remembered you know th thi this was this was more or less where the builders finished off, this was about the last house they did
[J Marsden:] Yeah
[Gill:] And our front garden was a rubble. [LAUGHTER] All the rubble went there.
[J Marsden:] Yes th as I remember they did the other side of first.
[John:] Right yes.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] But erm I remember er we used to play in the houses as they were
[Gill:] [LAUGHTER]
[J Marsden:] as they were being built.
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] It's a great game isn't it? [LAUGHTER] Half built houses. []
[J Marsden:] You had to be careful that the builders didn't catch us.
[Gill:] That's right yeah.
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] [LAUGHTER]
[J Marsden:] Throwing throwing balls of putty to each other and a couple of them went through windows and
[Gill:] Oh well you had a good time.
[John:] Do you want a fire retardant one or... just in interestingly enough, the ones that have got price offers on them aren't fire retardant. I think probably supposed to have fire retardant things these days.
[Gill:] when you get to a window I don't know other than t the curtains won't be fire retardant will they?
[John:] No they're not are they?
[Gill:] You know.
[J Marsden:] I'm not sure what to tell you about that one.
[Gill:] Well I'm just thinking about what's round the windows anyway. I'm quite sure that material isn't fire retardant.
[John:] No. And I'm quite sure the wood isn't. Given the amount of treatment
[Gill:] Well there you are so
[John:] it's got in it.
[Gill:] it would seem to be rather a waste of erm
[John:] Mm.
[Gill:] whatever. I'm sure it's more expensive.
[John:] Do you want a pure do do you want a pure white or
[J Marsden:] Right.
[Gill:] Mm....
[John:] And the only other thing to do is to look at the at matching it. But I mean that's an almost perfect match isn't it to the furniture.
[J Marsden:] This is erm quite a wide window could you
[John:] Yes sure.
[J Marsden:] If we start at the top
[John:] Right.
[J Marsden:] about erm just about midway point at this
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] side bit.... Right then is we go down about halfway.... That's a little bit wider and then er the bottom as well please.... Then it's back up to the top one more time.... This is a cr critical measurement.
[John:] Yeah....
[J Marsden:] Two three six point four.... Okay....
[John:] Well that's defeated me cos I measured it in in feet feet and inches.
[Gill:] [LAUGHTER]...
[J Marsden:] Yes we're entirely metric apart from erm
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] in these louvre sizes.
[John:] Oh.
[J Marsden:] These are these are three and a half inches wide.
[John:] [LAUGHTER]
[Gill:] Oh I see.
[J Marsden:] And we do another one which is
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] five inches wide.
[Gill:] Ah. Well quite a mixture.
[John:] Do you want the curtains moved back a bit or
[J Marsden:] No I'll be okay thanks....
[John:] have me little pocket calculator out and.... It should be about eight by five actually.
[Gill:] Mm.... But it's very critical when you're erm
[John:] Oh yes.
[Gill:] When you've got to fit things like blinds and Especially this time.... Is it very uneven? [LAUGHTER]
[J Marsden:] Erm... today.... It's erm not too bad apart from just at this end.
[Gill:] It's that end is it?
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] What
[J Marsden:] Erm where where the wrinkle is
[John:] It goes off
[J Marsden:] Yeah this last bit,
[Gill:] Yeah?
[J Marsden:] it goes up by about erm
[Gill:] Oh yeah.
[J Marsden:] by about this this amount. Which would mean the headrail
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] it would be air-packed.
[John:] Oh I see otherwise it's not going to hang
[J Marsden:] you'll have to have a couple of washers
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] into it just otherwise it would it would bend the headrail up
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] which might sort of
[Gill:] Well also the rest of it's going to look a bit weird at the bottom isn't it? It wouldn't
[J Marsden:] That's right it would it would pull pull the bottom
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] bit up as well. It probably w probably wouldn't er run properly if
[Gill:] No.
[J Marsden:] if it was bent.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] Right.
[John:] Which end do the controls normally come? On the right end?
[J Marsden:] Er whichever whichever side you'd like.
[John:] Cos you could sh I mean we've got the curtains sort of left handed, it might be an idea to have the blind pull on the left hand end as well.
[Gill:] Yes it's a bit more difficult to get at
[J Marsden:] Another thing erm to tell you is erm the blinds, they can either erm bunch in the left hand side,
[Gill:] Mhm.
[John:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] right hand side [clears throat] excuse me, or it can be split.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[John:] Oh I see.
[J Marsden:] There's not difference in the cost on that one.
[Gill:] Mm that splitting sounds nice.
[John:] Splitting
[J Marsden:] It's a good idea on a window this size.
[Gill:] Mm. Cos it's it's wide isn't Yeah.
[John:] Yes it is cos otherwise you end up with a big big
[J Marsden:] Yes, on this window, if you had them all bunched at one side, it would be
[Gill:] Take up half half one of these
[J Marsden:] this sort of
[Gill:] windows wouldn't it?
[J Marsden:] Yeah quite a bit.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] As opposed to two like that.
[Gill:] Yeah which is obviously better
[John:] .
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] Were there any in particular that you liked?
[Gill:] What well mainly what what is the I mean, these thinner ones, presumably they would do the job as well as I don't know I mean, it's keeping out What I want to do is to keep out the sun.
[J Marsden:] Yes.
[Gill:] From the furniture so
[J Marsden:] They'll all they'll all keep the sun out,
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] But what will happen however is erm... when the sun is directly on them
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] it'll sort of erm light them up it'll be very
[John:] Yeah,
[Gill:] Mhm. You'll have a glare.
[J Marsden:] It'll very yeah, very white
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] erm st quite strong white glare
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] will will come up the blind. But it will actually stop the direct rays of the sun so you know
[Gill:] Mm.
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] for to protect your furnishings
[Gill:] That's right yeah.
[J Marsden:] It w it'll take erm... roughly about erm... it'll perhaps stop about half the light
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] coming into the room.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] Erm when the when that's when the sun's directly
[Gill:] Yes yeah cos it's really only the the worst of the sun in the middle of the day in the Summer I think that does most of the damage. Although the light does light rots anyway doesn't it.
[J Marsden:] Yes.
[Gill:] But er mm. Well it's got to be one of the pure white ones whatever. And can you tell me anything about the materials that are actually cos they don't
[J Marsden:] Yes I can
[John:] Are are they better heavier than light or
[J Marsden:] Erm... I think it's just it's just personal erm preference really
[Gill:] It's choice is it whatever you the l the look rather than
[John:] Mm.
[Gill:] I just wondered is any of them were were going to do a better job than
[J Marsden:] I think w I think when it comes down to s durability they're all
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] pretty much the same.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] Apart from there's erm there's one at the back of the book which is er machine washable.
[Gill:] Aha.
[J Marsden:] You can actually put them in your washing machine.
[John:] That sounds like a nice idea.
[Gill:] Does it? [LAUGHTER]
[J Marsden:] Unless erm you've got sort of
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] a problem with a heavy smoker or
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] a coal fire or that kind of thing.
[John:] There's not much
[Gill:] There's not much point is there?
[J Marsden:] They should go they should go for quite a number of years.
[Gill:] Yes yes.
[J Marsden:] Witho without any maintenance.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] Erm you know these these are the various fabrics, you know, this is what they're made from.
[John:] Oh most of them are polyester.
[Gill:] Oh they're made polyester.
[John:] Mm.
[Gill:] So they're in fact they're virtually all polyester aren't they.
[J Marsden:] Yeah. If they do need er cleaning, the advice is to use erm a a very mild detergent and erm a damp cloth.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] But only just damp.
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] Mhm so you don't soak it.
[J Marsden:] Yes because they've all got erm a stiffening agent
[Gill:] Right. Yes.
[J Marsden:] in the fabric. And if they get too wet they will wrinkle.
[Gill:] Mhm. Yeah. Mm.... Well I don't know. Difficult to say isn't it. I hate being pressed for choices.
[J Marsden:] Just as well to give you an idea, erm they come in they come in various price
[Gill:] Yes.
[J Marsden:] categories.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] Erm with the headrail that you were looking at, it's this one and they come they go from er one to six. Erm for instance, the cheapest one, the one that is is that one.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] That's erm price category one.
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] Er this one for instance, is er... er here we go. Yeah that's the most expensive.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] And so fifty percent off on this one is going to work out more expensive than thirty three percent off
[Gill:] Mhm.
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] on that one.
[Gill:] Mhm.... Mm....
[John:] It's difficult to work out why some of these should be so much more expensive than others isn't it?
[Gill:] What about that one?
[John:] Spice?
[Gill:] Mm.
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] A lot of it A lot of it is just is just down to erm marketing
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] I think and erm
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] I think erm most most of the people who do blinds, do some sort of system like this
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] And erm... I suppose it would make it would be a lot more logical if all the blinds were just the same price all the time.
[John:] Yes and you chose.
[J Marsden:] Y but yes but we're by doing some form of sale
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] people see the the word sale
[John:] Yeah I know
[J Marsden:] They feel more inclined to buy them. And er
[Gill:] actually
[J Marsden:] it's just it's just unfortunate if the one if you the one that you like doesn't happen
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] to be in the sale at that particular time.
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] You know, in three months or six months time
[John:] It might be.
[J Marsden:] Yes.
[Gill:] Mm.... Some of them are definitely denser than others aren't they.
[John:] Mm.
[Gill:] you know. difference I don't suppose actually got the direct sun on it. Mm....
[J Marsden:] Yeah m my erm I live on Road,
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] so my er this in my house this is a patio window.
[John:] Right.
[J Marsden:] And er w we've got the seating along that wall
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] and that one and so erm what I do in the Summer as you said, when the sun's sort of at two o'clock
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] one o'clock, it's over there, and I angle my blinds in this direction and so Yes
[Gill:] Yes yeah that's it and you can do this still can't you and you can still see out.
[J Marsden:] From from the the seats we can still see out into the garden but it keeps We've got the television over in this corner
[Gill:] And you can still see
[J Marsden:] It ke Yeah we can still see the telly.
[Gill:] Aha.
[J Marsden:] Also it keeps the sun off it.
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] And keeps it off the carpet as well.
[John:] Yes.
[Gill:] That's right yeah. Mm. I quite like that one actually.
[John:] Spice, mm.
[Gill:] Mm.... Just not too plain, it's got some... some
[J Marsden:] Yeah that's quite a popular one that is
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] A lady at 's just erm ordered one of those this morning.
[Gill:] I think I like that one actually.
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] What do you think.
[John:] Well I you know I
[Gill:] Doesn't make a I know.
[J Marsden:] It doesn't make a lot of difference really. Once they're up they're up.
[Gill:] Once they're up they erm up you you're not gonna notice really after a while
[J Marsden:] Mm.
[Gill:] what it what it is.
[J Marsden:] Some of them erm the pattern
[Gill:] But I Yes that one I think.
[J Marsden:] shows through more than others.
[Gill:] Yes.
[J Marsden:] If you want to take them out of the book
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] and just hold them up to light you quite welcome to do so.
[Gill:] Mm yes well I can actually see you know
[John:] That that's got a sort of a
[Gill:] You've got a line across there
[John:] which I think's quite attractive.
[Gill:] Mm.
[John:] How l how long are they supposed to last, things like this? Or is that a stupid question?
[Gill:] depends on
[J Marsden:] I don't know.
[Gill:] your house and what you what you do in it
[J Marsden:] Yeah. I've got erm a fourteen month old baby
[Gill:] Mm.
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] and er erm I've only got one vertical and that's on the patio and of course it's within his reach
[John:] yeah.
[J Marsden:] We've got the er chains on the bottom that interlink the louvres so grabbing hold of those
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] and giving them a good pull. So how long the blinds' re going to last I don't know. [LAUGHTER]
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] Perhaps about another six months
[Gill:] [LAUGHTER]
[John:] we did know somebody erm down on actually who had a a vertical blind and several of the chains had broken or disappeared on the bottom of that
[J Marsden:] Yeah.
[John:] the the blind worked alright.
[Gill:] But that's probably not gonna happen along there there won't be anything else on the windowsill.
[John:] That's it was it was as you say over a patio door, it was actually being used as an entrance door as well
[J Marsden:] Yeah.
[John:] so people were constantly sort of shoving this aside and walking through.
[J Marsden:] little dogs as well tend to er get tangled up
[John:] Yes.
[J Marsden:] in the bottom
[Gill:] Yes.
[J Marsden:] of blinds.
[Gill:] Or cats in her in her case it was cats, yes.
[John:] It was cats in her case.
[J Marsden:] Had to replace one erm er Close
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] the other week
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] and that was in a right state. the lady's had it about ten years but she's got a little dog as well.
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] And erm there were hardly any chains left on it.
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] Well I think it is They ought to last a fair time they I mean it's not gonna be abused really is it at those windows?
[John:] No
[J Marsden:] Shall I work you a price out
[Gill:] Work it out for that one please.
[John:] Yes please.
[J Marsden:] Right....
[Gill:] Got some lovely colours.
[John:] Mm.
[Gill:] I don't really think
[John:] Be a bit heavy there wouldn't it I think.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] The thing to bear in mind with the colours is erm Well I wasn't gonna say that
[Gill:] [LAUGHTER] Well that I was thinking actually with that colour. []
[J Marsden:] You might do I do erm... red one might fade a bit I don't know.
[Gill:] Mm
[J Marsden:] Generally w red erm red cars sure they fade.
[John:] Mm.
[Gill:] Yes yes.
[J Marsden:] I've made made that mistake in the past.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] I I buy white now.
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] Or
[Gill:] Yes. No I think white for here is best cos the sun is quite I mean you get quite a lot of sun don't you on on on this side of the house.
[J Marsden:] Yeah with erm with the colours though that's what I was going to say, the thing to bear in mind is it's like choosing erm paint or wallpaper.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] You see a small sample there you think, oh yeah that that's quite good. But when it's
[Gill:] When it's a big
[J Marsden:] when it's a lot bigger it's the the the shade
[John:] Mm.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] tends to be t to seem a lot darker. All the colouring, a lot more bold. You know, the larger the area....
[John:] sit down. It's ages since I've been able to sit on the windowsill.
[Gill:] Is it?
[John:] Mm....
[Gill:] Oh the radiator
[John:] radiator is turned up. Mm.
[Gill:] Mm.
[John:] have another go.
[J Marsden:] Right, the one you fancied was Spice was it?
[Gill:] Yes it was.
[J Marsden:] Right.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] Having trouble with both these pens today, I left them in the car last night, I think they must have got a bit cold.
[John:] I've got borrow this borrow this blue one if you like.... It was working.
[Gill:] Do you want to sit down?
[J Marsden:] Yeah thanks.... Right....
[John:] well I can push this back against the... space again.
[Gill:] ...
[J Marsden:] Right you [cough] you said you'd prefer a white head rail didn't you?
[Gill:] Yes.
[John:] Yes.
[J Marsden:] Yeah. Erm there are two two other erm factors I've got to look at
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] to work the price out. Erm I mentioned earlier chains on the bottom of the louvres.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] Which they're er a little chains which which
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] interlink the louvres. The idea behind them is that erm the louvres Yeah they hang a bit more erm evenly. Erm just difference they would make to the price....
[John:] These back ones, the so called concept ones are all machine washable.
[Gill:] Mm.
[John:] So it said.
[Gill:] Oh well.
[J Marsden:] Yeah I think th there are some there that aren't actually.
[John:] Oh.
[J Marsden:] That book's not quite correct. Erm... these are these are definitely.
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] Erm... We've just the they've just been altered actually
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] since Christmas. I think... yeah, the information that you see on here is incorrect I'm afraid, it's just
[John:] Yeah, it's just those.
[J Marsden:] Yeah. They should have some stickers on saying machine wash washable.
[John:] Yeah....
[Gill:] I don't know.
[J Marsden:] But I'm fairly certain it's just those.
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] It'll be alright as long as as long as you keep them
[John:] Yeah, I could see your mother going
[J Marsden:] the idea behind this machine washable bit it's
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] for it's er places like erm pubs or
[Gill:] Where you've got smokers or you've got an open fire
[J Marsden:] canteens
[Gill:] or something Yes
[J Marsden:] Yeah.
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] More of a commercial thing.
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] And erm we've just actually we've just erm I've not got a sample of it, we've just got another louvre called a which is erm a P V C it's more sort of similar to erm erm you know the the slats on a venetian blind
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] similar to one of those.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] But actually in the vertical.
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] Totally different.
[Gill:] But they can just be wiped anyway.
[J Marsden:] Yes.
[John:] Mm.... That was a job I always hated, wiping the venetian blind. spend all day and still not get it out.
[Gill:] I thought the idea was to keep them dusted al if you can keep them dusted regularly then
[John:] Mm.
[Gill:] Feather duster's a good idea....
[John:] A tremendous range of choice though haven't they? Mm.
[Gill:] ... You can colour coordinate almost anything.
[John:] ... The one in the in the you know the erm machine washable ones is an almost exact match to this.
[Gill:] I think it would I think the colour would fade
[John:] Yeah probably. You'd have the same problem with the blinds you're trying to avoid with er
[Gill:] And I know white discolours as well but then I think.
[John:] ...
[Gill:] No I'm not keen....
[John:] I assume you didn't want to think about the kitchen? No....
[Gill:] .
[John:] Yeah. that's one place you would need it to be washable.
[Gill:] We've got a blind anyway
[John:] Given the Yes. Mm.
[Gill:] which you just pull down to wherever you need it in the Summer.
[J Marsden:] Erm yes, one other thing. Erm it's affects the price.
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] and that's the erm width of the louvre.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] [clears throat] The ones that you see in the book they're three and a half inches. Erm the other one is a five inch
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] which is kind of width.
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] Erm it's entirely yo don't to your own personal choice which one you go for. However, the three and a half inch works out more expensive.
[John:] Because you've got more of them.
[Gill:] Because you've got more of them.
[J Marsden:] Yeah.
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] About fifteen percent er ro roughly fifteen percent extra.
[Gill:] What width has your mum got then?
[John:] There's plenty of width there.
[J Marsden:] on a large window like this you'd you'd get away with the five inch one.
[Gill:] Mm.
[John:] look out of place.
[J Marsden:] It's only on the sort of very small windows that it would look
[John:] Mm.
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] too big.
[John:] Yeah all right It's because it'll be that reduces then the number of pieces of machinery and the number of
[Gill:] Mm.
[John:] It also means that they'll draw back to a a narrower profile doesn't it.... Is that rotten dog snoring again?
[Gill:] [LAUGHTER]
[John:] She seems to spend all day asleep, I don't know what she does at night? Does she sleep at night as well?...
[J Marsden:] Yeah I think erm actually my there's probably nothing wrong with my pens, I'm trying to write on the back of this paper it's paper
[Gill:] Yes it's not Yes. Mm.
[J Marsden:] Right the price erm f for erm that Spice, that comes out at one hundred and seventeen pounds
[John:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] eighty pence. Erm if that's sounds too much,th the way we could make it cheaper it erm not to have erm the interlinking chains. The the cost of those on a blind this size is sixteen pounds.
[Gill:] Mm.
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] Erm if if you didn't have those erm what would happen instead is the erm, the louvres are a are still weighted at the bottom but it's a slightly smaller weight. It's actually and it's actually sewn in into the louvre as opposed to the er the larger weights. They just slot through and then the chains clip on. So that one would come out then at erm just over a hundred pounds.
[John:] Mm. It's up to you, do you want the chains on the bottom or? Well I think so yes yeah. You know you know what's gonna happen i if they aren't.
[Gill:] Well they would tend to swing around a bit more.
[J Marsden:] Well what tends to happen is erm when when the blinds erm... the only time it's a bit noticeable is when the blinds completely closed.
[Gill:] Mm.
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] Because what you n notice is there's about sort of erm getting on towards half an inch overlap between the louvres. And that's the noticeable part because
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] it erm it's you're doubling the material thickness and so you tend to you get dark
[Gill:] You'll see lines
[J Marsden:] dark strips.
[Gill:] And so you might see of them.
[J Marsden:] That's right some which m could possibly a bit wider than
[Gill:] Yeah
[J Marsden:] others.
[Gill:] Yeah yeah it'll look like stripes that are on uneven.
[J Marsden:] Yeah, the chains are more important the the higher the window is.
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] On a small window really not
[Gill:] That's quite a e erm a high window really isn't it cos it's
[J Marsden:] Yeah.
[Gill:] the windowsill is low.
[J Marsden:] You're sort of halfway betwe yeah between the an average size window and a patio.
[Gill:] And a patio yeah. Yeah.
[John:] Go with the chains
[Gill:] I I would think it would actually hang better.
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] Mm.
[John:] Yeah yeah.
[J Marsden:] you that that price is okay then is it?
[John:] I would think so yes.
[Gill:] Mm mm.
[J Marsden:] Some people are quite shocked when they find out it's more than
[Gill:] Oh.
[J Marsden:] than than they were quoted over the phone but
[John:] Having having erm been into various things like this I think we're almost unshockable by now.
[Gill:] [LAUGHTER]
[John:] Er what we are gonna do and obviously we're in the process of, you're the first at the moment, is to have two or three quotations from different people.
[J Marsden:] Yeah sure.
[John:] To do it so erm if if you can let us have a copy in writing of your
[J Marsden:] Yeah I'll I'll erm I'll give you a full quote And then erm if erm if you get somebody else in
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] who's erm who's offering offering you an equivalent system
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] to the one that I've come up with erm I E the white headrail and
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] which operates in the same way
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] and with a very similar fabric, then I'll try and my best to to beat their quote.
[John:] Understood.
[J Marsden:] You know, we don't like to be beaten.
[John:] Well no. Although I've no doubt you know better than we do what the opposition are [LAUGHTER]
[J Marsden:] Well
[John:] are offering or not.
[J Marsden:] I think we're all pretty much the same actually.
[John:] Yes. Yeah yeah.
[Gill:] Yeah well
[J Marsden:] My blinds are in my house erm... none of them are blinds
[John:] Mm.
[J Marsden:] because I bought them all before t I started
[John:] Right.
[J Marsden:] started this job and er I I've got erm
[John:] No I haven't approached them, I've contacted Blinds haven't I.
[Gill:] I don't know who you've
[John:] I've got a list upstairs of various people I've got one person
[Gill:] You've only got one Yes you've got somebody coming
[J Marsden:] I got my I got my vertical from the one at Newark and the venetian blind centre.
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] And erm I don't think there's a lot to to choose from actually.
[John:] Yes we were gonna go in and see them weren't we?
[Gill:] I d I don't know.
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] You did the phoning I [LAUGHTER] haven't got a clue [].
[John:] .
[J Marsden:] Yeah they've got books very similar and I think they're pricing structure's pretty similar as well.
[John:] Yeah. Mm. roughly the same, I expect we shall go with you.
[J Marsden:] Well be more essentially the the material
[Gill:] The only thing that I've just thought about actually is window wh in the me on the measurement side rather than anything else is that I haven't Because we've just had those windows replaced, I haven't finished decorating around the top. This wood- chip paper does It's fairly thick isn't it as a paper, will that make a lot of difference to your actually measurement that you make. I know it's about about that much isn't it.
[J Marsden:] Yeah erm w what I've done, I've measured I've taken an exact measurement,
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] from the lintel to the
[Gill:] And obviously it's go it's gotta be
[J Marsden:] And the blind is then made approximately er twenty millimetres shorter
[Gill:] So that it'll allow for
[J Marsden:] So we're talking about three quarters of an inch.
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] So th
[Gill:] Cause o the the frame at the bottom is gonna
[J Marsden:] Yeah it's guaranteed to to clear the sill
[Gill:] Yeah just ab I just thought I'd mention it just [LAUGHTER] in case.
[J Marsden:] Yeah. And also when I took the measurement, I took actually took it
[Gill:] You took
[J Marsden:] from the smallest and also
[Gill:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] That lintel, there's quite a big slope on it as well,
[Gill:] There is isn't there.
[J Marsden:] And it slopes towards the window so I've actually taken the measurement nearest the erm windows itself to be on the safe side.
[Gill:] In fact I bit silly because this was the only room I didn't bother to finish round the windows and round the doorway. And I didn't make any mess whatsoever, I mean you wouldn't know replaced the window.
[J Marsden:] Yeah.
[Gill:] So I wished I'd done it all in the first place, now I've got to do it. [LAUGHTER]
[John:] That was your mother. Had had
[Gill:] Oh she wanted to know about the door. we heard anything about the door. I said no. They were only gonna ring us if there was anything wrong and I had this horrible feeling at that point that that was the vet ringing up to say things had gone wrong.
[J Marsden:] It's number fifteen isn't it?
[John:] It's fifteen yeah.... Yes you're actually e sitting outside the original house, as it was built cos we had a room put on for the the back here originally.
[J Marsden:] Oh I see.
[John:] That was the end of the house. It's all a bit confusing now cos we've I've just finished altering the whole of the middle of it but this It was a twenty four foot long main lounge.
[J Marsden:] Yeah.
[John:] Just straight through to the front of the house. With a fireplace in the middle, but they've now put dividing walls in, taken the old frame out from the back and this was originally built as an additional room on the back.
[J Marsden:] yeah.
[John:] But we've now moved the music things that we had out here, into the little room at the front.
[J Marsden:] Right. Is is that er,
[John:] Turned this into a lou
[J Marsden:] that wall there er an original wall?
[John:] The one on the left is, the one on the right isn't. I've only just finished building the one on the right.
[Gill:] on that side.
[John:] That was the cupboard under the stairs, it's now a cloakroom.
[J Marsden:] Yeah. Yeah m my father in law lives on Place
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] and er I'm just trying to work out if it's the same style as this.
[John:] This is a four-bedroomed one.
[Gill:] They're very similar.
[John:] They're very similar.
[Gill:] Yes the ones round there are they're they're the same yeah.
[John:] They're the same pattern
[Gill:] The three and four bedroom....
[John:] People who knew us before and haven't been here since get terribly confused when they walk in and rather wonder everything has gone to. Did that get too much heat when I was gone?
[Gill:] No. They don't l they want more light.
[John:] Yeah. Well they're not gonna get it are they.
[Gill:] [LAUGHTER] No. []
[John:] It's alright it wasn't the vet it was your grandmother. [LAUGHTER]... I would assume by now that erm you know that they've finished operating and it's alright.... Cos they normally do them after they've done their morning surgery don't they, some time about half ten or eleven.
[Gill:] Yeah.
[John:] I think.... lampshade.
[Gill:] Well the other thing I was thinking of was if we if we felt we needed to put a new roller blind at the window
[John:] Mm.
[Gill:] I mean plain white ones whatever
[John:] No.
[Gill:] .
[John:] Although that's never a problem is it with large
[Gill:] I don't think it needs No I I don't think it really needs one but if we did.
[J Marsden:] Sorry where were you thinking of doing a roller?
[Gill:] Well I was just wo wondering about that window but I pr I think I prefer just a curtain and I don't think I could put both there because the roller.
[J Marsden:] I was gonna say y could probably do a roller in the same fabric as
[Gill:] Yeah
[John:] Mm.
[Gill:] It's just that I've I mean I want a curtain there as well because otherwise it all looks a bit heavy but I don't think I could put a blind down there because of the way
[J Marsden:] I don't think you'd get
[Gill:] We wouldn't No I wo
[John:] Apart from anything else, the door won't open. [LAUGHTER]
[Gill:] No that's the other problem isn't it.
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] It's bad enough with a curtain rail on there.
[J Marsden:] the only other alternative would to actually put it itself.
[John:] Oh we've got the curtain is on the door itself.
[J Marsden:] Oh the curtain is on the door.
[Gill:] Yes otherwise the door won't open properly will it.
[John:] But the er the the cle the clearance when the door is open to the the piece of wall there is only that much.
[J Marsden:] Oh I see.
[John:] That's a I I had to do a little bit of er adaption work on the on the curtain rail put that on....
[J Marsden:] Right. There's your quote then.
[Gill:] [LAUGHTER]
[John:] Get me glasses get me glasses. [LAUGHTER]
[J Marsden:] Alright so that was the colour wasn't it
[John:] Yes.
[J Marsden:] the Spice White? Erm
[John:] .
[J Marsden:] So I've quoted you there for the chains.
[John:] Five inch width.
[J Marsden:] Five inch yeah. The three and a half inch is as I said it's approximately
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] fifteen percent extra.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] But the five inch would be okay on there.
[John:] Yeah.
[J Marsden:] This is just this bunch and control. I you decide to order it, which side split or whatever and where you want the controls
[Gill:] Aha I see. Yeah.
[John:] Well we we we'd want the controls on the left and we want them to be split.
[Gill:] We don't need to worry about that.
[J Marsden:] Mhm.
[John:] But that do that doesn't matter yet.
[J Marsden:] Right and a white headrail as well.
[John:] Yeah.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[J Marsden:] A hundred and seventeen eighty. That is that is a complete price including VAT and that includes includes
[John:] Includes fitting.
[J Marsden:] fitting on them as well.
[Gill:] Mhm.
[John:] Who comes and does the fitting? You?
[J Marsden:] Me.
[John:] Right.
[J Marsden:] Same person.
[John:] O odd occasion we'll come across people you know who yes he seems to be the right person and then somebody else turns up to do [recording ends]