He didn’t look old enough to have left school, let alone to cast such a final opinion. ‘But—’ He shook his head sadly. ‘It’s your surface, love. Look at it, all breaking up. See?’ He bent and scraped a bit more away with his finger nail. ‘Now, if I lay it on that, you’ll have lumps and hollows in your Vinolay, too – and where it’s proud, it’ll wear through quick as you like. Well, a bloody sight quicker.’ He was right, of course. ‘So what—’ ‘What I need to do is skim it – put a levelling compound on it, leave it to set overnight and then come in first thing the next morning to put the Vinolay straight down. Don’t worry. The boss should have told you this. I’ll sort it out with him when I get back. It’ll cost you a bit more, but when we’ve done it, it’ll look a treat. Good quality stuff you’ve chosen. Last you years.’ Kate reached for her diary. ‘But what about the washing machine and the freezer? Won’t they have to be moved if you’re going to skim the whole floor?’ ‘I’ve got some industrial polythene’ll cover the washer.
