Things I Won't Miss about London, #2

Doing Splinter Surgery Every Night.

British houses are very different. People here place a high value on preservation, and so as a result things are much older. There are very, very few (any?) "new" houses in Central London. You can get a new flat, certainly, but it would be very hard to find a new home.
It is not uncommon for people to live in their house of in the midst of huge renovation, with huge, gaping holes in the floor large enough to swallow a lion, and tell you to just 'mind the dust!' Our house would be considered quite nice by English standards, but probably unlivable to most American standards. Cracks in the walls & ceilings, peeling, warped window sills, a front door that doesn't close all the way, and what I'm pretty sure is lead paint everywhere. And that is just to list a few things.
But the biggest thorn in our side are the floors.

They are wood. Which, in theory, is great. But the wood is literally untreated timber like you would get from Home Depot. You can see the lights & wiring downstairs through the floor below (a certain fire hazard!), and they creak and groan like you would not believe. If you drop something on the ground, it is likely gone into the gaps between.
And, you can't walk around barefoot or stocking footed. Which means we are forever pulling splinters out of the kids feet, knees and fingers.