Sadly, it's another "ouch" to the pocket; the leak upstairs wasn't a faulty joint, but a dodgy section of piping [apparently there was a problem with supplies, once we started importing them, of batches not being cleaned (internally) and they developed pinholes at frequent points along the length], and all the other bits of exposed tubing show signs of corrosion, too...
Later on, Steve was looking for ways to do his ring main as efficiently/easily as possible, and found that all the radiators he could see had had the pipes cut off just the other side of the walls; nice!
Saves us worrying about someone breaking in to strip out the piping, I suppose?
[But for those of us who worry anyway, now we can worry about people breaking in thinking they will strip out the piping - result?
]I had already (almost) persuaded David that if the plumbing was that bad, the central heating done at the same time was likely to suffer from the same problems sooner or later, and so we ought to think about doing that, too... This, I believe, will carry the point!
Richard had a look around, as is going to prepare us quotes for installing a new combi-boiler [the old boiler is old; anthracite central heating, anyone?] that will run the hot water, central heating [that we suspect we are going to have to add on at a later date], and fitting the bathroom [the current (pale yellow, 70's?) one will have to be ripped out to run the new pipework, and he says it's really not worth re-installing the ancient (not in a good way) sanitary ware and re-doing it a couple of years later].
Hm, not looking forward to that dropping in the inbox. [Not that BT is offering me the luxury of working email, again, today.] Nor the delay before he can start.
At least whilst he was there he replaced the stop-cock; now we can turn off the water in the house, and not at the supply by the 'hedge' - a real step forward.
Steve came again and was stripping out old wiring, and working out where the new cable runs should/could be, and found some more "lovely" examples of why some people should have to pass an examination before being allowed to purchase a screwdriver...
And even then never allowed to use it!
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| 'Oh, just twist the wires & add some tape, it'll be fine!' |
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| I suppose leaving wires unsheathed saves the rats some effort? |
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| Don't try this at home! |
The joys of living in the country!
Steve got horribly covered in fibreglass insulation (and that stuff is nasty), and bird/rodent nests whilst crawling in the eaves and roof pitch; I feel guilty about that, but he said he's been in worse spaces... If there was anything I could do, I would, but I don't have the time machine [if I did, I'd be confiscating that screwdriver first off!].
Today was the first time I really started to feel confident that he will do a good job: previously I have been reassured of his technical competence, but his dissimilarity to all other building tradesmen I've ever come across, and a hesitance [I think he's been talking himself through things as much as just talking?] about what he was going to do have just left me with warning bells going off...
I suspect it's because he had a career before training as an electrician, whereas all the chaps that my dad worked with/subcontracted for him, and those I've employed since, were all immersed in that 'world' from leaving school (if not before; many followed their dads into the family business). The only thing I can liken it to is a perfect second-language speaker: they may even speak/write that language better than many native speakers [not impossible when you see some English people interviewed on television; even a reasonably competent "holiday" English speaker can do better than a few folk I've seen on Jeremy Kyle!], but they're never going to be confused for English. Sometimes the perfection is what sets them apart, if nothing else?
Whatever it is/was, I'm now extremely hopeful for a good result.
[But that doesn't mean I'm not going to keep my fingers crossed a bit longer!
]David was removing old piping [we're hoping that removing it from site will keep the house un-bothered by thieves], and took out the two header tanks; a salutary reminder why you should never drink the water in bathrooms - yuk!
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| Limescale and dirty water |
I know they say to buy land because they 'don't make it any more', but it feels as though I'm some sort of magician at the moment; I was going to leave the lower branches on the conifers where they're not choked by thickets of prickles, but it may be too tempting to resist that chance to make the garden another ten foot bigger.
We've been so fantastically lucky with the weather since we bought the house - we've had the driest September since records began [so for over 100 years], and it's been lovely most days - I'm determined to wring out the last bit of time I can each day... So we're either leaving once we physically can't do any more, or (like last night) when it gets too dark to see.
We were rolling out of the gate at 7pm and heading 'home' for some much-deserved fish & chips [or veggie-burger & chips for the flesh-intolerant amongst us]. It was really nice, and I was so stuffed by the time I gave up that I couldn't even squeeze down any chocolate.
And, boy, did I sleep like a log!
Now I'm off to buy a pipe-cutter...
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