Plumb Jam

The end of February had been our projected date for enjoying our first hot shower and banishing the portaloo – but fate seemed to be conspiring against us.

A bathroom basin and tap is probably a small thing to most people
– but this sight brought great joy in our household!

Having our  plumbing completed is something we’ve been looking forward to fr quite sometime.  As we explained last year, the Christmas break meant that we lost our Plumbers services for quite a few weeks.  That was fine because we had  a number of things to do before water could be connected.

On a rare sunny day between two wet rainy ones, Mich installs the solar tubes
or our hot water system – not a job to be done in bad weather

 The temperature in our water tank was already beginning to climb as Mich finished.
“The sun will probably bugger off now” he suggested.  And naturally – it did.
No shower that night, then.

 The kitchen needed to be installed for a start, but we made the decision to polish our floors first, so this didn’t happen until towards the end of January.  Our bathroom and laundry needed to be tiled and the shower installed – all which happened roughly when it needed to.  We then experienced a delay with our fireplace hearth – the final thing to be completed before the plumber could return – as he was also installing our fireplace and wetback system.

The different components for our chimney – at this point I realised it might
be bigger than expected…

 Mich places the nose cone on ‘Apollo 11’.  This mighty structure
needs the height so that it will draw properly

 When the hearth was finally put down it wasn’t straight – and had o be taken up and redone!  Finally there was the great water tank leak – not a major source of delay but still hardly ideal.

Having lost our window with the plumber due to hold-ups which weren’t his fault, we were obliged to wait until he became available again – but the arrival of March seeing us still boiling water on the stove for dishes and paying for a portaloo used up the last of our patience.

A phone call during which frank views were exchanged ensued, and to our immense relief the cavalry arrived a couple of days later. The prospect of that first shower moves ever closer!

 Rose and Mich fix the handles onto the brand new fireplace – the rude arrival
of autumn means that we’re going to be needing this sooner than expected!