Nearly there now

With contracts exchanged on Friday for our house in Clifton, we are set to move into Brookvale this coming week. We've spent the last few days gradually moving "stuff" to Brookvale - filling up cupboards, hanging pictures, and generally getting Wee House sorted out. With just the bed, mattress, chest of drawers and washing machine to go to Brookvale, we have hired a local man with a van who rejoices under the trading name of Steptoe and Son (probably better than one called Trotter's International Trading Company). Whilst there are still some things we need - coffee table, side tables, toiler roll holders, coat hooks, etc, the basic needs are all well catered for. I expect we'll have another shopping trip at the end of the week.
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At long last our rainwater harvesting man has given a date to swap the pump for an uprated version - Thursday 14th, so I'll then be able to get onto our sprinkler company to finish the installation and commission the system.
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We are still waiting for Andy our electrician to come and resolve a couple of problems we have with the electrics at Brookvale. We've also discovered that the boiler seems to have a mind of its own and refuses to be controlled by the timer, so Andy will need to check that out too. Regardless of this erratic boiler behaviour, the house does heat up very quickly and retain the heat so the high levels of insulation seem to be doing their job.
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I guess the blog will have soon run its course both as an a means of informing everyone of progress but also as an outlet for my frustrations. However, there is one final chapter to come and that involves our sprinkler company so look out for the posting in a few weeks time.
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I'm sure we'll be seeing all of you at Brookvale over the coming weeks once we've settled in.
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Relieved of Brookvale

I finally explode......

Somewhere to sit now

Scatter cushions and red doors

It had to be Anglian Water that would finally cause me to get more than a tad angry. I had received a call from a rather curt sounding young lady from the aforesaid monopoly to arrange an appointment to fit the meter. Wednesday was the date offered, between 12.00 and 17.00. "No they couldn't make it a specific time" she said. I explained that the house was unoccupied and that I would need to be telephoned 10 minutes before their man arrived. This was duly noted. I made sure I was at Brookvale at 12.00 on Wednesday anyway and worked my way through a few of the remaining jobs. At 15.30 the an Anglian Water van pulled up outside - just as well I was there as I hadn't received the promised phone call. My heart sank - it was the same over-officious fellow that took such delight in refusing to connect us the last time. Still, no matter, I've got the installation approved so no worries surely? WRONG! He insisted that I had not passed the inspection because the water regulation team manager was not able to do this. He said that all the water regulation team could do was to pass the rainwater harvesting aspects. He then asked how we had solved the shower hose problem so I took him to the bathroom and showed him the pathetic little hose lying by the taps. "That's no good" he said. "you haven't got a clip to stop you leaving the shower hose in the bath. You need a double check valve in the tap otherwise you could get bathwater being sucked back into the supply." Now my father had a favourite saying that he "got fighting mad" and I do know what he meant. Well, I laid into this fellow and covered a lot of ground before he suddenly backed down and agreed that his comment about the bathwater back flow was only for our benefit as it couldn't get into the mains supply (as I had pointed out, most politely you understand, that we had a double check valve on the main supply into the house). Of he toddled up the drive in the pouring rain (there is some justice at times) and fitted the meter. On his return he smugly told me that he thought someone had tampered with the trickle valve that had stopped us getting full mains pressure, declaring that this was a serious matter and that Anglian Water had considered prosecution in the past when this had happened. I asked to see the offending valve and he showed me a slightly rough edge in the plastic. It could so easily have been poor manufacture. I pointed out that there was little point me getting a slightly faster trickle (which is all we had received) instead of a feeble trickle and that if anyone was going to tamper with it they would make sure they got a decent flow of water surely. He didn't really answer this but proceeded to regale me with tales of how he had refused to sign off various developments including one where I got chapter and verse about the tampering with valves, broken water mains, and even access issues - how unprofessional.
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Our sofas arrived from John Lewis on Tuesday and after a little jiggling have been positioned where we think they will stay (subject to management correction of course). The living room still looks a little bare but with the curtains due to be fitted on Thursday 7th October, it should look much better.
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We had filled all the bookcases as we transferred books from Clifton so decided that we needed some more shelving. This called for another trip to IKEA where we duly went on Wednesday. Neither Jan nor I fancied the meatballs so opted for chicken (Jan) and fish (Rog). The fact that Jan ended up with fish too is one of life's little mysteries but sadly we were both disappointed as eating the filling imprisoned by the breadcrumbs was more akin to eating a cushion than fish! Anyway, another two shelving units, various containers and a display cabinet were soon on their way to the car park on a trolley with a mind of its own. We just hoped the 2 metre long cabinet pack would fit in the car, but with a bit of seat movement and Jan relegated to the back seat, it all fitted in. And no, Jan didn't tell me how to drive from her back seat.
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Two of the items we bought from IKEA are red (very red) doors that fit into the shelving units to turn them into little cupboards. We had decided, perhaps rashly, that we should paint the door to the cupboard at the end of the mezzanine in a similar bright red. Because the wood used for the door is not as smooth as it might be we opted for a satin finish as this would be less likely to show blemishes than full gloss. Trouble is, red is not generally available in satin so we've struggled to come up with any paint. My last hope is that our local builders merchants will be able to produce something on their colour mixing machine, although the look of bewilderment on the face of the hooded young person (who it seems is still training to be a human being as well as a sales assistant) did not inspire me that they could deliver. Hopefully Clever Trevor will be back next week - he's the man who lists Methuselah as a friend on Facebook and knows everything about everything.
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Talking of red, we've ordered a red glass splashback for the wall behind the hob in the kitchen with a view to using the same coloured glass as upstands around the rest of the worktop area. We're just waiting to make sure the splashback looks OK before we order the upstands.
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With insurance in mind I was conscious that we didn't have lockable stays on the top hinging windows so checked what was available with the suppliers of the casement stays. Although very expensive, I had no choice but to buy them and they arrived at work. On opening the pack I found that there were no keys with them. Now I would have thought if you're spending £140 + on seven locks that a key or two would be something you would expect. At the very least you would think that you would be told you would need the keys as they were not part of the lock itself. I'm now waiting to find out how much the postage is going to cost for two £2 keys.
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Our alarms man was persuaded to come on Sunday and after a long day has finished the installation so we feel much more comfortable about leaving more and more of our possessions at Brookvale. Just got to learn how the dam thing works now.
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Following a visit from the couple that are buying our house in Clifton and their requirement to move on the 14th October , we have decided to move on Tuesday 12th October as it gives us a bit more time to move and clean up Manor Close. We'll be taking "stuff" to Brookvale over the course of the next 8 days so all we really need to move on "the day" will be a few items of bedroom furniture that we're keeping.
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The couple who can't believe that after all this time they're actually going to move in!

Ding bloody dong!

Ready for lunch

Ready for guests!

At long last, after our third inspection, Anglian Water have finally approved our plumbing and promised to give us mains pressure - they can't say when, but at least we know everything is now as they want it. The inspector said to me that the new sign by the outside tap was so much better (dark gungy green and not very clear with its black type). He did not share my view that the previous sign was far easier to read and gave a much clearer warning with its red type on a white background. He also said that what we did after he left was up to us (in reference to the shower hose). I was well ahead of him on that one!

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All we need now is the sprinkler system to be commissioned and we're done with the formalities. Unfortunately our rainwater harvesting man has let us down rather badly as he said he hadn't given us any priority in responding on the pump replacement. He's not kidding - its nearly four weeks ago since I spoke to him about it. Its now five days after my latest call and he's still not provided the promised quote. However, I have to admit that its not a priority for me at the moment as we need to get the rest of the house ready for us to move in since our buyers are now gently pushing for a moving date from Clifton.

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We've spent most of the week getting the large store cupboard (at the end of the mezzanine) ready so that we can start to fill it with toot - sorry - useful stuff that we don't use very often (at all?). With a covering of our favourite material - Glasstex - two coats of white emulsion, an offcut of carpet from our local store, and some simple skirting, its all ready except for the door. This is being painted in the garage and should be ready for fitting by the middle of next week.

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I called out reluctant electrician - Andy - during the week to ask him to resolve the non-working outside lights, and the movement sensitive porch lights which seem to have a mind of their own as they come on during the day (sometimes), and not always at night. As ever he promised to come at the weekend. As ever, he didn't show! Similarly, I called Michael. our alarms man, during the week and he promised to come at the weekend and finish the installation. He didn't show either. What is it with these guys?

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With a delivery of the studio bed, dining table, and chairs from John Lewis on Friday, Wee House is looking more like a home now. The study/guest room is now complete with bookshelves, books, studio couch, desk and chair, whilst the living room has the table and chairs roughly in the right place but subject to change by management (Jan's still deciding on the exact position).

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Generally speaking we're at the end of the jobs inside the house now - mainly those little things left to do that didn't seem important when there were more significant things, but now need finishing before we move more furniture in. There are several bits of "touching up" of paintwork, for example, and we're still deciding on the colour of the splashback and upstands for the kitchen. I favour a clarety sort of colour - not too different from the red in the bathroom.

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John Lewis will be delivering the two sofas on Tuesday which completes the major furniture purchases. We'll have to call the curtain suppliers to see when these will be ready as this will make such a difference when they are in place.

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Jan is busy sorting out Manor Close - looks like the charity shops will benefit, including it would seem, possibly receiving most of our furniture. I called our local auction house during the week and was told that yew reproduction furniture, of which we have a lot, is the most difficult to sell. In their judgement we'd be lucky to get £50 for the lot. As "the lot" includes an extending table with four chairs, corner display cabinet with glazed upper door, another corner cupboard, large coffee table, two side tables with drawers, two 2 seater sofas (M&S Charlotte in green), two display cabinets (dark oak finish from Locke's of London), and two pine wardrobes, then that strikes me as quite a lot for £50! So, if anyone reading this wants some furniture for a small donation to a favourite charity, then let us know. Only thing is, it needs to go quickly.

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Jan & Rog

Getting there

New garage door, new car, new fence, new gravel

Darrell our affable garage door man called to say that the door had been delivered and he wanted to fit it on Wednesday. This makes the garage almost finished now - just a final coat of paint on the door posts. Fortunately, Darrell took the old, very heavy doors away with him so we didn't have to get another skip just yet. The new "up and over" door is much easier to use and looks the part with its pseudo oak finish. One good thing - it is a plastic coating so doesn't require painting.

I'm struck by the fact that we have what could be a beach and a boat is poking its nose out from behind the garage!

I called Darren, our plumber, on Thursday as it suddenly occurred to me that he had keys for the old garage doors which were no longer attached to the garage. "Ah" he said, " we were talking about you yesterday - saying that we ought to do the work on the rainwater harvesting system". He duly promised to come on Friday to fit the stop cock and drain plug that Anglian Water required. This he did and also lagged the pipe as demanded by AW. We're now ready for another inspection. I wonder what daft rules they will have dreamt up since last I saw them?

I'm a little puzzled not to have heard from Roger McEvoy, our usually reliable rainwater harvesting specialist. Our last communication was over three weeks ago when he suggested that he could fit the new pump (required by the sprinkler company) in three weeks time. I emailed him on Wednesday evening and have not received a reply. It does seem that we are doomed with this darned sprinkler system. Better call him on Monday and find out what's happening.

We heard from John Lewis that our sofas will be delivered next week, and that coincides with the delivery of a sofa bed that we ordered from John Lewis this week, together with a dining table and six chairs. So we'll soon be able to relax in comfort, eat in a civilised manner (well, as near as we can), and offer our guests a bed to sleep in.

I've been working on the cupboard at the end of the guest room - filling up the gaps between the plaster board, and sealing the plasterboard surface so that I can apply the Glasstex wall covering. I've also started making the rather odd shaped door for the cupboard. Hopefully both tasks will be finished next week.

The postman delivered a letter from Anglian Water today - fume, rage, rant, etc! This was from the billing department who seemed to be under the impression that we were using water that we weren't paying for. The letter was addressed to the occupier. Can you believe it? After all the grief they've given us, the cheeky so and sos are now suggesting that firstly they don't know who we are, and secondly that we are taking free water - I wish! I've drafted several replies in my mind, none of which is overly polite. Perhaps I will be more tolerant by Monday when I do write the letter.

With the two surveys on Manor Close apparently OK we now await news from our buyers with a moving date. We are aiming for an early to mid October completion which should tie in nicely with our schedule. Its really the curtains and blinds that we need news of - promised in six weeks or less three weeks ago. As long as there's no delay on these we should be OK.

Jan & Rog

A step nearer

The air pressure test was carried out today and I had no idea at all whether we would pass. For some reason the building surveyor had set a target of 7 when the normal pass is 10 (I don't know what these numbers mean). Mark, the tester, was a very jovial fellow and he set up his equipment - big screen in the utility room door with a fan in the middle, and various gadgets attached to the screen including small bore plastic piping that he ran into the house and also outside (to gauge the internal pressure created against the outside pressure). The fan was sucking air out of the house (the opposite of what I expected) which meant that you could feel the draughts created. The biggest culprits were an area behind our en suite bathroom - presumably coming up from the void under the floor, two spotlights in the ceiling, and the general area of the fireplace where air was coming in thick and fast from the chimney. After about 15 minutes the figures produced were input to the inevitable lap top, and voila - 6.04 was the result - a pass by a good margin. Mark issued the certificate and I breathed a sigh of relief.
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Just Anglian Water to sort out now. On that subject, I had a further phone call from Anglian Water who now insist on another visit to check the remaining issues. I've solved the shower problem by buying a 1 metre shower hose which just about allows the shower head to be attached to the rail, but however hard I try I cannot make it reach the toilet bowl. With the new correctly coloured sign for the outside tap now provided, it only remains for Darren, our plumber, to fit the stopcock and drain plug in the garage. That is unless Anglian Water come up with some more ridiculous ideas. By the way, thank you to Steven who came up with the idea of forged (Photoshop produced) photos, but as Anglian Water now insist on a visit rather than me sending photos, I'm afraid its a non-starter.
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Other than spreading 3 tons of gravel over the parking area, we have nothing else to report, except that our trellis arrived today so I've put that up. (Photos next week)
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We're off to Devon for a long weekend and a rest. The smell of bacon and eggs for breakfast beckons and I reckon we can both afford to tuck in as we've lost so much weight.
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Jan & Rog

Anglian Water Update - polite words fail me

I know how Munch felt now!

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Well, he came, he failed us, and he left! Apparently, the clip on the shower hose is not sufficient as we can undo the shower head, pull the hose through the clip and then put the hose down the toilet. Furthermore, the sign on the outside tap (declaring it to be unfit for drinking) is the wrong colour! Give me strength.

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What really irritates is that none of these requirements seem to be known outside the monopolistic walls of Anglian Water. Our plumber knows nothing about the rules, nor does the bathroom fitter, or indeed the supplier of all the bathroom stuff. Indeed, many manufacturers are making items that apparently do not comply with the British Standard that covers this area.

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Anglian Water have said they will supply me with a suitable green and black label (ours is red and black) but the suggestion about turning the bath round so the taps are at the other end produced my most withering of looks. Other options we could consider are of course moving the toilet or fitting a shower screen between the bath and the toilet bowl. Alternatively, we could drill into the new tiles and fit some awful clip to hold the hose away from the offending toilet. Do they really think that we want to rip out the bathroom and have it refitted, or damage the tiles?

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At least we have the concession that another visit is not necessary as long as we send photos of the changes we've made showing we now comply.

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Having thought about a purpose-made clip for the shower hose, or removing the shower altogether (but would they accept this?), plan B is to check the hose length of the existing hose and go for a shorter one. I'm tempted to make one that's six inches long and looks plain stupid just to make the point.

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Latest update - another call from Anglian Water who now say that we need another stopcock and drain plug on the top-up mains feed to the rainwater tank. Will it ever end? Still, its not their money they are talking about - its ours!

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Thoroughly hacked off of Clifton

The man from the Council says "YES"

The living room with carpet

The study/guest room with carpet


The bedroom with carpet

Garage entrance - now finished (without carpet)

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We had the final inspection on Friday and our friendly building control inspector has passed our "disabled" access - a rather fetching ramp made of oak and screwed to the front door frame and porch floor. So that's it now in terms of inspectorial visits, we've just got to provide him with the certificates for the electrical installation, energy assessment, air pressure test and sprinkler system.

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And would you believe we've persuaded the rather reluctant manager of the Water Regulations Team at Anglian Water to come and inspect our plumbing on Monday afternoon. Fingers crossed on that one - I've tried to get the shower head down the toilet but failed miserably so we should be OK!

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Friday saw me at Brookvale at 07.55 to await the arrival of Messrs John Lewis's carpet fitters who had advised that they would be with us between 08.00 and 10.30. A phone call at 10.10 from the fitters was not encouraging - stuck in traffic on the north circular - 40 miles away. Quite why we were told by the Milton Keynes branch (23 miles away) that we were out of area and had to contact Welwyn Garden City (22 miles away), to then find the fitters had to come from London (50 miles away) is beyond me, but I'm sure there is some logic in there somewhere. Anyway, they eventually arrived at 11.00 and worked continuously until 15.15 (apart from 3 cups of tea) and then announced they had a job in St Albans. Goodness knows what time they would get that finished. Anyway, we now have floor coverings through Wee House. Its nice to lose the echo that a house without soft furnishings always has, and I hasten to add, we're very pleased with the result as its made the rooms look bigger and brighter.

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Jan and I have spent several days at Brookvale, Jan in cleaning and gardening, whilst I have mowed the lawn (revitalised after the rain of last week) and finished the area in front of the garage (another ton of sand and a ton of gravel despatched). Jan parked her car on it and much to my surprise (and relief), it didn't collapse! I've been wielding the pickaxe latterly, to lower the level of the hardcore adjacent to the drive. Hardcore had been laid by Roy's Boys to provide a reasonable slope from the edging of the driveway. I thought it would not take long but there was much more to remove than I had estimated (told you last week I was rubbish at estimating). Many wheelbarrows later and the remaining parking area was levelled off and only awaited the job I was really not looking forward to - digging the hole for the second soakaway. I needed to psyche myself up to start, but once I got going it was just a question of having a ready supply of oxygen! When that's done I can order the gravel (bet I under-estimate) and the powered roller. Better be careful with the roller methinks.

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Sunday saw Messrs Puffin & Pantin digging out the aforesaid hole for the second soakaway. Considering that it was large enough to bury a small corpse I was surprised (and delighted) to finish by lunchtime. Had Jan not gamely lent a hand moving the spoil I'm sure I would have given up well before the job was done. You can just see the outline of the hole in the photo of the garage entrance. We're now all ready for the larger 20mm gravel which I'll order on Monday. My calculation is six tons, but my gut tells me we'll want at least eight. I wonder which will be right - gut or science?

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Being totally knackered by Sunday lunchtime we decided to go to a local garden centre in the afternoon to hopefully select and buy some trellis panels to screen the garden between the garage and the house. Much to our surprise the panels we liked best were reduced to half price because they were an obsolete style, so we promptly order these together with posts and those metpost thingies that you whack into the ground. Another job for Jack O'Alltrades.

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Jan & Rog

I should have known better

New kitchen floor

Parking area (pay and display!)

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On telephoning Anglian Water on Monday to arrange for an inspection, there was much sucking of teeth and general negativeness. "You've got rainwater harvesting haven't you" said the lady that answered the telephone, much in the manner she might adopt if talking to someone with an unpleasant disease, which if she weren't very careful, she might catch. "Well, we've had all sorts of problems with rainwater harvesting lately so you've got to speak to the Water Regulations Team. I'll send you their details by email". That was it. Gone was the promise of a maximum five day wait for an inspection (on their web site), and now we were referred to a new group. I waited for the email, which eventually arrived four hours later. All it said was that I should contact the Water Regulations Team - no point of contact and no telephone number. How very helpful. I called Anglian Water's headquarters and spoke to a very pleasant lady who had worked there for years. "Never heard of them dear. I've got no-one of that name on my directory. I'll try a number for you." The result was a voice mail system. I tried again and was put through to a person, not an overly helpful person, but in the end they suggested a name and put the phone down. I tried again and at last got a helpful person (which was lucky as there appear to be only two such people in the entire Anglian Water organisation). He tried this number and that and finally found someone he thought was in the Water Regulations Team. Great, but according to his voice mail he was on holiday! I tried again a little later and it appears he had forgotten to change the voice mail message as he had returned from leave that day. More sucking of teeth and demands for detailed drawings of the fittings we "intended" to use. When I explained that the property was built and all the fittings in place, he said that I still had to send in a drawing so they could see what was in the house. "Why don't you just come and inspect it" I said. "Can't do that - the rules say I have to have drawings." When I enquired how long this process would take, he said he couldn't tell me. "Well is it days, weeks, or months" I enquired. "Well, it won't be days" he said. "But I've got a house ready to move into, and your web site promises that an inspection will be carried out in five days" I pleaded. "Ah but that isn't for a house with rainwater harvesting (you can almost hear the bell and the words 'unclean, unclean'). Send in the drawings and we'll take it from there. It's easy - get your plumber to do it." he said, but didn't seem to understand that this would cost MONEY, and that I wasn't prepared to spend anything on an irritating and unnecessary bureaucratic excuse to avoid them actually doing something positive.

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I spent over 2 hours producing drawings of the plumbing and emailed them to the address given - a catch-all address which didn't encourage me to believe that it would be acted on with any degree of urgency. I telephoned the man from the Water Regulations team the next day. Despite a 15 minute call the previous day, he had no recollection of our discussion, nor could he remember seeing the email. I restated the situation, probably with just a tinge of irritation in my voice. He adopted a more conciliatory line and we had an interchange of information about the Anglian Water requirements from rainwater harvesting, wherein it appeared that we have done everything we should. "Great" I said. "When can you come and inspect?" "We'll need to check the drawings out and then we'll write to you" he replied. "Will that be in the next couple of days" I enquired. "Oh no, can't say when" was the unwanted response.

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So there we have it. We are customers of a monopoly organisation that doesn't give a hoot for its customers, because the customer has nowhere else to go. I intend to telephone on Tuesday and demand some action. Incidentally, I tried calling OFWAT but they don't take complaints from the general public (nasty little people don't you know) which leads me to wonder what the hell what they are there for!

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And so to the positives. Clophill Flooring have done an excellent job fitting Karndean tiles to the floors in the kitchen, utility room and bathroom, as well as sisal carpet in the hall. Unfortunately, due to my mistake, we need them to come back to tile a small area in front of the cut down cupboards that cover the boiler and electricity distribution box. These had been removed to allow our plumber to change the rainwater harvesting pipe and were waiting to be refitted. I had told the flooring guy that we didn't need flooring right to the wall in that area but completely forgot that they are about half the standard cupboard depth. Oops!

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I spent most of Friday at Brookvale. A delivery of the materials for the area in front of the garage had been arranged and once that was safely unloaded I went to the local manufacturer of the plastic reinforcement system (ACO Groundguard) I am using to collect a couple of items that our builders merchant didn't have in stock. (Makes a change to have a supplier so close to home). After a quick lunch it was back to Brookvale and then onto the slog of laying the sand and laying the Groundguard. It appears that in the couple of hours that I was away from Brookvale, Darren our plumber, had called in and fitted the radiator in the study (he had a spare key). Talk about Will O the Wisp - he does seem to be able to appear, do jobs and then disappear, with very little trace! It was quite funny really as the reason we knew he'd been was some cardboard packaging he'd left in the utility room. Both Jan and I looked at it and wondered where it had come from - "Darren" we both said simultaneously and rushed up stairs to look at the dinky little radiator he'd fitted. Not quite sure why he had to draw so many pencil lines on the newly decorated wall in order to line up the radiator fixing points, but hey, why should I mind doing a little bit more painting!

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And so - back to the external groundworks. My biggest problem is I'm rubbish at estimating materials so the 1 ton bag of sand and 1 ton bag of gravel I ordered has all gone and I am only about 2/3 of the way through the area in front of the garage. I have laid most of the path from the house to the garage though. I'll order some more materials on Tuesday so can't do any more for the time being. This is probably not a bad thing as it will give my aching joints a chance to recover a little!

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I did varnish and fit the disabled access ramp to the front door on Friday so I now need to call the building inspector back to check that's OK. Fingers crossed on that one!

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John Lewis are due to fit the carpets on Friday and then I can get the air pressure testing company in to see how we fare for leaks. I'm a bit worried about this as its a big unknown. Our erstwhile building surveyor had set a very high standard for reasons best known to himself. This has been recorded by the building inspector and we have to achieve or better it.

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Jan & Rog

Up yer pipe Anglian Water

Thank you IKEA - £3900 saved on our new wardrobes

Darren, our plumber, called me on Monday to say he would like to make the changes demanded by Anglian Water and the infamous sprinkler company. We agreed, so on Tuesday I watched anxiously as Darren (in the garage) attached the bigger diameter black pipe to the smaller blue one installed, and together with his trusty apprentice, they pushed (Darren) and pulled (apprentice in the house). After a couple of hiccups with the pipe snagging it seemed to be going well, although we couldn't understand why, when the house is only 6 metres from the garage, virtually all of the 25 metre reel of pipe was rapidly disappearing, but it wasn't re-appearing in the house. Eventually though, it did, to a great sigh of relief from us all. Darren set about routing the pipe up through the ceiling of the utility room and into the roof void as the sprinkler company had demanded. Because their requirement was so vague from our "friends" at Domestic Sprinklers, Darren left about 6 metres of pipe in the roof void - possibly a slightly "sarcastic" length, but better safe than sorry. All that remains for Darren now is to fit the last radiator in the mezzanine - on order but hitting "works holiday mate" syndrome.
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I can now call Anglian Water to recheck the installation as the shower in the bathroom has the requisite clip to stop us putting the shower head down the toilet, all the rainwater harvesting pipes are now marked "Reclaimed Water", and the outside tap bears the legend "Not drinking water". I've also lagged the pipes in the airing cupboard so the only reason we should now fail the inspection is through petty bureaucracy.
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Having discovered that Domestic Sprinklers required me to supply and fit the pump I contacted our rainwater harvesting company to see if they would do it. Whilst they said they could it turned out that the required pump was not available in the UK and would have to be imported from Italy so it'll take about 3 weeks. Will I be glad when this saga is over!
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I carried on with my trusty pickaxe on Tuesday and Wednesday, clearing more of the compacted hardcore in front of the garage in preparation for the gravel covering. Thursday saw me at Bedford Hospital having a minor operation to remove a ganglion from the middle finger of my left hand - possibly made worse by manual work (which I am NOT used to). This has rather curtailed much more work being done as I have a rather ridiculous "dolly" covering the wound and strict instructions to keep my arm in a sling (some hope of that).
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Friday saw the preparation for the flooring in the bathroom, kitchen and utility room being done by John from a local flooring company. This consisted of sealing the floors in each area and then laying latex (which self-levels to give the required flat surface). John will be back on Monday to lay the Karndean flooring in these areas, as well the sisal carpet in the hall.
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I did collect the oak ramp for the disabled level access on Monday that our local cabinet maker had knocked up. A couple of coats of Sadolin and it matched the front door and frame. Just got to fix it permanently (wink wink) until it has been inspected and then I can throw it away!
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After a couple of visits to Finesse - our friendly soft furnishing emporium - we've decided on all the curtains, blinds, curtain track and poles. What made me think that we had made all the expensive purchase already? When Jan showed me the quote I think I said "how much", but its possible that there was another word in between! Anyway, not wanting to spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar we've gone for it. Finesse offered to do pinch pleats for the price of pencil pleats which is apparently a good deal. (Blank look on the faces of all men reading this - knowing nods from all the ladies). Only trouble is that delivery could well be six weeks - just have to become exhibitionists if they don't arrive before we move I guess.
~
John Lewis is now fitting the carpets in the living room, bedroom and guest room on September 3rd, and we have also ordered two sofas from them - delivery should be within 4 weeks we hope.
~
DHL delivered our IKEA wardrobes on Thursday and it was rather frustrating seeing the packs on the floor and having trouble doing anything with them due to my "dolly". However, I've had no problems with the finger so far so Jan and I had a go at building them up today (Sunday). As you can see for the picture, we have virtually finished them now - just a couple of shelves and two drawers to finish off. Oh, and it might be easier to open the doors if I put some handles on them! Just think, we were quoted £4,400 by a local cabinet maker for bespoke wardrobes made from painted MDF (sawdust glued together basically). Our IKEA wardrobes cost just £498!
~
Jan & Rog

Obnoxious, arrogant, and verbally abusive - yup that's me!

Training for a job with Anglian Water - our new drainage system

The heading is apparently how I've been described by the sprinkler companies I've been dealing with because I had the temerity to complain about poor service. It seems that this is the response to my calls trying to get some action. According to one supplier I verbally abused their engineer - the very amiable man who visited on two occasions and who I helped on his last visit. It is also alleged that I called the MD "all the names under the sun". This is rather surprising as I've only ever managed to speak to him once on the telephone and the only "abusive" element of my call was asking him why he hadn't returned a call that I made to him three days earlier. His customer friendly response was "I've got lots of messages here"- the clear implication being that mine was not of great importance to him. The reason that I've found this out is because the man I contacted at the second sprinkler company to try and get some action, is the chairman of the association which governs their business sector. He emailed my existing supplier (who happens to be his buddy on the committee) and got an email back with this very unflattering description of me. The chairman event went on to imply that he would have me blacklisted with all his members. What a very professional bunch they are.
~
Having spoken to Darren, our plumber about the changes to the rainwater harvesting/sprinkler system, he's made a note and ordered the bits needed. He hopes to complete the work this coming week. However, I thought, (based on the email from the MD) that the sprinkler company were supplying and fitting the uprated pump. My email response to check that he had the pump produced the reply that this was up to me to arrange - to buy and fit. Another ten days lost.
~
Once the system is commissioned I think I may well become obnoxious and verbally abusive. Or perhaps place number one on the Great Wall of China could become available.
~
This week I have been back to basics with a pick axe, shovel, and fork, digging out the ground in front of the garage for the drain and soakaway as rainwater runs down the drive and ends up on our parking area. Unused as I am to hard work, this was quite tiring, but (complete with corset from my osteopath) I managed to finished the first one by Friday evening. Unfortunately I had underestimated the sand needed to pad the soakaway box out and ran out before I could back fill. Of course, it absolutely bucketed down on Saturday morning and filled the drain and soakaway. When I arrived at Brookvale on Saturday half of the Brookvale residents were gazing into the soakaway, which was nearly full of water. The consensus was that the water wouldn't drain away as there was a heavy clay sub soil that would trap the water. Happy that the water was no longer on the surface, we returned on Sunday to find the soakaway almost dry. So, one up for the drainage team. Another day's grunting and heaving saw the back fill complete and the remaining spoil in the skip. Now I have to get the sand and stones to finish it off.
~
We missed out on the meatballs in favour of Spicy Caribbean chicken at IKEA on Monday night when we went to check out the wardrobes we had decided on. An apparently helpful assistant went through what we needed and warned us that we would have to buy the handles in the store because they weren't available on-line. We trotted home and input into the on-line shop all the codes he had given us, only to find that one small item - a coat rail extension - was not available on-line. How annoying is that? After a couple of non-obnoxious emails I got IKEA to agree to post the coat rail to us.
~
Mick from Finesse came round on Friday to measure up for curtains and blinds. What a jolly chap he was - whistling and joking as he went. Perhaps we could send him to the sprinkler company for a while? Jan and I will be off to Baldock on Monday to see if we can agree on designs, style and colours at the Finesse emporium.
~
This weekend we've been busy doing a lot of little jobs and cleaning up in preparation for the floor and carpet laying which starts at the end of the coming week. Although we rattled off a number of jobs from the "to do" list, we seem to find or remember others so the list never gets smaller. It must reduce eventually, mustn't it? Just for good measure the local council have decided to shut the entire road past Brookvale for the whole week while they resurface. I hope they allow local traffic to pass as the wardrobes are being delivered on Thursday.
~
Navvy in chief and Mrs Mop

Are we making progress?

A coat of paint for the garage

I've spent much of the week giving the garage a makeover. Damage to the rendering has been carried out (caused by careless builders); gutters have been removed (both leaking); fascia boards cleaned and painted, and the gutter replaced correctly; the window and side door painted; the walls treated to 2 coats of Weathershield sandstone. I've also arranged for the fitting of a new up and over door from Darrell our local garage door man. The chosen door simulates vertical tongued and grooved boarding but is actually a plastic coated metal, with a finish called "weathered oak". (No maintenance!)

~

Wednesday at 11.00 was the critical time when the engineer was due from the Sprinkler company. He arrived as 14.15 claiming the traffic was bad on the M25 - nothing new there then. Needless to say, the instruction for him to telephone me 15 minutes before arrival had not been relayed to him. Had he been on time, I would not have been there to greet him. Anyway, although he was the same engineer that last visited, he had forgotten that he hadn't been able to adjust the height of some of the sprinkler heads, (or had enough of the finishing plates that cover the water heads) because he didn't have the right tool with him. Guess what - he still didn't have the tool or the finishing plates. However, he did have a shiny new pump - would this be his salvation? His instructions were simple - change the pump in the rainwater tank and check the flow and pressure. Sounds simple doesn't it? Well, it wasn't !

~
Having taken the lid off the rainwater tank and peered in, we could see a cord which we guessed was attached to the pump (about 12 feet below us). Grab this and pull seemed the answer. Wrong - the pump wouldn't move because of the 1" plastic pipe that was connected to it and which fed the system via the garage control units. There was only one answer - drain the tank (3500 litres is a lot of water), find a long ladder, climb down into the tank and disconnect the pump from the pipework. It took about 45 minutes to drain the tank even though we resorted to putting the new pump in the tank to assist the existing one. Mr Hyde's field got very wet. As I found the ladder, Paul the engineer volunteered to climb into the tank - a very tight fit, even for someone as slim as him. Working in very cramped conditions he managed to undo the pipework and we lifted out the old pump and were then able to compare the two pumps - old and new. Our existing pump had an enclosed inlet at the base which was connected to a hose and a large blue float to ensure that the cleaner water at the top of the tank was delivered to the house rather than the gunge at the bottom of the tank. Our new pump did not have this. Instead it had a gauze filter as its base so would pick up all the gunge at the bottom of the tank.

~

However, as the idea was to trial the pump, it was fitted and tested. Sure enough it delivered the required flow and pressure when tested at the control panel point in the garage, but a much lower flow rate and pressure was delivered at the house. The inevitable conclusion was that the bore of the pipe from the garage to the house was too small and would have to be increased to 32mm from 25. Not only that but the 3/4" fittings used would need to be replaced with 1", the stopcock changed for a different type with better flow characteristics, the pressure reducing valve moved to a different point in the pipework, and the feed to to the sprinkler circuit from the kitchen changed from 1/2" to 32mm. But hey, what does it matter, its not their money - we've got to foot the bill for all this, including the new pump at £560!

~

So, its now my job to a), find Darren the plumber (last heard of in Spain) and get him to make these changes, and b). dig a 6 metre trench 18" deep from the rainwater tank to the garage to run the power supply for the new pump (the existing conduit to the garage is too small to allow even a relatively thin power cable to pass through). As an aside we noticed that whoever installed the existing pump had applied silicon sealer around the hole where the power cable goes into the pump. Our guess is that one of the morons that was involved in installing the rainwater tank heaved the pump out by its flex rather than the cord, and in so doing ruined the seal. Had we not had to replace the pump we probably would not have discovered this problem until the pump refused to work one day.

~

I managed to get the less than approachable MD of the Sprinkler company to agree with my schedule of work required and he has stated that if we do carry out the work and the pump is replaced, then the system can be commissioned - hoo-bloody-ray! He did say that he was very upset with Dab, the pump manufacturer, as they had said they didn't have a suitable pump, and apparently they do, with all the floating filter thingies that we need. It comes to something when a manufacturer doesn't know his own product line.

~

Finding the bigger bore pipe for the run from the garage to the house was not easy, but I eventually found a coil in Peterborough so collected that on Thursday afternoon. I've now got to apply the tape with the legend "Reclaimed Water" every 6 inches along its length otherwise the Anglian Water Inspector will wet himself again!

~

Had a call from John Lewis on Wednesday to say that our carpet had arrived and could they fit it next week. As we were originally told that it would be 4 weeks before fitting, we wanted the vinyl floor laid first so have put John Lewis on hold until the end on August (our local supplier is laying the vinyl floors and sisal during the last week on August).

~

Had a shock when the quote for the fitted wardrobe arrived - over £4K. Now this may be par for the course but its still a lot of money and IKEA can do the same thing for about 25% so I guess we'll be going for more meat balls soon.

~

Stop press - looks like we've sold our house in Clifton to a really nice couple called Jonathan and Helen who currently live in rented accommodation on Baldock. They have a rental contract until mid October which gives us plenty of time to get Brookvale ready to occupy (and pass all the building control tests)

~

As a footnote, both Jan and I are losing weight. Jan has lost a stone, and I've lost 1/2 stone. Can't think why this should be.............

~
Vanishing Jan & slimmer Rog

All we need now are some logs

The new wood burner

Brookvale Harbour?
~

I waited a few days for the sprinkler company to advise when they might try the uprated pump, but in the end I had to 'phone (no real surprise there then). After much background muttering I was advised "Wednesday 4th August". So that's D Day then - not sure what we'll do if it doesn't work (don't really want to think about that!)

~

Our vinyl flooring and sisal carpet man arrived on cue on Tuesday, and following an emailed quotation that arrived on Wednesday, we've agreed to Karndean flooring in the kitchen, bathroom and utility room, and a rather fetching sisal carpet for the hall. Whilst I knew that the vinyl floor would be glued down, I hadn't expected that the same would apply to the sisal carpet. Apparently the underlay is glued to the screed and then the sisal carpet glued to the underlay. Fitting is due 20th to 24th August.

~
Wednesday was stove day and I made certain I was at Brookvale well before the stated 08.30 arrival time. By 09.30, and no sign of the fitter, I was getting bored, but I knew the stove shop didn't open until 10.00 so couldn't call them. At 09.45 the fitter arrived, unaware that he was due at 08.30. By 11.45 he had finished and was gone. Only then did I realise that the stove fitted was not the one we ordered! We had ordered one with side glass panels, but as the stove fits nicely within the fire opening, the glass panels would have been rather lost so for once it looks like we have accidentally got a better option as we both prefer the model fitted. It does look good in the opening and its oval shape fits well with the shape of the fire opening and hearth.
~
Andy the electrician eventually arrived last weekend and has completed all but one job - connecting the telephone point. It appears that he laid all the telephone cables in from ground floor to the mezzanine when the house was just a shell. However, the cable that arrives at the mezzanine does not appear to be connected to the cable downstairs. Andy is very puzzled and I can shed no light on the problem so it looks like Andy will have to crawl into the roof opening and try to find out what's gone wrong. Quite funny really as he sub-contracted much of the completion work to another sparks, partly because he didn't want to crawl into the roof space...
~
I've spent the early part of the week making good gaps and cracks - applying sealer to the gaps under the skirting boards, and cutting and fitting quadrant shaped moulding around windows and doors. The only problem with the sealer is that it makes the house stink. Hopefully it will wear off.
~
Rather bored with the aforementioned jobs, or possibly high on the fumes of the sealer, I decided that I would sort out the garage as it had become the repository of things useful, things not immediately useful but possibly of some value, and downright rubbish. After a couple of hours the skip was becoming full and the floor of the garage was nearly clear. I had fitted plywood onto the roof timbers to create a second floor and then was able to store away those "valuable things that we'll never use".
~
Friday saw me laying a brick edge for a pathway that will run from the house to the garage. As the area had been covered in a hardcore called MOT and compacted with a roller, it wasn't easy digging out a small trench for the brick edging. In the end I found a small bricklayer's trowel to be the ideal implement to clear away the hardcore but couldn't help feeling like Phil from the Time Team as I did so. (apart from the fact that my hair isn't as long as his, my waist line is definitely smaller, and I don't have a west country accent).
~
John Lewis telephoned me on Thursday as they had received our acceptance of their carpet quotation. I was surprised and somewhat irritated when asked how I would pay the advance payment, when they said that cheques were not acceptable, despite the fact that this payment has to be received by John Lewis 7 days before fitting (plenty of time to clear a cheque). What happened to the John Lewis service we hear so much about? Only debit and credit cards are acceptable it appears. I've a good mind to go to their Welwyn Garden City branch with a bucket of £1 coins. I wonder if they would refuse to accept it?
~
Got a bill for £220 from Central Beds Council today for the building control inspector's visit to check the Velux window installation. Given that he was there for about 10 minutes it looks like the inspector's earning potential is over £1300 an hour. Not bad eh?
~
Roast chicken looms nearer as "the boys" (our neighbours two cockerels) are becoming a real pest. They seem to have taken a liking to the flower bed in front of the house and spend part of each day scratching away at the soil or pecking the plants. Even when I chase them away they return as soon as my back's turned. Cheeky monkeys!
~
I went to a local joiner today and chatted through our rough design for the fitted wardrobe. He's going to email us a price early next week. Trouble (for us) is he's quoting 13 weeks delivery. Lucky man obviously has loads of work. We've asked a couple of other people to respond on fitted wardrobes but they're too busy - where's this recession then?
~
Jan & Rog

Dab doesn't deliver

After Derek Dixey's visit last week I've been chasing his technical man at Dab and finally spoke to him on Tuesday. Bad news - they don't have a suitable pump so its back to the drawing board with our sprinkler supplier and the usual 3 day wait for responses to emails/telephone calls. Our other potential supplier has simply vanished - no word from them at all. Obviously business is so good they don't need any more.
~
Stove man (well actually, stove woman) called on Monday to say that they couldn't make this Wednesday to fit the woodburner, so its now Wednesday next week. Its not a particular problem but is does seem that few tradespeople can give a date and stick to it. Talking of which, Andy, our electrician, failed once again to turn up last week to finish off the few remaining jobs and has now promised to complete the work on Saturday. I've got the weekend off as I'm going to a big classic car event at Silverstone in "The Gnat" as my three wheeler has been dubbed by our neighbour, so Jan will be keeping an eye on Andy.
~
Jan and I have continued to make good progress and I'm delighted to say that we have finished the decorating, and started to clean up. Next job - mastic all those nasty little gaps (and big gaps thanks to the screeders) to make sure that we pass the air pressure test.
~
On Monday we witnessed something you don't see every day - a 26 foot sailing boat being lifted over our house by a mobile crane. Clive, who lives at number 4 Brookvale, decided to have his boat trailered to his garden so he could renovate it. Despite much planning, measurement and deliberation, the articulated lorry couldn't even negotiate the drive entrance, let alone get as close to Clive's garden as needed. After 20 minutes of huffing and puffing it was obvious the lorry couldn't get into the drive unaided so the crane had to be deployed to lift the trailer. This was much to the relief of a number of cars, lorries and the bi-weekly bus that had waited patiently as the lorry jiggled this way and that, blocking the road as it did so.
~
In the end, with the lorry and boat as near as it could get, the crane parked on our parking area and lifted the boat over the house and garage. Not too sure what Clive thinks will happen when he's finished refurbishing the boat but I'm not going to be too keen on a ruddy great crane parked on our newly surfaced hard standing.
~
John Lewis did turn up on Wednesday as promised and duly measured up for carpets. We've now got 4 or so weeks to wait before these will be laid. Next visit - vinyl flooring and sisal man - Tuesday next week. We must now get down to the serious business of sorting out fitted wardrobes as this will doubtless take a few weeks.
~
Stop press - the sprinkler company have found what they believe is a suitable pump and will order one and fit it. If it doesn't do the job they won't charge us. Service at last!

~
Jan & Rog

Dab's Derek Dixey drives down from Dereham

The infamous bathroom wall

Dab is the manufacturer of the pump that lives in our rainwater harvesting tank - the pump that isn't up to the task of delivery the flow and pressure that the sprinkler system needs. Derek Dixey is Dab's area rep who came to see me on Tuesday to check what was what, and see if a more powerful pump would solve the problem. From his very comprehensive catalogue it seems that there are a number of more powerful pumps that have the right characteristics. However, one of Dab's technicians needs to check that the flow and pressure can be achieved with the pipework we have in place. So I wait...... as I've waited to hear from the alternative sprinkler company who sounded so good last week, but who now seem to have given up as I've heard no more from them. Likewise my existing supplier who hasn't stirred this week. Ho hum, lots of rude words.
~
Having been told by my sprinkler company that we had to have the smoke detectors connected to the sprinkler system I decided to check if this was the case. Step forward the National Association of Fire Suppression Systems, and their affable expert - who promptly advised that there is no requirement to connect the smoke detectors to the sprinkler system. So that's £150 saved then. Don't you just love suppliers you can depend on?
~
Moving on - the week has seen Jan and me painting and varnishing furiously - well, enthusiastically perhaps. The bedroom is now painted, as is the lounge, and the first coat of varnish applied to the woodwork in the study, lounge, bedroom and kitchen. The hall is complete - one room done at last!
~
I had painted one wall in our bathroom in a deep red vinyl silk paint that matched the tiles and cupboard front. Because of the pigment being so strong I had masked off the woodwork. Due to the poor coverage I had to apply about five coats of paint, but when I removed the masking tape it lifted the paint - all five coats - in one piece from a large part of the wall. For some reason it had failed to adhere to the plaster and in no time at all, the wall was entirely devoid of paint as I easily pulled it all off. The only answer was to apply a sealing coat of Unibond and try again. This I did this week and we how have a much better finish which doesn't look like peeling off. Five coats of matt paint later and all seems OK this time.
~
Stove man is coming on Wednesday next week to fit the wood burner, and Mr John Lewis is also due to measure up for carpets. The following week our local floor covering specialists are due to measure up for the floor tiles and sisal carpet in the hall.
~
We've hummed and harred about fitted wardrobes and looked endlessly at web sites to see if we can find something that we like, and that fits in with the fabric of the bedroom. Not much joy so far so may have to try a bespoke wardrobe firm.
~
Sunday afternoon update - lounge and kitchen now finished (decorating), and most of the bathroom and shower room done

Jan & Rog

Is the Great Wall of China long enough...

The newly laid hearth

The room in the roof now finished

What a frustrating week.

~

Angela from the sprinkler company did not have the opportunity to find out if I was a crabby old git because she didn't turn up on Monday. Despite being told that she would be on site at 10.30, there was no sign of her by 11.45 so I telephoned her office where they displayed a remarkable lack of knowledge of Angela's actual, or even intended, movements. They promised to phone back and let me know what was what. By 14.30 I hadn't heard so called again. This time it was a different person, but the same lack of knowledge. I waited on hold for ages to be eventually told that Angela had experienced a family emergency and that was why she hadn't appeared, but no-one at the sprinkler company had been informed of this. No apology and no suggestion about rescheduling a visit. You won't be surprised to hear that I then engaged "extreme crabby old git" guise. Eventually, when I had run out of things to moan about I was told that the MD would phone me back. This doubtless would be on the same basis that I had been told he would "phone me back" at least 12 times in the last 4 weeks only to receive an email, usually three days later. Sure enough, no call but a rather more prompt email. My response to his email elicited another email from him with the line "don't take your frustrations out on me". Unbelievable!

~
In the ensuing email exchange some other facts emerged - two of which relate to our erstwhile building surveyor's lack of attention to detail. Firstly, the flow and pressure requirements of the sprinkler system were clearly identified to him but he chose to only regard the pressure as being important. Secondly, he ignored the fact that Fire and Rescue now insist that smoke alarms are linked to the sprinkler system so that they sound the alarm when the sprinkler system activates. You'll forgive me for being a little cynical here, but I think we'd know that the sprinkler system was activated without the need for an audible alarm because we'd be bloody soaked! Anyway, its a mandatory requirement that should have been factored into the design and wasn't. It will now cost us more money to replace the existing alarms with wireless ones as that's now the only way of linking to the sprinkler system. To add insult to injury, the MD of the sprinkler company told me that a site visit wasn't now necessary anyway because it would only confirm what he'd already told me - that the best solution was an upgraded pump. He now realised that a booster pump wouldn't work - something both I and my plumber had said as soon as it was suggested. There was still the question of the pipe diameter that fed the sprinkler system which the engineer had said was too small. The MD said that it wasn't ideal but would probably be OK. Now that really inspired me with confidence. His final shot was that I should contact the pump supplier who would send out a man to site. The telephone number he gave me was a fax, and when I did find the right number and contacted them they knew nothing about it and referred me to their area rep. Guess what - he's on holiday until the end of July according to his voice mail.

~

Apart from the foregoing, two other issues convinced me that I should look elsewhere for a company to provide the commissioning of the sprinkler system - the appalling lack of communication internally within the existing supplier's organisation, and their reluctance to respond to telephone messages which usually results in a three day turnaround to questions. Time to look elsewhere I thought. A quick Google and I found a national company that seemed very keen to help and promised an engineer at site the following day to check it all out. The engineer would call me on my mobile one hour before arriving at site. That sounds a bit more like it. But by 16.00 on the allotted day - no engineer. I phoned the head office to be eventually told that the engineer had over-run on a previous job and wouldn't get to me. It would be rescheduled. Brilliant - lots of gloss and no action. The trouble with this situation is that I cannot get the air pressure test done until the sprinkler system is commissioned as the main control elements are in the roof space which can only be accessed through the cupboard and then a rather difficult crawl in the limited gap left as the roof meets the walls. This opening needs to be sealed if the air pressure test is to get anywhere near the target.

~

Tile cutting man did his usual as well - got confused over instructions and didn't telephone me when he had cut the tiles for the hearth. I called on Monday afternoon to enquire about progress, to be informed that they were finished on Saturday and were waiting for me. Whatever happened to customer service?

~

We now have at least three more candidates for the Great Wall of China shooting gallery!

~

Talking of people to shoot, I spent an hour applying silicone sealer to the gaps beneath the skirting in the living room and have used up three tubes so far, but not finished. This is due to the uneven surface that our useless screeders have left us with. It seems that wherever there is a radiator, the screeders couldn't be bothered to level the screed off and it dips noticeably. In one place there is a gap of 15mm - not evident after the screed was finished, but highlighted by the straight edge of the underside of the skirting.

~

Despite the foregoing saga of sprinkler systems, I have managed to get the hearth tiles laid and grouted so that the stove can be installed. The main problem we're now running into is the holiday season as not only is Pump man away, but so too is Stove man (until next week). I guess we'll experience more holiday delays over the next two months.

~

I spent Friday cutting and fixing the architrave and skirting in the attic room (now to be called the study we've decided), and followed this with two coats of varnish so this room is finished apart from a couple of electrical fittings that Andy has to install.

~

Jan and I spent the weekend painting the bedroom - the ceiling is now finished at long last, and most of the walls have two coats of "Whisper of Dramatic". Where do these paint manufacturers get these pretentious names from? Its actually a rather pleasant and subtle pale grey, but I reckon the marketing person responsible for that name had been at the wacky baccy the day they came up with it.

~

We've finally managed to find time to think about flooring and after only a couple of days have surprised ourselves with decisions on the flooring for the all the rooms. The kitchen, bathroom and utility room will have Karndean tiles, sisal for the hall - all from a local supplier in Shefford. We've chosen John Lewis loop pile wool carpets for the living room, study and bedroom.

~

Ever the optimist I'm hoping that we will hear from one of the sprinkler people this week and get things moving. We should also hear when the stove is to be fitted too. Time for a beer I think....

~

Jan & Rog

We may be making some headway...

The newly painted attic room

By Friday this week I was ready to hang "Sprinkler man" from his own pipework. Despite numerous telephone calls and emails from me, and promises of responses by various of his employees, "the man" remained obstinately silent. So, Friday was my D Day. I telephoned asking for the man. I received the now familiar response of "I'll see if he is available" (which translated means I know he doesn't want to speak to you, but I have to check for today's excuse). After some considerable time on hold I was asked if I was telephoning to arrange a planner to visit site. My response that it was the latest in a long line of requests was lost on the receptionist, or ignored, and I was told that a planner could come next week. "Monday it is then" I said, and this was agreed. So, in theory, Angela is due with me at Brookvale at 10.30 on Monday to survey what we have and then propose the complete solution. Why such a simple response couldn't have been put in place three weeks ago is a mystery. Presumably Angela will be expecting to meet some crabby old git called Roger. Probably not far wrong there as my patience with this outfit is exhausted!
~
Yet more rubbish service from the water cutting specialist. Having promised me that the tiles would be cut and ready last Monday, I was told when I telephoned that they hadn't been done but would be ready on Wednesday. So, on phoning on Thursday morning and told by the second in command that they hadn't even been started and wouldn't be until Friday, had me twitching. Having insisted that they be started immediately, and been promised that they would be, I received a call from the main man. "We're very busy; machine loaded for another job; can't take it off; been working for 48 hours without sleep; have a current wife, two ex-wives, and eighteen children, to feed". (actually, the last one's fiction, but you get the point). Translated, this equates to "I'm rubbish at estimating; I take no notice of what people say when asking for completion dates; I would prefer to be doing anything else but talking to you at the moment".
~
As I hadn't heard from the stove company that our wood burner had arrived from Denmark I agreed to a slip of the delivery date for the tiles to Monday next. Hardly had I put the phone down to the tile cutter when the stove company phoned to say that the wood burner was now in stock and ready to be fitted. I sincerely hope that the tile cutter meets his latest deadline otherwise he'll join the sprinkler man on the pipework. Jan has a different approach to me - she would line up along the Great wall of China the various people who have given us grief. There they would be unceremoniously shot. Not overly subtle, but I can see her point!
~
With the cancellation of our trip to France we have managed to complete a number of jobs "on the list". The attic room is now all but finished as Jan and I gave it a couple of coats of white emulsion, and so too is the bedroom ceiling - a daunting task for one, but we worked side by side and managed to cover the whole ceiling in two hours this afternoon. Jan then busied herself cleaning up whilst I filled in a number of holes where the plaster had popped, and touched up the paint here and there. We've noticed something rather odd about white emulsion paint - the standard white Dulux paint we used in the attic room is actually far whiter than Homebase's Brilliant white. The difference between the living room ceiling and the attic room is quite pronounced. Am I going to do anything about it? - NO!
~
Andy the electrician appeared on Saturday and has nearly finished the attic room, but we appear to have over ordered some items and not ordered enough of others, so we are short a telephone master socket and a 2 gang electrical socket which I need to order from Screwfix tomorrow. Once I receive these items Andy has promised to come back and finish off, as well as providing the all-important certificate for the building inspector.
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And so tomorrow should see our sprinkler lady appear - a situation I'll believe when I see it. I should also hear from Tile man too - I wonder if I will?

Jan & Rog

Room at the top

Glasstex fibreglass wall covering - far less messy than plaster!

With my new-found free time I've made good progress on the "guest room" this week. The woven fibreglass "Glasstex" arrived on Tuesday and I set about hanging it immediately. It takes a little bit of getting used to but is very good if you slop loads of "super high performance" wall paper adhesive on the wall/ceiling rather than onto the fabric itself. By Friday I had managed to cover the ceiling/wall that houses our new Velux windows and four fifths of the opposing side, but ran out of Glasstex at that point so will have to wait until another roll can be dispatched next Monday. I am very impressed though as it does just as the supplier said - covers all the bumps and lumps and appears not to show them. A couple of coats of emulsion should finish the job off well.
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As we only had a small flat ceiling in the guest room, I have fitted tongued and grooved boarding which I will paint white. I'm hoping to get this room finished by the end of next week.
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I made up a template for the hearth tiles on Monday and took it, plus the tiles, to the water cutting specialist in St Albans. He has promised to cut the tiles by Saturday so I can collect them on Monday next. I also had a go at cutting the tiles that have no rounded edges with my newly purchased "cutting disc for stone" for my angle grinder. The first tile was OK but by the second there seemed to be little progress being made. Hardly surprising really because the cutting disc had diminished to about half its original diameter. I managed to complete the "cut" with a Birmingham screwdriver.... As Jan said "Should have given all the tiles to that nice man in St Albans". Why is it that women are so clever?
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And so so the sprinkler/rainwater harvesting saga which appears to have reached a rather more satisfactory status as of Friday this week. The problem I have been having is the difficulty of talking to anyone at the Sprinkler company who actually understands the technicalities of the system. Try as I could, I just was unable to get the main man to call me back - too busy it appears. In desperation I emailed but even then it took 2 to 3 days to get a response. In the end, after a bit if ranting, I have been promised a site visit to review the whole system. The even better news is that the sprinkler company have now come up with a new high performance pump that could replace our existing rainwater pump and provide the desired flow and pressure. Our friendly, and ever available rainwater harvesting man, (another Roger so what do you expect!) has agreed that the warranties will stay in force even with this change. Just got to tie the sprinkler man down to a date to visit now......
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Stop Press - the rainwater harvesting system is having a quiet and continual pee now. It seems that the solenoid that opens a valve should the water in the tank fall below a certain level, is permanently on. This process allows mains water to fill the tank sufficiently for it to continue functioning when there is inadequate rainwater. However, the tank is not empty and even when the power is turned off, the dribble continues. It looks as though the solenoid is faulty or has a bit of dirt jamming the valve open. Oi vey - will this never work correctly!
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Jan & Rog