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