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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!)

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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 !

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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).

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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.

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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)

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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.............

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Vanishing Jan & slimmer Rog