Today, I thought, the down pipe and soil pipe would be replaced by something sleeker. The new toilet would be moved along the bathroom wall a little, to allow for the positioning of a freestanding bath where the basin was currently placed. Then the builders would finish concreting the floor downstairs, and then they would go home and wait for everything to dry.
How wrong I was.
This is what happens when Men On A Mission set to work.
Downstairs, there was some more breaking up to be done.
And an ancient pipe to be removed.
Whilst upstairs....
There was some breaking up to be done.
And a new, single, pipe to be installed.
Also - to my surprise - an entire bathroom to be removed. By this time I had escaped, to look at curtain fabrics, visit the loo in the garden centre, buy groceries, and give the sociable, workmen-loving dogs a break from all the dust and excitement.
I came home to find the dismantled bathroom suite left in the rainy garden. I made haste to cover it up with a tarpaulin; tomorrow it has a new home to go to.
The speed of progress wasn't the only surprise.
There was some pink and fishy wallpaper behind the bath.
The bathroom wall, once uncovered, was seen to have been rough-cast, and had clearly been on the exterior of the house once upon a time, which makes the dining room and kitchen younger than the sitting room. Another element of discovery to add to the mystery that is my old cottage.
The hallway is full of boxes of tiles, and the shower tray. The bath failed to arrive today, but we live in hope.
Tonight, I have the bare essentials. Sorry, essential. And a sheet of plywood to stop monsters from climbing up into the bathroom in the night, through the gaping hole in the wall.
Tomorrow, the builders, plumber, joiner and apprentice all come back to continue the mission. The mantra is on a loop in my head: it will all be worth it when it's finished.
15 comments:
Nightmare! Fortunately, nightmares don't last forever - it just seems like it at the time.
Repeat after yourself: it will be worth it in the end.
Hopefully the end is near...
xo Jane
Loop in your head. A Loo in the Loo. And Jane's end floating about!
yeh....where've we heard that one before, eh? .... the life of those of us who succumb to renovations....
It will be worth it, it will. I can see why you wanted that jumble of downpipes sorted out and I'm sure we had a version of that fishy wallpaper in the 60s. Thank goodness they left you the necessary!
Builders in the bathroom all day with no other available loo? I'd postpone the renovations for years!
dear team,
yikes !!
excellent & thorough documentation
inquiring minds are tres satisfied
over n'out,
xo les Gang
I love the fishy wallpaper. You could frame a bit of it under Perspex like they do when they renovate National Trust houses.
Oh goodness. Your house looks like mine! I hope your house is getting better as I think mine is, just not at speed!
Yes, it will be worth the inconvenience and mess when it is completed.
You have saved me from writing my usual advice!! What an amazing amount of work accomplished in a day. I think you should track down similar wallpaper for when you decorate ...... or maybe not!!
Wet and dreary here - did you have the heavy rain yesterday?
Crikey, you don't lack courage and fortitude do you? I hope it is completed very soon.
How handy to have your toilet right outdoors. So handy when one is rushing back from shopping!
(That's called "making lemonade from lemons".)
How horribly brutal and dusty. It will be wonderful in the end - bit like childbirth - hellish at the time but the agony soon forgotten.
Think we had a similar paper at home too. Or maybe I've got it confused with the plastic curtains (eeek!) which had penguins on them.
Gosh, you are doing a lot! Don't know how you stay sane. Wait...
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