New plumbing finished
That is the new basement central heating installed – new boiler, pipes and radiator. While we were at it, we also got a new downstairs toilet suite (the original was 1980s peach).
When the plumbers went into the “roof space” between the basement and the ground floor – they found some interesting original lathe and plaster – plus many mysterious looking pipes and wires.
So that bit all got replaced, however what I didn’t realize (or at least didn’t think about), was that where the old radiators and pipes were there were going to be a mess which had to be fixed. So specifically there were two walls to be redone (stripped, fillered, repapered, painted), plus loads of pipes to be primed and painted with radiator paint. I have done all this (no thanks to J who did not give me any help worth speaking of) now but it was hard work, and trying to get it done quickly I don’t think I have done a great job. But there we are.
What I have not managed to fix yet is the area around the basement lounge window. This had pipes running all the way around the bay window and they were 15mm – not proper 25mm as is the modern standard. The plumbers took the previous arrangement to pieces, and I didn’t know that it consisted of a cobbled together assortment of random pieces of wood, skirting and hardboard. So when I came to put it back together I had an unassembled jigsaw with no box picture as a guide. J did help me with this bit – and he figured out where each bit was supposed to go. Even with that done, trying to put it back together the way it was before is going to be difficult because a) it was really badly done in the first place b) the pipes are bigger now than they were before so the clearance from the wall is different.
So long and short of it is that I am going to order some new skirting and do it from scratch – for the time being I have tidied it by propping the wood back up and tucking some tablecloths over it.
The new downstairs loo looks quite nice. I got some nice pictures for the wall.
