Unfortunately, this does involve some demolition in the bathroom to gain access to the hot water cylinder. I spent half of Saturday ripping out the stud walls Richard built around it.
Then yesterday, Stuart came to work and we drained all the water from the house including the central heating, before removing the old vented hot water cylinder.
This is the new stainless steel unvented, pressurized cylinder that will take its place.
Before installing the new cylinder, almost all of the old pipework was cut out and replaced. I particularly like this bit here with all the curves and angles.
It fits, just.
Here's a prime example. A bit of poking and the next thing you know there's a hole big enough to conceal a gang of outlaws. Here I've dug out the bit between the wall and the slabs I laid last year and pummeled some hardcore down as I'm going to fill the gap with render and stones.
Even with Richard's cement mixer this is chuffig hard work, without it I think I'd be dead by now.
After another major drill bit stickage which took several more hours to extract, this blue pipe which is connected via a copper pipe to the plastic pipe upstairs, which in turn is connected to the cold water system in the airing cupboard, was inserted into the hole that took so much time, sweat and destroyed masonary bits to create...
emerging into this trench just outside the house (after another half hour of me smashing a large steel spike into the hole to yet further enlarge it)...
...which was dug this morning by these men, thus explaining the road closure! Our cold water main has today been replaced, ending almost a decade for us of low water pressure. Finally, I think we have found a plumber who knows his business. The old main was partly lead, partly very corroded galvanized steel. And best of all, the council had to pay for all this.
Today, Dan made a hole in the floor through the concrete in the corner of the lounge.
Yesterday, he had all the carpets up on the landing upstairs and put in a plastic pipe (as well as some copper ones). Yes, these two things are related, and may also be linked to the road closure scheduled for this Sunday. The first correct guess (from anyone who I haven't already told what's going on) as to what's happening will receive no prizes at all.
The wall at the back of the garden is falling down in places and needs to be fixed.
It has much wildlife and vegetation within its structure which will be either gently relocated (slow worms, spiders etc) or chucked in the garden waste recycling bin (ivy, dandelions, snails, bind weed etc). This has nothing whatever to do with the previous post.
The crowns went in thus, with lots of fresh home made compost which is extra lush due to the amount of chicken poo it contains!
Although we can't eat it, seeing the first spear emerge from mother earth was a great moment. We can eat one from each plant next year (according to Paula who is pretty hot on such things), but in 2013 we'll be feasting until we smell of it. Yummy!
Standing in the shower, this is what you see. I was going to strip the door (which is the original one from the old bathroom) but I got half way through before realizing that its condition was extremely poor with lots of holes full of Polyfilla, so I filled, smoothed and painted it thus. A splash of colour is just the job. This room is now a whisker away from being finished, although I will have to refinish the top of the wash stand once the other bathroom is back in commission.
The reason for this was that I discovered a pesky leak in the corner of the shower. This shower door cost a fortune and has been nothing but trouble. Its design is so unnecessarily complex that no matter how hard I try, water always seems to manage to find a way through eventually. Here, it was getting behind the door pivot and leaking through a crack in the grout behind, so I had to rip out the whole side. That's the second time I've had to do that, and I bally well intend not to have to bally well do it again. I also scraped out all the grout all the way around the bottom and started again with the best quality sanitary silicone money can buy.
I also got on with finishing all the skirting, one of those jobs which I always seem to take forever to get around to. That results in a particularly warm glow of satisfaction when I finally do. I had to pull the khazi out to get at it, and I've thoughtfully blotted out the end of the soil pipe in case you are just having your breakfast.
The end piece was carefully cut by hand and glued together.
I cut a small piece of stone tile to fit between the skirting and the shower tray. When all the gaps were variously siliconed, grouted and caulked, it looked pretty tidy. I also had a small fillet to do on the other side to finish off that corner. Every possible gap is now permanently sealed. Now there's a bold statement if ever there was one.
As usual its taking ages, but I'm nearly there now. I have installed a three panel folding door on the main wardrobe, and made the side panel. More soon....
Of course I don't mean that these shelves aren't first class in every way, just that they were salvaged from Class 4 when they got new furniture up at the school where Janine works. They used to be for crayons and books and general school paraphernalia. Now, they look forward to a whole new life full of stylish knitwear and will probably provide support for some of the clobber visible here. That's recycling at its best.
This bit took several hours of patient whittling to match the profile of the ceiling.
There it is at the top. It fits almost perfectly. Some more framework is also visible.
And I made another shelf at the bottom, out of a left over bit of ply I found hanging about in the shed from when we did the kitchen nearly 8 years ago (still not finished). As luck would have it, it was almost exactly the right size.
First, I cut the dividing wall (after wisely measuring it twice) and checked that it fitted.
Then, with some help from my glamorous assistant J9 and a piece of batten, I got the divider and shelf together and firmly attached to the wall.
Now, the rest of the structure and framework can be attached to the divider. It should be good and strong and not move.
Starting work on the opposite wardrobe. As before, I need to build a frame from which to hang the doors. This one is much more complicated as it has a step in it where the door to the en-suite opens, and I also have a sloping ceiling to contend with which, as expected, does not slope evenly and is not level in any direction.
More joinery is required too, this bit is where the whole thing steps in to allow the en-suite door to open. Right now, I am clueless as to the best way to go about this. 
I made a bottom for the right half out of bits of T&G I had left over. Originally, I made it out of a piece of ply I had left over, but managed to cut it too small, and then there wasn't enough left to make it again. I must have forgotten to remember my brother Niels's wise words: "Measure twice, cut once."
The major internal parts have been measured (twice) and cut (all fitted just right) and installed.
On the left, a tall hanging area for ball gowns, wedding dresses etc. On the right, hanging for big girls' blouses (like Lewis Hamilton) with shelf space underneath. The large shelf at the top has no central divider so we can keep a small canoe on it (if we want to).
Once the frame was in place, it was time for the first trial fit of the doors. I got open louvre doors to allow air to circulate so our clothes don't go musty. I bought bi-fold track kits with totally incomprehensible instructions, but in spite of this, the first pair is up (although not fitting very well at this stage)
Both pairs of doors are now fitted, and it is gratifying to see that my measuring for the gap was spot on. Wise words from my brother Niels: "Measure twice, cut once."
This is how they will open, in two pairs folding flat against each other, taking up as little space as possible in what is a very small room.
