Washing

Over this week the bathroom comes together, the bath goes in, the tiles go on. Damien (the plumber) put the sink on.

We grout overnight (who doesn’t want to be grouting and washing it off to get beautiful lines at 11pm on a Thursday night) so the shower can go up before the weekend. Damien has done all the tricky bits, and done an amazing job, so he fits the radiator and then leaves us to it. The least contact the better with others over lock down, so now it’s over to us. 

Ian’s doing well, and although he has to be really careful, he can paint and do most things, so he does. I’m really busy at work, so can’t do anything to help, except tidy up in the evening, but it really is looking good! I know I have said this about most areas of the house, but we love it. The bath, the tile colour, the fancy cupboard where you wave your hand and the light comes on, as well as the waterfall taps. They all make it feel very special.

One thing we have learnt is that the extractor fan and the pesky tubing we refitted doesn’t work well. Basically as the loft is cold and the house warm, water just drips from it into the bath all the time as it gathers the condensation. The reality is, we have a window, so we decide to take it out and use the window. The bathroom really doesn’t get very steamy, so we think it will work fine. Better than a dripping extractor anyway! So back to the loft I go to detach the hose and fill the gap with plasterboard, leaving the hose as further ventilation (that is clearly working well up there, it’s freezing with a breeze).

Once more there is filling to be done, so Ian sorts out the hole left behind and also fills a big crack in the living room wall, and one in the hall where rather enthusiastic tile removal in the bathroom impacted the other side of the walls. It had to be done and at least we are a dab hand at filling these walls.

We struggled to decide what to do with the flooring in the bathroom, we wanted to ensure we have vinyl in key areas, but are also thinking about making a sort of ‘fitted shower mat’ our floor tiles are rubber backed and OK for bathrooms, so we could use them, but we don’t want them everywhere in there. We may do a hybrid, like the kitchen, for now we have vinyl, covering most of it. There isn’t enough for the whole floor, so something magic will happen I’m sure. 

The house is covered in dust again, so more cleaning, wiping and washing, but now we have a beautiful almost finished bathroom we can shower in, and it’s heaven! Washing Heaven.

One thing I have noted on the washing front is that after weeks of blue sky and sunshine (cold, but sunny) Ian put my new washing line up in the garden. It has rained ever since. Seriously, every day! I may remove it.